Books

Related to my previous post, I just want to share my reading pathway I had written for my class assignment :D

My house is full of books. Every corner, there are books, whether on the shelves or even scattered on the tables. I think that is why I love reading books since I was a child.

            I do not really remember about my early reading. The earliest book I can recall is a novel, a birthday gift from my parents. Written in my native language (Malay), the story revolves around the life of a girl entering a boarding school. Although I was still in elementary school, it was such a good early experience for me with novels. After receiving the novel, I know the books published by the publisher were very good and interesting. That was a kick start that I started searching for new novels, especially when the International Book Fair was approaching. Most of the novels I bought was about adventures and science fiction, such as traveling to the future and the Famous Five series (in Malay). During that age (about 9 years old), I  also started reading English short stories by Enid Blyton from my sister’s collections. Most of the stories were about fairies and talking toys, which I found them interesting and imaginative. I think those were the only English stories I read when I was a child.

            Those novels stated above were only about 200 pages long. The first ‘thick’ novel I read was ADAM, and I love that novel very much. It was not about a person named Adam though. ADAM is actually an abbreviation that generally means ‘I am a Malaysian.’ It was about a Malaysian guy traveling to the states to visit her daughter who was studying there. Alas, they met with an accident. The Malaysian guy was accused as a drunk driver and was sentenced to prison. That novel was heartbreaking yet really suited my interests. From then, I became a fan of the writer, who is claimed as the first thriller novelist in my country. Actually, this interest is shared among my siblings, so we never miss even a single of his books, although sometimes we need to wait for the Book Fair to get lower prices.

            My experience in exploring books does not stop there. During my years in middle school, most of my friends liked to read the novels written by a popular anonymous writer. They are popular among my brother’s friends too. Thus, we decided to buy one of his or her novel, which was about a young woman’s life. We tried to read, and it surprised us! Both of us did not like the book at all. The most irritating factor about the book is the language used. The words are so informal and sometimes we could not understand them. Maybe it is suitable for the current generation who used with weird and unnecessary abbreviations, and misused words. Although it was not using improper words, but I still feel that it was not appropriate to use spoken words in writing. That makes me realized that I am quite a perfectionist on using the proper language, and also concern about the changes of language culture.

            Currently, I have three favorite authors: Ramlee Awang Murshid, Faisal Tehrani and Hilal Asyraf. The similarities between them are of course, they are Malays, and their books includes religious perspectives of Islam and moral values which I think are beneficial. Ramlee Awang Murshid’s novels are mostly fictional, and there are always plot twists in the stories beyond one’s expectations. That what makes his stories interesting. For example, at first the story looks like a horror story, but at the end it actually has a scientific explanation about the scary incidents. Faisal Tehrani’s novels are mostly about histories and they are told in excellent ways such that people will not feel bored. One of his book was about our nation’s history, but he supplied it with food stories, about how certain food got their names.  On the other hand, Hilal Asyraf actually writes both fictional and also motivational books. However, I mostly read the novels, which always about friendships, action and faith. What makes his books special are religious moral values are instilled while people enjoying the action stories. An example of his book is Hero, which basically about a superhero in a suit, who was changing himself to the better. I really enjoyed reading their books.

            The books I currently read is different from my childhood readings in which I read thicker books with more intellectual and religious values. My family and I always go to the International Book Fair held every year to get new books and novels, mainly because there are discounts. Although our house is full of books, they are still not enough for us to fill our free time.

Buku

Baru-baru ini saya ke Public Library (dinamakan Metropolitan Library mungkin disebabkan di bandar besar), tetapi bukan Main Library. Maka, saiznya tidaklah begitu besar, seperti Perpustakaan Shah Alam. Malah, rasanya lebih kecil dari perpustakaan di Selayang. Kebanyakan buku di situ sama seperti di Malaysia: novel fiksyen dan bukan fiksyen, ensiklopedia, buku kanak-kanak. Namun, mereka juga ada menyediakan DVD dan buku audio (CD AudioBook) bagi sesiapa yang lebih suka mendengar dan menonton. Mungkin masyarakat akan lebih tertarik untuk membaca dengan adanya sumber-sumber itu, kerana sebahagian orang lebih fokus jika mendengar. Namun, saya tak meminjamnya, kerana saya bukan peminat audiobook (saya lebih kepada pembelajaran visual). Teringin juga meminjam DVD, tetapi tidak jumpa pula cerita yang sangat menarik, dan rasanya tiada masa pun untuk menonton. Ada satu servis yang saya sangat tertarik: Meminjam secara digital! (https://www.hoopladigital.com/) Bukan sahaja e-book, malah ada movie, audiobook dan majalah. Walaupun tempoh meminjam hanya 3 hari, namun itu sangat memudahkan bagi sesiapa yang tiada masa ke perpustakaan ataupun tiada kenderaan ke sana. Di situ, ada juga ruang di mana pelajar-pelajar sekolah boleh mendapatkan bantuan tutor untuk menyelesaikan kerja sekolah, yang mana sangat bermanfaat dan menarik remaja-remaja ke perpustakaan.

