I still clearly remember that particular night, when I was introduced to the concept of usrah, back in matriculation years. Actually I had experiences in joining usrah since I was in primary school. I went to Sri Hira' and on saturdays, our co-curricular activities included usrah, other than First Aid, marching etc.
Back to that particular night, it was between maghrib and Isya', when in the surau of Khadijah College (KC hehe), I for the first time fulfilled the invitation from Kak Aini, to attend a 'discussion group'. It was my first time, but i have kind of expected the time to come- it was like a deja vu,
me sitting in a circle, along with other muslimat, eager to improve ourselves religious-wise, eager to increase our knowledge, eager to be part of a dynamic Islamic ummah. Yes we were so eager!
So it was during that particular night that I got to know the other members in my usrah group. There were 5 of us, for a start.
First was Kak Ati (Sumarti Samsudin). I grew to be so close to her when I became her tahfiz student hehe. I still clearly remember the hectic academic schedule in matric which did not end at 7pm like everybody else, because i had to attend a personal tasmi' class with her hehe. I grew to be so close to her when our rooms were just few steps away from each others'. And I shared so many things with her. I learnt to be mature from her. I learn so many things from her. And when we left matric, Kak Ati got married to Ust Shahrul. They are blessed with 2 children :)
I grew to be so close to her when I became the godmother of Aisyah; her first newborn.
The second one was Kak La (Mazila) I grew to be so close to her when she patiently my karenah hehe. I was a manja-type person (am I not? huu), I was having a severe homesickness, I was a cry baby, but she treated me like I
was her small sister. She was great in sewing. K.La, I won't forget the day you taught us how to sew a 'cawat'. And someone (org tu taula haha) innocently asked her how long should the zip be haha.
Some old sweet memory.. 1 thing I certainly won't forget about her is her birth date- 5th august,
because she told me numerous times! And now she is married, tp belum ada anak :)
The third one was K.Sarah. I grew to be close to her when we shared the same dream- we wanted to be housewives! So was K.Ati haha. We spent long times discussing our dreams- how we wanted to be housewives, teaching and nurturing our children with Islamic values so that they will grow up to be great mujahid mujahidah. How we really want to be good wives, treating our husbands with patience and care etc. and I still remember K.Sarah taught me how to answer killer questions such as "Why do you want to be a housewife when you have sacrificed to get a degree?" Haha. And recently Kak Sarah got married, she came to UIA Kuantan this morning but I was not around (I'm at home). I really miss her, I couldn't make it to her walimah (asifah, K.Sarah) and I was touched when a friend told me Kak Sarah asked about me. After all these years, our ukhuwah remains :)
the fourth one was kak aminah. she is still in indonesia doing dentistry, i still contact her every now and then :) she was one of them who immediately came to my rescue (selain faraa yang sangat kucintai :D) whenever she heard of my uncontrollable crying marathon at KC hehe.
the fifth one was syu (syuhada rahman). a very sweet lady, a very loving sister, a very mature muslimah. she has many siblings, she is the first one, dan ibunye telah dulu pergi menghadap Ilahi, menjadikan dia seorang insan yang mengagumkan aku dengan ketabahan dirinya.
And the sixth one.... is me. Aku? Dan orang selalu bertanya, "Maryam bila pula?" Hmm everybody is very eager to know bila lagi I will join the others, menjadi penyeri dalam kehidupan seorang mujahid, menjadi ummu kepada jundullah muda :)
sabarlah menanti perkhabaran, kerna tanggungjawab itu berat, satu masa nanti pasti akan tiba juga saat itu, ketika aku sudah sedia memikulnya..