Setahun berlalu

Setahun sudah berlalu sejak pemergian Abah menemui Ilahi. Sejak 7 Dis 2011, semua yang dilalui adalah pertama kali - tanpa Abah di sisi.

Sepanjang setahun ini memberikan aku perspektif baru pada kehidupan - bahawa aku ini calon jenazah. Semua yang diusahakan akan aku tinggalkan. Lalu apa yang akan aku bawa ke kuburan nanti. Itulah masa depan dan aku insaf peri pentingnya membentuk zuriat yang soleh sebagai jaminan masa depan.

Pernah aku mengungkapkan ini kepada saudaraku - betapa beruntungnya arwah Abah kerana mendapat anak-anak seperti kita. Yang tidak putus-putus mendoakannya supaya sentiasa mendapat keampunan dan rahmat Allah di alam barzakh sana. Abah dah selesai dengan tugasnya tapi bagaimana dengan kita?

Masa depan ialah masa di mana kita sudah tidak mampu beramal untuk diri sendiri. Masa itu kita tertunggu-tunggu doa dari anak yang soleh. Pastinya aku mengharapkan Sarah, Hajar, Amirul, Ariff dan Hadi akan mendoakan terus-terusan sehingga tibanya hari perhitungan. Itulah keputusan straight As yang menjadi sebenar-benar matlamat dan yang paling selamat. Inilah satu wasiat.

Al Fatihah untuk Abah. Dan aku berdoa semoga Allah mengampuni, merahmati, memberi kesejahteraan dan memaafkannya - abadan abada.

100 Hari

10 Muharram - 20 Rabiul Akhir 1433: Hari ni genap 100 hari pemergian abah menemui Tuhan Rabbul Jalil. Lebih tepat lagi jam 11.15 malam nanti. Kebetulan pulak hari ni Selasa. Sigh, masa terasa begitu pantas berlalu walau pada mulanya seperti merangkak-rangkak.

100 hari lepas, hari Selasa, seperti biasa pegi pasar malam - beli yong tau fu. Sempat bercakap dengan mak, lepas maghrib nanti nak pergi tengok abah.

100 hari lepas, pagi Selasa tu, terasa hati tu lain macam. Sebelum keluar ke ofis, terdetik dalam hati mungkin nak balik cepat hari ni, terus ke hospital tengok abah. Berkontemplasi dua tiga kali sepanjang hari tapi memandangkan masa tu baru empat lima hari restart kerja, so balik macam biasa jugak.

100 hari lepas, di sisi abah, aku tercari-cari surah Yasiin yang 'hilang'. So kali ni first time baca thru I-Quran dalam HTC. Lepas maghrib hari Selasa tulah kali terakhir aku bacakan Yaasin depan abah.

100 hari kini, satu milestone yang mungkin mak terlupa. Maka mak memilih berada di rumah itu yang kemudiannya menjadi salah satu punca abah menangis teresak-esak pada April. Abah never recovered.

100 hari kini, Alhamdulillah, memasuki juz sepuluh bacaan Al Quran yang didedikasikan pahalanya untuk abah. Ya Allah, sampaikan pahala bacaan itu kepada Allahyarham Ayahandaku Abu Talib bin Murah. Dengan rahmatmu Ya Allah, terangi dan lapangkanlah kuburnya. Amin.

Prolapsed disc

Understanding the back

The spine is made up of many bones called vertebrae. These are roughly circular and between each vertebra is a 'disc'. The discs are made of strong 'rubber-like' tissue which allows the spine to be fairly flexible. A disc has a stronger fibrous outer part, and a softer jelly-like middle part called the nucleus pulposus.

The spinal cord, which contains the nerves that come from the brain, is protected by the spine. Nerves from the spinal cord come out from between the vertebrae to take and receive messages to various parts of the body.

Strong ligaments attach to the vertebrae. These give extra support and strength to the spine. Various muscles also surround, and are attached to, various parts of the spine. (The muscles and ligaments are not shown in the diagram below for clarity.)

What is a prolapsed disc?

