Salam maal hijrah..

We had ceramah maal hijrah on Monday night at the surau. It's always nice to see kids in the surau. I know most parents don't really bring their kids to the surau.. sebab takut ganggu majlis di surau ie. ceramah or sembahyang berjemaah.

But to me, it's fine to bring the kids. Tapi kena lah ikut tertib, and respect the others in the masjid / surau. For instance, kalau nak sembahyang terawih, tak payah lah berebut nak saf depan jugak, and dragging your kid next to you. Sebab kids being kids, they tend to move around.. hence could break the saf.

I'm sure it doesn't batalkan sembahyang etc.. tapi like I said, tak beradab. If nak bawa anak kecil.. choose a corner spot.. or just sembahyang kat belakang supaya tak ganggu sangat jemaah lain.

But really.. I think kids should be exposed to the masjid / surau at an early age. Tapi kena didik anak tu. Kalau dia lari-lari masa sembahyang, kena tegur supaya dia faham. Biar marah berkali-kali.. supaya dia faham, kalau kat masjid / surau, tak boleh bising-bising sangat. Boleh main ngan kawan-kawan, tapi kena sopan.. sebab masjid / surau bukan tempat mainan.

"Nak balik tak?" my friend tegur her 4-year-old son hari tu, masa ceramah maal hijrah.

"Tak mau," he said. Obviously lah kan. He still wanted to play with his friends.

"Kalau tak mahu balik, main senyap senyap sikit. Jangan lari lari.. ini surau," she said quietly, giving a stern warning. The kid nodded silently and went off.

And I made a mental note that if I ever have the chance to be a mum, I want to be like her. I want to bring my kids to the masjid / surau at an early age.. in shaa Allah. It's okay that they don't understand the ceramah. It's okay that they don't know how to properly pray yet. At least they are already exposed to the masjid / surau.

And yes.. lebih baik biasakan budak bersembahyang di masjid / surau when it wasn't too crowded. Macam ceramah maal hijrah tu.. cuma a few je hadir. So even if the kids were playing when we did our sembahyang jemaah, taklah mengganggu jemaah yang hadir sangat.

In shaa Allah.. when the masjid / surau is more crowded (such as masa sembahyang raya or sembahyang terawih), the kids dah pandai jaga diri.. :)

The kids seem at home in the surau.. alhamdulillah... :)

And then semalam, Sudan declared cuti sempena maal hijrah. So we all went down and gotong royong buat gulai kawah. And that was nice too... :)

The boys tolong potong bawang etc..

And the girls pun sibuk potong buah, bawang, halia etc..

Masak ramai-ramai.. AWESOME! Kat KL pun, I tak pernah buat cam ni.. heheh..

Cooking the gravy using pelepah.. How kampung can you get kan? :)

Ahhh.. girls being girls.. pantang nampak camera.. suka posing posing kan? :)

The men hard at work.. heheh..

Hasilnya.. yummylicious gulai kawah with telur dadar special and ayam goreng berempah.. fuuuhhh.. sedap hingga menjilat jari..

It was a lovely day.. cuma it got a little hot in the afternoon (we started cooking at around 9am) and by the time we ate (which was at about noon), I dah penat and lethargic and pening kepala.

Went back to sleep but was still too tired to go out for dinner with Geng Tulip.

And I woke up this morning with a heavy head, stuffy nose and dry throat. Sigh. Even as I type this, I just can't wait to go home. I'm just waiting for my dinner (got someone to buy my food) and nak balik, sembahyang, makan and tidur..

Hopefully, if I sleep early, I can wake up at 10:45pm for the Dortmund - Arsenal game tonight. Heheh.

Here's to a good year ahead.. peace and love..