Saturday, November 26, 2011

Awal Muharram 1433

Muslim throughout the world begin a new year today. In Malaysia mosques throughout the country offer prayers farewell to 1432 and welcome 1433. No celebrations, No fireworks. No toll of the clock towers. Only remembrance; religious significance in the mosques and suraus. A special prayer for the passing of 1432 was read several minutes before the Maghrib prayer, signifying the entry of the new Muharam at 'Maghrib'. And therefore no association with the clock striking 'twelve' midnight. The  maghrib prayer is followed with the reading of 'Surah Yassin' by the jemaah and lead by the Imam and followed with a special prayer " Doa Awal Tahun Hijrah'.


The pictures above records the prayer at Masjid Zahir the state mosque in Alor Setar at Maghrib time a few hours ago. .It seems tomorrow there is another session of reading Surah Yassin in honour of Tunku Sultan's Kedah birthday and that of Majlis Perbandaran Kota Star celebrating its anniversary as a city. Masjid Zahir in Alor Setar will honour the departure of Tuanku Sultan to Kuala Lumpur with a reading of Surah Yassin on 9 December 2011 after the Magrib prayer as Tuanku Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah departs to take office as the new Yang DiPertuan Agong of Malaysia. It is historic too since Tuanku Sultan Kedah will hold office for the second time. Kedah and her people wish our Tuanku Sultan and Sultanah a glorious reign as the Yang DiPertuan Agong and the Raja Permaisuri Agong of Malaysia .

Saya dan keluarga mendoakan kebahagian dan keimanan kepada pembaca blog ini agar tahun Hijrah 1433 memenuhi segala cita-cita dan harapan kita. Wassalam..

4 comments:

Lisa said...

Terima kasih KotaStar. I did not even realise it. How ignorant of me. You shared many great points in this post. I remembered as a 4 year old back in 1970, how proud I was that the King of Malaysia was the King of Kedah. And I remembered praying next to the late Sultanah and her mother, at the Balai Rong, it was Raya prayers but the women prayed at the Balai Rong, it must be because the mosque was full. Do we still do that now? She was just there, praying next to us and she was very beautiful. Masjid Zahir is of course very special to all of us, but I went there for my kindergarten schooling. I went there every morning with my granduncle, Datuk Shaikh Majid, but my grandfather was the one who will be waiting for me after school and we would go the the "Snack Bar" before heading home by bus to Mentaloon. Even that, we would stop in Alor Merah for me to buy some kind of gum in order to get my collection of cards. I am sorry that I am getting carried away with my own memories. I am grateful for the beautiful past and may Allah bless us with the goodness of this world and the goodness of the afterworld.

Wan Sharif said...

I did not have much chance to go to Masjid Zahir when I was frequenting Alot Setar as Hari Raya would be in Masjid Tandop and the daily prayer would be in the madrasah beside late FIL's house where he led the congregation.
I have to admit that I do miss Pekan Rabu though;)

Al-Manar said...

In all my life I have been to Alor Star not more than three times. In my mind it is much like in Terengganu, typical Malay. Maybe things have changed as we all do without realising it.

How many more tahun baru Hijrah do we have? Not knowing is a blessing, that today, with enthusiasm,we take step to do whatever good we dream of doing - as if there is always tomorrow, always more new new Hijrah years to come.

Salaam to you and family, and to your visitors, Oceangirl and my Ayah Wang ( the latter chooses to dissociate himself from Tganu- nak jadi orang barat kononnya!)

Abu Imir said...

Sambutan Hijratur-Rasul ini sebagai menghayati makna dan pengertian peristiwa Hijrah Nabi Muhammad SAW dan para muhajirin dari Kota Makkah ke Kota Madinah yang kemudiannya dikira sebagai tahun pertama Hijrah. Hakikatnya, Hijrah Rasulullah s.a.w tidak berlaku pada awal tahun dan tidak berlaku pada bulan Muharram. Sebaliknya, Rasulullah s.a.w mula keluar dari kota Mekkah pada akhir bulan Safar, bulan yang kedua dalam kalendar Islam. Baginda keluar dari Mekkah bersama-sama dengan sahabat baginda yang paling setia Saidina Abu Bakar As-Siddiq r.a setelah mendapat perintah dari Allah s.w.t agar bersama-sama dengan umat Islam di kota Madinah. Rasulullah s.a.w tiba di kota Madinah dan mula menetap di sana pada hari Jumaat, 12 Rabiul Awal. Sekalipun hijrah tidak berlaku di bulan Muharram, namun detik peristiwa tersebut ia dipilih sebagai tahun yang pertama dalam kalendar Islam sewaktu proses penetapan kalendar Islam pada zaman Saidina Umar bin al-Khattab RA.