Thursday Night's Musings

assalamualaikum warahmatullah, and hi...

i just returned from the medics rugby training in Sale (Heywood Road) which was cut short due to the Medics Party taking place tonight at a local pub in Gay Village. same as last week (and most of the weeks before), Gareth Kitchen (Kitch) drove me and Paul back home to Manchester.

i shot off straight away to Pizza Co. from Gareth's, never crossed my mind to attend the party anyway. it has been exactly one week since i last went there (Pizza Co.), and obviously not many Malaysians (muslims) will show their faces there during this holy month of Ramadhan. insya Allah after Eid, business will be back to normal flow for the Pizza Co. operators as far as their Malaysian customers are concerned.

i was happily (and greedily, maybe?) munching my wings and chips when suddenly Gareth Jones (oops... too many Gareths here) popped in. he's a 1st year medic, and also one of my rugby team-mates. we played together for the Sale 3rd team 2 weeks ago in a Cup match against Rosendale (which we won, fortunately). we chatted a bit as Gareth was in a hurry (he's heading for the Medics Party).

this Saturday, we'll play a friendly (kickoff at 2.30pm BST) against the Spartans, another local team. well, not just another local team but hmm... just browse through their website and you'll know what i mean... http://www.villagespartans.co.uk/ Dan (our captain) has guaranteed that i will have some playing times under my belt so i should just be prepared both mentally and 'physically' and pray that nothing will go wrong... Amiin...

spent the whole day at home because my GP in Rochdale went off to holiday in Wales. initial plan was to do some PBL research but ended up getting a haircut instead, plus a cut on my right thumb (due to some unnecessary shaving actions... sigh...). broke fast outside Gareth's (Kitch) house before going to Sale. and yeah, as usual, i had a Cadbury Flake, one Kinder Bueno & some water for iftaar today.

yesterday wasn't as uneventful as today (i think)... reached Uni at 8.45am to supervise the 1st year Malaysian Medics PBL discussion at the Precinct Library. Syed Ibrahim joined us halfway through the session. prayed Zuhur in MRI, and sped off to the Radiology Department (with Syed) only to find out that Dr Taylor's sign-up session is cancelled. the staff nurse said he's in America for a vacation. why do all the doctors have their holiday at the same time?!!?? went to Ambrose next for a bit of 'relaxation' before proceeding to the North Campus (UMIST laa...) for the MSSM AGM & Election... stayed and voted only for the top 2 posts because of a so-called 'kenduri' at my house. Abang Wan is going back to Malaysia next week to celebrate Eid with his family, and as usual he treated all of us with 'Kari Kambing' after Maghrib. and not forgetting the Gulai Ayam Lemak Serbuk Cili which i cooked earlier in the wee morning for sahur, but alas, the earliest person woke up at 6.45am (Fajr was at 6.35am, for your reference).

and before i end my nonsense, just like to recall one of the verse i came across this afternoon. from Surah al-Hijr (15:9) which i translate (to the nearest meaning, based on Tafsir Ibn Kathir) as:- "Verily, We, it is We Who revealed the Dhikr (i.e. the Quran) and surely We will guard it (from corruption)". this is one of the proof of the Quran as a mu'jizat, unaltered and unchanged since its revelation to our beloved Prophet (peace be upon him) and Allah will guard its contents until the Final Day.

my final advice to myself (especially), and to all of you guys and girls out there, please read the Quran, understand it, and act upon it. don't waste all the precious moments during this year's Ramadhan as we won't know for sure whether we will still be here to meet the next one next year.

all that is good is from Allah (Alone), and all the bad things are from my (and our) own mistakes, and i ask forgiveness from Allah, and a big sorry to everyone for any shortcomings. assalamualaikum warahmatullah, salaam Ramadhan.

(abbreviations: BST=British Summer Time, GP=General Practitioner, PBL=Problem-Based Learning, MRI=Manchester Royal Infirmary, MSSM=Malaysian Students Society of Manchester)