Kredit: http://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahljacobs/2014/06/25/summer-reading-listening-to-audiobooks-while-you-do-something-else-is-the-ultimate-in-multitasking/#3fb22fef1435

Perpustakaan di universiti sangat berbeza dengan perpustakaan komuniti. Di universiti, apa yang saya lihat apabila masuk ialah komputer, laptop, desktop. Di rak-rak pula, kebanyakan buku adalah untuk kajian dan jurnal-jurnal rujukan. Kebanyakan pelajar ke perpustakaan hanya untuk menggunakan komputer (termasuk saya. :P), walaupun ada juga yang datang untuk mendapatkan suasana senyap. Walau bagaimanapun, kebanyakan perpustakaan-perpustakaan di sini terlibat dalam satu kumpulan yang melibatkan seluruh negeri (Contoh: OhioLink). Para pelajar atau mana-mana ahli perpustakaan boleh meminjam buku dari tempat lain, dengan cara buku tersebut dihantar ke tempat masing-masing. Contohnya, buku dari State Library dihantar ke perpustakaan universiti. Oleh itu, kekurangan sumber di perpustakaan sendiri bukanlah penghalang. Begitulah antara kelebihan perpustakaan di sini.

Kredit: https://andersoncompanies.com/anderson_portfolio/osu-thompson-library/

Membaca sememangnya penting dalam kehidupan kita: dapat ilmu, merangsang perkembangan minda, mengetahui adat resam kaum dan negara lain, mengisi masa lapang, mengembangkan imaginasi dan sebagainya. Eh, bagaimana membaca boleh mengembangkan imaginasi? Berbanding dengan menonton filem, minda akan cuba membayangkan apa yang dibaca, bukan hanya menerima. Cuba fikir, apabila kita membaca novel, kemudian menonton cerita yang sama, selalunya bayangan kita akan berbeza daripada yang ditonton. Sebaliknya, apabila novel dibaca selepas menonton, kita akan lebih ke arah membayangkan filem yang ditonton. Sebagaimana yang kita semua tahu, antara ayat pertama yang diturunkan kepada Rasulullah s.a.w. juga menyuruh kita membaca.

"Bacalah, dengan nama Tuhanmu yang menciptakan."

(Al-Alaq:1)

Walaupun Rasulullah s.a.w. seorang yang ummi (tidak pandai membaca), Allah s.w.t. menyuruh Baginda s.a.w. membaca. Ironi, bukan? Namun, apa yang ditekankan di sini ialah kunci kepada segala-segalanya ialah membaca. Walaupun Baginda s.a.w. tidak pandai membaca, dengan panduan daripada Allah s.w.t., Al-Quran itu menjadi sumber yang amat penting bagiNya. Allah s.w.t. menyuruh kita merangsang pemikiran kita, bukan hanya membaca, kemudian, "Oh, begitu." Selepas itu, tamat. Allah s.w.t. menyuruh kita berfikir dan berfikir, walaupun apabila melihat. Banyak ayat-ayat Al-Quran yang menyarankan kita melihat dan berfikir tentang ciptaan Allah.

"Maka tidakkah mereka melihat unta, bagaimana mereka diciptakan?"

(Al-Ghasyiyah:17)

Pernahkah kita berfikir begitu apabila melihat unta? Bagaimana adanya bonggol, bagaimana mereka boleh bertahan di padang pasir, bagaimana mereka boleh membawa barang yang berat?

Bagaimana unta menjadi kasut?
Kredit: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Luxury-genuine-leather-men-dress-shoes-pointed-toe-wedding-shoes-slip-on-loafers-men-oxfords-Camel/32694435363.html?spm=2114.40010508.4.159.l8RvlM

Kembali kepada membaca. Bahan bacaan yang bagaimana mahu dipilih? Pilihlah yang dapat memberi manfaat kepada kita. Tak semestinya hanya buku-buku tafsir, syariah, akhlak. Buku motivasi pun bermanfaat. Novel juga ada yang bermanfaat, yang diselitkan motivasi, moral, agama, ilmu dan sebagainya. Ada juga buku-buku yang merangsang minda, seperti buku penyiasatan. Buku-buku Inggeris juga bermanfaat, walaupun mereka bukan Islam. Kita boleh membaca idea-idea mereka yang hebat. Bukan Islam bukanlah bermaksud kita tak boleh langsung mengambil idea mereka. Dalam sejarah pun, tatkala umat Islam di zaman kegemilangan, tiada masalah untuk umat Islam berkongsi ilmu dengan orang bukan Islam. Maka tiada salah untuk kita saling berkongsi ilmu, asalkan kita tahu batas-batas iman kita, tahu apa yang benar dan salah. Asalkan kita pilih buku bermanfaat, itu sudah bagus!

Namun, jangan lupa perkara yang amat penting, disebut dalam Hadis pertama dalam hadis 40 Imam An-Nawawi.

"Sesungguhnya amalan itu bermula dengan niat,..."

(Hadith 40 Imam An-Nawawi)

Kunci paling penting untuk mendapat pahala! Rugilah jika kita melakukan perkara yang baik, tapi pahalanya ... Niatkan untuk mendapat ilmu, dan berkongsi ilmu supaya dapat meningkatkan iman ke arah keredaan Allah. Buku motivasi pun? Ya, kita akan lebih bermotivasi untuk memakmurkan bumi sebagaimana yang diperintahkan Allah. Novel? Supaya kita dapat mengetahui budaya orang lain, mengelakkan perpecahan akibat salah faham. Ini hanyalah contoh-contoh.

Akhir sekali, ilmu-ilmu melalui bacaan itu kalau boleh, kongsikan kepada orang lain. Ingat, ilmu yang bermanfaat meruupakan antara amalan yang tidak terputus apabila meninggal dunia. Walaupun kita hanya menyampaikan ilmu daripada bacaan yang ditulis oleh orang lain, kita juga telah menyebarkannya.

“Jika seorang manusia meninggal dunia, terputuslah amalannya kecuali tiga perkara: Sedekah jariyah, atau ilmu yang bermanfaat, atau anak soleh yang mendoakannya.”

(HR Muslim (1631))

Semoga amalan kita sentiasa mendapat keredaan Allah, InsyaAllah! :D