HOPE

'Saya nak semua orang kat luar sana tahu bahawa orang-orang macam kami pun punya harapan untuk berjaya. Semua orang punya harapan.'

'Kami harap apabila kami keluar nanti, kami dapat raih semula kepercayaan ibu bapa dan keluarga terhadap kami. Kami pun mahu berkawan dengan orang-orang lain, mahu berkerjaya, mahu berkeluarga, sama seperti orang-orang normal di luar sana'

'Kalau berpeluang, saya nak sambung belajar, nak kerja dan berhijrah ke negeri orang supaya saya dapat lari jauh dari kegiatan masa silam saya.'

Begitulah hasrat hati kebanyakan penghuni pusat pemulihan cure & care yang sempat kami temuramah tempoh hari. Mereka yang datang dengan rela hati bersama keazaman yang tinggi untuk mengubah hidup dan diri mereka sebenarnya telah menyentuh hati-hati kami. We learnt a lot from them.

Yes, who we are in the past does not matter. But who we want to be in the future is more important. The willingness and effort we put to a better person is way more important as Allah looks at the efforts done to TURN BACK to Allah or in other word, to REPENT. Repentance is beloved to Allah as He says,

'Verily, Allah loves those who repent and those who purify their themselves' (2:222)

In fact, repentance is an obligation on every believer so that we can be successful.

 'And O believers, all of you, repent to Allah in order that you may be successful' (23:41)

Brothers and sisters,

It is never too late for us to repent and improve ourselves, as long as we live until the sun rises from the west. Never ever despair from the mercy of Allah no matter how big and how many our sins are. It is stated in the holy Quran,

'Say, "O my servants who have transgressed against themselves (by sinning), do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful"'

Prophet Muhammad s.a.w said,

'Verily, Allah extends His hand out at night in order to accept the repentance of the sinner by day. And He intends His hand out during the day in order to accept the repentance of the sinner by night, until (the day) when the sun will rise from its west' (Narrated by Muslim)

But what if after we repent, we repeat the same mistake? What is the real repentance?
The real and sincere repentance must meet 5 criteria in order to be accepted (insyaAllah):

1. Sincere to Allah and only Allah.
2. Remorse for the sin that was done and wish it was never done.
3. Ceasing to commit the sin immediately. If we sinned against other creature(eg:human) then we should return what we took or apologize.
4. Determination to not go back to doing the sin again in the future.
5. Should not occur before the time of its acceptance is terminated.

Those who repent are actually those who have hopes in their heart. Towards whom? Towards Allah, the Most Gracious and Most Merciful.

O Allah, grant us the sincere repentance and accept it from us, verily You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. Ameen.

Ps : A good doctor does not treat a patient physically only, but also their emotion, behaviour and belief.

Pss : Let's hope and pray that our society will be more open-minded and supportive towards our brothers and sisters like those in Cure &Care Rehab Centre. They need our support. Be more understanding and less judgmental.