A Meaningful Nine.Ten.Eleven

Yesterday was Sunday the 9th day of October in the year 2011 AD of the Gregorian calendar.

The date written in its simplest form thus: 9.10.11

...which has a nice ring to it and easy to remember,  if one can count up to eleven.

That it fell on a Sunday gave many people ideas to get married and/or hold their wedding receptions on that day.

And that was why we had received four wedding invitations for just that day - three for the standard 12noon-5pm affair of which we had to forgo one for logistical reasons, and one a dinner do.

Attending weddings is an excellent way to maintain bonds of kinship or silaturrahim. This is accorded prime importance in the daily affairs of a Muslim.

At our recent weekly usrah with Ustaz Shihabuddin Muhaemin, he spelt out 10 benefits for one who maintains and extends silaturrahim:

1. his heart is cleansed and pure
2. his soul is tranquil
3. he thinks positively
4. he has respite from illnesses
5. he maintains his youthfulness and enjoys long life
6. he has barakah (blessings) in his sustenance
7. his prayers are answered
8. he leads a productive life
9. he has close family ties
10. he is facilitated in the hereafter on his pathway to Jannah

There is an order of precedence to be observed though:

1. Kin
2. Close friends
3. Neighbours
4. Good / Knowledgeable men and women
5. The poor
6. Friends in conflict

And the ways to help resolve the conflict are:

1.  by meeting face to face
2. verbally over the phone
3. by the written word
4. through a mutual friend
5. pray for a resolution
6. failing all the above, then just remain quiet

Incidentally, while both are obligatory duties of a muslim in his community, attending a wedding - which is associated with joy - takes precedence over attending a funeral.

But I think common sense should prevail in such a situation of which to attend first since the deceased also has his rights due on his relatives and the community as well.

Back to 9.10.11...

Our Garmin GPS literally gave us the run-around that day. We were to go to Seremban first and then Putrajaya before heading for Selayang. On it's "Faster Time" setting, I noticed that the route was through the fairly built-up areas of Puchong and Kajang, bypassing the more familiar but longer E6 expressway. We started on the E6 anyway and I thought I could trick it  by setting it for "Less Fuel" thus forcing an expressway route, since it's only logical that fuel consumption is very much lower on expressways.

But then it said to exit left into Putrajaya and hubby was curious to see where it would lead us to.

Apparently, what Garmin concluded by us setting it for "Less Fuel" was that we probably had little means also to pay expressway tolls. So we ended up doing a tour of Putrajaya followed by a long spell of driving on B routes into Kg. Sg. Merab and even on an unmarked very narrow road into Kg. Sg. Buah (where interestingly some people have built quite huge bungalow homes there).

In the time it took for us to arrive in Bangi, we could have reached En. Ahmad Ali's home in Senawang, Seremban. So we made our way to the Plus Expressway instead where from there it was a quick hop to the wedding...

Hubby said there certainly is a hikmah (lesson) somewhere hehehe... but I tell you, maybe it is that we now understand our GPS better....   especially useful for planning trips in the future when we may no longer be able to afford tolls....