Saya mengambil kesempatan pada saat ini mengucapkan kepada sekalian muslimin dan muslimat;
“Selamat Hari Raya Haji/Korban.”
Semoga sekalian yang mengerjakan ibadah haji pada tahun ini mendapat Haji Mabrur. Amin. Begitu juga bagi mereka yang mengerjakan ibadah korban dan aqiqah semoga ianya diterima Allah s.w.t..
I missed the event in January caused I had to attend to some business. Not this time, since it occurs late at night till early morning. The moon will be high up and I don’t need to go to an open ground. I just need to set the camera up on the balcony. The difference between this one and the previous is that the full moon on 31 January 2018 was a big one (moon nearest to earth – Perigee), while this one is small since the moon is at the furthest distance from earth (Apogee). On the bright side, it is the longest lunar eclipse this 21st century.
Here are the photographs I had just taken on this day 28 July 2018 till the moon fully lost its brightness but still left with some light, hence called the Blood Moon. The picture of the Blood Moon here is just too grainy to punch up, so I leave it with just the usual edit.
Also Mars is in line of sight. That small dot in the lower left-hand is the fourth rock at its nearest point to Earth.
Note:
My mistake in capturing the Blood Moon was that I had a 1.4 teleconverter attached to a 150-600mm lens at an aperture setting of F9 running at 64000 to 128000 ISO settings. I was too concerned about getting a large image. In retrospect, I should be using the 70-210mm F2 lens with or without the 1.4 teleconverter, which would give me an F4 or F2 aperture respectively. A much smaller image, but I would then be able to expose at a very much lower ISO and slower speed.
Tatkala di keheningan malam
Tatkala bumi berkeadaan kelam
Tatkala hati yang remuk redam
Menantikan keindahan datang menyulam
Sayu hati mendengar dendangan
Puja dan puji tiada rintangan
Pengorbanan tiada terhitung
Hanya kita tak tahu diuntung
Yang dikata banyak telah terkota
Tinggal menunggu sang mahkota
Surah At Taubah
Sesungguhnya telah datang kepada kamu seorang Rasul dari golongan kamu sendiri, yang menjadi sangat berat kepadanya sebarang kesusahan yang ditanggung oleh kamu, yang sangat tamak (inginkan) kebaikan bagi kamu, (dan) ia pula menumpahkan perasaan belas serta kasih sayangnya kepada orang-orang yang beriman.
Kemudian jika mereka berpaling ingkar, maka katakanlah (wahai Muhammad): “cukuplah bagiku Allah, tiada Tuhan melainkan Dia, kepadaNya aku berserah diri, dan Dia lah yang mempunyai Arasy yang besar
Umat Islam di Malaysia akan memulakan puasa Ramadhan pada tanggal 17hb Mei 2018. Saya kira begitu juga dengan umat-umat Islam di rantau ini. Sempena dengan kedatangan bulan Ramadhan yang mulia ini, saya ucapkan kepada sekelian muslimin dan muslimat di mana sahaja mereka berada,
“Selamat menjalankan ibadah puasa Ramadhan, semoga puasa kita diterima Allah s.w.t..” Amin.
Semoga Allah Ta’ala memelihara kita dari membazir dan makan yang keterlaluan. Janganlah waktu berbuka, meja penuh dengan makanan. Bersederhanalah, kerana itu sebaik-baiknya.
I had a commercial truing stand made of aluminium and plastic. It is not rigid and not accurate, though it still could be accurate after some adjustment to the truing stand. Still, it is not solid and rugged. I decided to build one based roughly on the design and instead of aluminium, I intended to use one inch iron angle bar. That was the initial plan.
I had a few bicycle parts that I was about to throw away (actually sell it for scraps), when I thought why not turn it into a truing stand. All that were needed were there, just need to rearrange and assemble it plus some figuring on how to achieve it. Since I didn’t need to buy material for it, I started the project immediately in earnest.
The basic parts
First, I patched the holes on the bicycle frame, cleaned it and set it up for truing the rear wheel. The rear dropout cut and welded in reverse. Second, I thought about how to attach the fork to the frame for truing the front wheel. Third, I figured out how to set up the mechanism for concentric, straightness and centering guides. These have to be able to true a wide variety of wheel sizes. Last, adjusting the truing stand so that the wheel will be trued and centred on the truing stand and on any good bike frames. Truing is done while sitting on a stool or a chair. I must say quite comfy.
The finished project and first dry run
Fork attachment for front wheel truing
Guides for centering, concentric and straightness
You really do not need to have a truing stand if you rarely do it. On the occasion that you need to, you can do it on the bike itself. That is just my opinion. As for my case, I have a small shop.