When you have a prolapsed disc (commonly called a 'slipped disc'), a disc does not actually 'slip'. What happens is that part of the inner softer part of the disc (the nucleus pulposus) bulges out (herniates) through a weakness in the outer part of the disc. A prolapsed disc is sometimes called a herniated disc. The bulging disc may press on nearby structures such as a nerve coming from the spinal cord. Some inflammation also develops around the prolapsed part of the disc.

Any disc in the spine can prolapse. However, most prolapsed discs occur in the lumbar part of the spine (lower back). The size of the prolapse can vary. As a rule, the larger the prolapse, the more severe the symptoms are likely to be.

Who gets a prolapsed disc?

Bouts of back pain are very common. However, less than 1 in 20 cases of acute (sudden onset) back pain are due to a prolapsed disc. (Most cases on back pain are classed as 'simple low back pain'. This is thought to be caused by a minor problem to a muscle, ligament, or other structure in the back. For example, a strained muscle. See separate leaflet called 'Low back Pain in Adults' for a general overview of the different types of back pain.)

The commonest age to develop a prolapsed disc is between 30 and 50 years. Twice as many men as women are affected.

What causes a prolapsed disc?

NEW YORK, Oct 6: Apple co-founder and innovator Steve Jobs died after a battle with cancer. Here are some of his most memorable quotes on work and life.

Gizmodo

On Apple:

"We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas."
—PBS Documentary, Triumph of the Nerds, 1996

"It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them."
—BusinessWeek, 1998

"If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it's worth — and get busy on the next great thing. The PC wars are over. Done. Microsoft won a long time ago."
—Fortune, 1996

"The products suck! There's no sex in them anymore!"
—BusinessWeek, 1997

"Nobody has tried to swallow us since I've been here. I think they are afraid how we would taste."
—Shareholder meeting, 1998

"Pretty much, Apple and Dell are the only ones in this industry making money. They make it by being Wal-Mart. We make it by innovation."

Apple's market share is bigger than BMW's or Mercedes's or Porsche's in the automotive market. What's wrong with being BMW or Mercedes?
—Macworld, 2004

"And boy, have we patented it!"
—Macworld, 2007 (iPhone introduction)

On Bill Gates:

Home as the Place of Delight

Islam perceives the house as a place of matchless delight. It is a ground for taking pleasure in the most and best gifts (al-tayyibat) that Allah has made permissible to man. The term "maskan", which also means the house, is derived from an Arabic verb "sakana" which means to calm down, to repose, to rest, to become quiet and tranquil, to feel at ease with. Hence, the words "sukun" and "sakinah" mean calmness, tranquility, peacefulness, serenity, peace of mind, etc.

The house is called "maskan" or "maskin" because it offers its inhabitants a chance to take a break from the demands and pressure of the outside world and concentrate on physical, mental and even spiritual recuperation. The house in Islam is a retreat, sanctuary, and one's source of rest and leisure. Thus, those who live in such houses do not need to impatiently look forward to breaking away frequently from the strains of work and everyday life and go for splendid holidays.

The people residing in a house are the only authors of a house ambiance and, as such, of their own emotions and overall conditions. For these reasons is there a maxim in many cultures across the world to the effect that "my house is my paradise". Everyone also is fond of saying that "there's no place like home", that is to say, one's home is the best place to be.

In the presence of one's closest family members in it, and due to the ways its spaces are designed, planned and utilized, the house in Islam is a perfect avenue for its users to disengage from the fetters of the outside life. One's house provides the environment to focus on the family institution and its development. To its users, the house in Islam is a "fortified" private "paradise" on earth. It has been granted by Allah, the Creator and Master of all things, as one of the best and most valuable earthly gifts so that within its realm the foremost joys and pleasures of this life could be appreciated and enjoyed. As such, no one could ever claim a right to deny, manipulate, or misuse this divinely given entitlement to man. On this, Allah proclaims in the Qur'an: "It is Allah Who made your habitations (houses) homes of rest and quiet for you" (al-Nahl, 80).

"Say: Who has prohibited the beautiful (gifts) of Allah which He has brought forth for His servants and the good provisions? Say: These are for the believers in the life of this world, purely (theirs) on the resurrection day; thus do We make the communications clear for a people who know." (al-A'raf 32).