A NAS A WEEK - 19 JUMADAL AWWAL 1434

And from [part of] the night, pray with it as additional [worship] for you; it is expected that your Lord will resurrect you to a praised station [al-Isra' 17:79].

A NAS A WEEK - 12 JUMADAL AWWAL 1434

Narrated Mu'adh ibn Anas: The Prophet (salallahu alaihi wassalam) said: If anyone guards a believer from a hypocrite, Allah will send an angel who will guard his flesh on the Day of Resurrection from the fire of Jahannam; but if anyone attacks a Muslim saying something by which he wishes to disgrace him, he will be restrained by Allah on the bridge over Jahannam till he is acquitted of what he said [Hadith from the Translation of Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 36: General Behaviour, Number 4865].

TUESDAYS WEEKLY TEACHINGS

The turnout at C05 for this Tuesdays Weekly Teachings

17 March - Envying one's success, wealth and pleasures of others to the detriment of one's self and others is prohibited in Islam. This was the simple conclusion that one can draw from the Tazkirah delivered by Wan Norhaniza Wan Hasan at the ISDEV Tuesdays Weekly Teachings held on 12 March 2013. According to her, there are two categories of 'jealousy', namely 'positive jealousy' and 'negative jealousy'.

Prof. Muhammad Syukri Salleh (holding the microphone) posing a question

'Positive jealousy' helps motivate one to be better or at least equivalent to the envied person without affecting anyone negatively. For example, when one is jealous of a friend who obtained excellent results in the examinations, the proper channel to let our green-eyed feeling flow is for us to learn effectively and get useful tips from that friend of ours on how the excellent results could be attained.

'Negative jealousy' as the name implies is prohibited in Islam. As an example when one tries to betray one's friends or persuade that friend to embark in useless and fruitless endeavors in the hope of distracting that 'excellent-result exam oriented' friend of ours because one is jealous of the success. There is intent to cause detriment to our friend's success.

(Left to Right) Ustaz Shahir, Ustaz Dr Shukri and Prof. Muhammad Syukri

The Tuesdays Teachings then continued with the lesson on Surah Al-Fatihah and the position of Basmallah in Surah Al-Fatihah according to the four imminent Sunni scholars. Since this region mostly subscribes to the Shafi'i school of thought, the recitation of Basmallah in Surah Al-Fatihah is thus obligatory. However one should not be in shock or in disapproval should the imam to one's congregational prayer do not recite the Basmallah upon reciting Al-Fatihah as the imam could be an adherent to the Maliki or Hanafi schools of thought who are of the opinion that Basmallah is not a verse of Surah Al-Fatihah.
 

ISDEV newest member, Masaud from Iran

 ISDEV also welcomed and introduced its new RISDEV (PhD) student from Iran, Brother Masaud to the others. This week's lesson was well attended by the lecturers as well as students and staff of ISDEV. Among those present were ISDEV Director, Prof. Muhammad Syukri Salleh and ISDEV Deputy Director, Dr.Zakaria Bahari. Dr. Mohd Shukri Hanapi served as the Chairperson during the session.

A NAS A WEEK - 5 JUMADAL AWWAL 1434

O you who have believed, let not a people ridicule (another) people; perhaps they may be better than them; nor let women ridicule (other) women; perhaps they may be better than them. And do not insult one another and do not call each other by (offensive) nicknames. Wretched is the name of disobedience after (one's) faith. And whoever does not repent - then it is those who are the wrongdoers [al-Hujurat, 49:11].

A NAS A WEEK - 29 RABBI'UL TSANNI 1434

Allah's Messenger (salallahu 'alaihi wassalam) said, "The ajwah dates come from Paradise and contain a cure for poison; truffles are a kind of manna and their juice is a medicine for the eye." [Al-Tirmidhi , Hadith Number 4235, Narrated by Abu Hurayrah].

HERI KUSMANTO PASSED WITH FLYING COLOURS

Heri Kusmanto's calm disposition during his viva

7 March - Alhamdulillah, by the grace of Allah SWT, another ISDEV PhD student passed his viva on 21 February 2013 with flying colours. This time is the turn of Heri Kusmanto, who writes on Islamic-Based Civil Society in Indonesia: Political Accommodation and Democratization of Muhammadiyah and Al-Wasliyah in North Sumatera. He is supervised by Dr Mohammad Zaini Abu Bakar and ISDEV Director, Professor Muhammad Syukri Salleh.

Posing with the Board of Examiners

The Board of Examiners unanimously recommended his thesis to be nominated for the Outstanding Thesis Award. He is the 10th ISDEV PhD student to have achieved such high recommendations.

The chairperson for Heri Kusmanto's viva which was held at the Mc Clintosh Room, IPS, was Professor Abdul Khalil H.P Shawkataly from the School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Assoc. Prof. Intan Hamshimah Mohd Hashim, Deputy Dean (Research), School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia represented the Dean. The external examiner was Professor Dr. Badlihisham Mohd Nasir, from the Institute of West Asian Studies (IKRAB), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia while the two internal examiners were Dr Zahri Hamat and Dr Fadzila Azni Ahmad.

The examination in session

As the normal tradition of ISDEV, prior to  the viva, Heri Kusmanto went through a thorough mock viva at ISDEV the day before. Then just moments before the viva in the morning, ISDEV lecturers and students gathered at the USM Mosque to perform solatul-hajat for Heri Kusmanto, to seek the help of Allah SWT in positioning him in the benefit of himself and Islam. Alhamdulillah, Allah SWT has answered ISDEV's appeal by passing him.

Congratulations Heri Kusmanto!

(left - right) ISDEV Director, Professor Muhammad Syukri Salleh,
ISDEV Deputy Director, Dr. Zakaria Bahari and
Heri Kusmanto during the mock viva

A NAS A WEEK - 21 RABBI'UL TSANNI 1434

O you who have believed, persevere and endure and remain stationed and fear Allah that you may be successful [Ali 'Imran, 3:200].