Before I stumbled upon Ayesha’s IG account – I was already doing some sort of marking in my mini Quran. It was not that organized but it was meant for me to find back the good dua’s and also reminders from the Quran. Naturally, the spark died but I was still hopeful to reconnect with the Quran and I began searching for hashtags of #quranjournalling #quranstudy for inspiration. One day I decided to try my luck and see if there was something as simple as #qurantagging and Pom! another interesting hashtag appear. It was #ayeshashares and that was how I got to know about these gatherings. Where girls get together and learn how to build a relationship with the Quran.

I remembered telling myself if ever QNMG is held in Melaka, I will sign up without hesitancy, without doubt. And since I believe that Allah akan mempermudahkan urusan kita apabila niat dan hasilnya baik, Ayesha did came to town. I paid the fees of RM300 online, cleared my schedule for the day and informed my husband not to have any locum and what not. If he still wants to go locum – he’d better figure out where to put the kids. I forwarded the event flyers to my other friends who I think would like to go too and alhamdulilah.. Kak Hasma (a former colleague) joined in. Senanglah skit nak yakinkan husband that its not an MLM thing I’m going because the venue was in a building that has ‘enterprise’ to its name.

“Eyy.. Im going with Kak Hasma ok”. macam tuhlah dialognya.

The gathering started at 9AM and lasted the whole day. I was pretty sure I saw someone who looked like Felixia Yeap in my class that day but I was wrong. I still think its her. HA ha. The tagging part was just a minor part of the event, which was OK. We get to continue doing the tagging back home which was so fun and meaningful. The tazkirahs were just as lovely. It was like a big study circle. There were so many points to learn and muhasabah balik. Eventhough Ayesha was only 28 years old, the things she has learnt about our Deen speaks volumes through the stories she narrated and the materials in the Quran Kit.

She elaborated her favourite hadith, talked about solah, emphasized on akhlak and taught us about Surah AlBaqarah. She gave us tips on how to construct a doa. She joked about the bawangs. She shared with us her dreams and her inspirational figures. It has to be one of my best Saturdays ever. Not a minute of my time being there was a complete loss. I loved it most when she said TAK RUGI BUAT BAIK. And that we should not let Syaitan plant the idea in our head that doing good deeds will lead to us being manipulated and taken for granted. Just do good, be good. Allah will be by our side. I personally like to do good things (most of the time), you know, stuff by the book because I honestly hope that my deeds will help carry me to Jannah as I have no strength to huffaz the Quran. Nor to pray extra on top of the obligatory ones. I struggle to fast. I feel I don’t have much knowledge to share with anyone. So I do good deeds. Simple nice things. To ease another persons hardship. To make them happy. To make me happy.

Like giving a smile. Saying kind words. Lending a helping hand. Comforting a lonely heart. Touching ones hands & hearts. Handing a ringgit or two for those who need it. Derma online. Sponsor an orphan. Buying a meal or keropok to the hungry. Supporting small businesses. Benda kecik2 mcm tuh.

The last LIVE tazkirah/study circle I attended was probably more than a decade a go. Bila dah kerja, dah jadi mak2 ni – I have trust issues to find a good study circle. And even if I do find one, my concern would be of allocating time to attend them. Naturally bila dah lama tak dengar hal2 agama – jiwa ni haus, kering. I should have brought some tissues there. Tiap kali dengar benda yg pilu, leleh air mata. Habis mascara I. Ayesha is such a humble and wonderful storyteller and yes, since she aspires to become our local version of Yasmin Mogahed – InsyaAllah her dreams will come true.

Thank you sis. I will try my best to be istiqamah in reading my Quran and doing good deeds everyday. InsyaAllah.

* Back from the gathering, Mr Husband asked, ” So did they talk using Sis a lot?” I just laughed and had to agree. Everything is Sis nowadays.