Masjid Nabawi, Madina
Hari ini, bersempena dengan 12 Rabiul Awwal Hijrah 1439, ialah hari ulangtahun kelahiran Nabi Muhammad s.a.w.. Nabi yang diutus buat sekalian umat di akhir zaman untuk memperbaiki akhlak.
Tarikh ini ialah yang paling masyhur. Akan tetapi ada juga pendapat yang mengatakan bahawa tarikh lahirnya Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. jatuh pada 8 Rabiul Awwal. Ini khilafiah, tidak ada masalah, yang penting ialah kita mempunyai sifat cinta, kasih dan sayang kepada Nabi Muhammad Rasulullah s.a.w.. Nabi yang berasa susah apabila kita kesusahan dan sangat-sangat menginginkan kita mendapat kebahagian.
Sallu Alaih.
Sempadan Mina dan Arafah
Saya ucapkan kepada sekalian muslimin dan muslimat,
“Selamat Hari Raya Haji.”
Hari Raya Haji adalah Hari Raya yang berada pada hari kedua dari lima atau empat hari (tergantung pada 2 atau 3 hari Tasyrik di Mina – nafal awal atau nafal akhir) pada perlaksanaan ibadah Haji. Wajib-wajib ibadah Haji adalah semua perbuatan semata-semata selain dari melafazkan niat Haji. Bacaan-bacaan adalah sunnat. Bermula dengan wukuf di Arafah, keesokkannya, pada Hari Raya Haji, berada di Mina dan melontar Jamrah Aqabah untuk mendapatkan Tahlul yang pertama yang mana pakaian ihram sudah boleh dilepaskan selepas bercukur rambut. Diikuti dengan 3 hari Tasyrik untuk melontar 3 jamrah iaitu Jamrah Aqabah, Ula dan Ghusta. Bagi yang mengambil nafal awal, pada hari Tasyrik yang kedua setelah selasai melontar ketiga-tiga jamrah akan terus ke Makkah untuk mengerjakan Tawaf dan Saei serta bercukur rambut sekali lagi apabila selasai mengerjakan Saei untuk mendapat Tahlul yang kedua. Yang mengambil nafal akhir akan ke Makkah pada keesokkannya, iaitu hari Tasyrik yang ketiga untuk menunaikan Tawaf, Saei dan bercukur. Maka selesailah syarat-syarat rukun Haji. Semoga mereka-mereka yang menjalankan Ibadah Haji mendapat Haji Mabrur, Amin.
Ibadah Haji memakan masa 4 atau 5 hari sahaja. LabaekAllah humma labaek, Labaekalaa syarii kalakkalak baek, Innal hamda wanniqmata lakawalmulq, Laa syariikalak. Inilah bacaan yang sunnat dibaca sepanjang menjalankan ibadah Haji. Tiada diperbolehkan puasa sunnat pada Hari Raya Puasa, Hari Raya Haji dan 3 hari Tasyrik. Haji adalah Arafah, tiada Arafah tiada Haji. Para jemaah mesti berada di Arafah walaupun sekejap bagi yang uzur.
View of an intersection from Hotel Harun Square
Stayed for two nights at Lhokseumawe before catching the flight home in Medan. It was planned because I was just curious. I had been hearing the name for a long while. Here are some pictures of the small town by the sea from my small walk around.
Finally, a photograph of the Islamic Centre in Lhokseumawe. It made my day, because of its spacious ground that didn’t restrict my movements playing with the Samyang shift lens. I took shots of this building left, right and centre.
The Grand Mosque, Masjid BaiturRahman – House of The Mercy Mosque became a sanctuary when it happened
It has been more than a decade since the destruction caused by the tsunami that hit Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh Province, Indonesia. Life goes on. The city has been rebuilt and looks like any other city in Indonesia. Some scars still remain though. Not only as a reminder, but some, for its exceptionally withstanding the brunt of the force of the wall of water. They are now icons of the tsunami. I am sure there are many, but five of them are now very popular as tourist attractions.
I visited four of them. I missed the dome of a mosque that was swept more than twenty kilometres away inland and stranded in a paddy field.
Masjid BaiturRahim – House of The Merciful Mosque lies near the shore at Ulee Lheue
Masjid Rahmatullah – The Mercy of Allah Mosque at Lampuuk not far away from the shore. I was told that the water reached the dome
This is an electric generator on a barge
A stark contrast of a boat not on water but on a roof of what used to be a house
Here are some street photos.
