Maryam: Wanita biasa tetapi luar biasa

Assalamualaikum wbt

                Sebenarnya, saya dah lama sangat nak tulis mengenai kisah Maryam, ibu kepada Nabi Isa AS. Saya rasa hampir semua orang terutama sekali Muslim mengenali wanita solehah ini. Sebelum ini, secara jujurnya saya hanya menganggap Maryam ini sekadar wanita solehah yang terpilih untuk hamil tanpa nikah atau erti kata lain tanpa bersentuhan dengan lelaki. Bayi dalam kandungannya juga merupakan hamba Allah yang terpilih untuk menjadi seorang Nabi iaitu Nabi Isa AS dan namanya disebut dan diingati oleh Muslim serta penganut agama Kristian dengan nama Jesus. Saya tidak ada perasaan ingin tahu kisah disebalik kehamilan tersebut dan pengajaran yang perlu diambil dari kisah hidup Maryam sehinggalah saya membaca buku ‘Akhawat Pakai Hoodies’ oleh Inche Gabbana.

                Keterujaan saya untuk mengetahui kisah Maryam dengan lebih mendalam semakin bertambah apabila Naqibah saya menghuraikan kisah Maryam berdasarkan ayat-ayat dalam al-Quran iaitu Surah Maryam, ayat 23-25.

”Kemudian rasa sakit akan melahirkan memaksanya (bersandar) pada pangkal pohon kurma, dia (Maryam) berkata, “Wahai betapa (baiknya) aku mati sebelum ini, dan aku menjadi seorang yang tidak diperhatikan dan dilupakan.” Maka dia (Jibril) berseru kepadanya dari tempat yang rendah, “Janganlah engkau bersedih hati, sesungguhnya Tuhanmu telah menjadikan anak sungai di bawahmu. Dan goyanglah pangkal pohon kurma itu ke arahmu, niscaya (pohon) itu akan menggugurkan buah kurma yang masak kepadamu.”

                Dalam ayat 23, Allah SWT menceritakan semula kata-kata yang diungkap Maryam ketika bersendirian menanggung kesakitan untuk bersalin pada pangkal pohon kurma. “Wahai betapa (baiknya) aku mati sebelum ini, dan aku menjadi seorang yang tidak diperhatikan dan dilupakan.” Cuba bayangkan sekiranya kita berada di tempat Maryam. Maryam ialah seorang wanita yang rajin beribadah dan menjaga kehormatan diri dari tatapan lelaki ajnabi. Apabila Allah SWT menguji Maryam dengan kehamilan walaupun tidak pernah disentuh oleh mana-mana lelaki, Maryam tahu kelak apabila bayi tersebut lahir, mereka akan dicemuh oleh masyarakat sekeliling dan Maryam akan digelar sebagai penzina. Kata-kata yang diungkapkan oleh Maryam di dalam al-Quran menunjukkan perasaannya yang sudah berputus-asa untuk terus hidup dan berharap masyarakat sekeliling tidak menyedari akan kewujudan dirinya.

                Kemudian Allah SWT memujuk Maryam melalui perantaraan malaikat Jibril dengan menyuruh Maryam menggoncangkan pangkal pohon kurma sehingga menggugurkan buah kurma yang masak untuk dimakan. This is my favorite part. Allah SWT sangat sayangkan Maryam tetapi Allah tidak memberikan bantuan kepada Maryam turun terus dari langit. Sebaliknya, Allah SWT memujuk Maryam untuk menggunakan saki-baki tenaga yang ada setelah penat melahirkan bayi dan berusaha menggoncangkan pokok kurma sehingga gugur buah kurma yang masak. Allah SWT berkuasa untuk menjatuhkan terus buah kurma tersebut tetapi Allah mahu Maryam berusaha sebab Allah sangat suka hambaNya yang berusaha.

                Cuba bayangkan keadaan Maryam ketika itu. Berseorangan, kesakitan, penat melahirkan bayi, Maryam turut berharap untuk mati seperti yang diungkapkan dalam ayat 23. Tetapi Allah SWT ingin mengajar kepada Maryam dan kepada kita semua betapa nyawa itu anugerah yang sangat berharga.

                Sebagai seorang Muslim, kita diajar bahawa Allah SWT tidak akan menguji hambaNya diluar kemampuan hamba tersebut. Oleh sebab itu, Allah SWT menggalakkan hamba-hambaNya untuk bersabar dan berusaha menghadapi ujian yang diberikan. Apabila masalah tersebut berlarutan untuk jangka masa yang lama atau menjadi bertambah teruk, sampai ke satu tahap kita berdoa supaya kita tidak lagi hidup atas dunia ini sebab terlampau penat dan mungkin lebih teruk lagi kita cuba untuk membunuh diri sendiri. Naudzubillah. Saya berdoa semoga semua orang yang membaca penulisan ini dan orang-orang yang saya sayangi diberikan kesabaran yang tinggi oleh Allah SWT untuk menghadapi ujian dalam hidup.

Dari Anas bin Malik, Rasulullah SAW bersabda, “Janganlah salah seorang kamu menginginkan kematian disebabkan dia tertimpa bencana. Andaipun ia tetap berkeinginan maka hendaklah ia mengucapkan: Ya Allah, hidupkanlah aku andai kehidupan itu baik bagiku dan matikanlah aku jika kematian itu lebih baik bagi ku.” (Hadis Riwayat Imam Muslim)

                Daripada kisah Maryam, kita tahu betapa Maryam seorang yang sangat penyabar bermula pada saat malaikat Jibril menyampaikan berita kepadanya akan kelahiran seorang bayi lelaki dari rahimnya sendiri. Setiap manusia ada batas kesabarannya dan Maryam sendiri hampir hilang kesabarannya pada saat hendak melahirkan bayi tersebut bersendirian. Di sini, kita dapat belajar maksud sabar. Sabar bukan bermaksud mendiamkan diri dan terima apa sahaja yang berlaku dalam hidup. Sabar bererti terima ketentuan Ilahi dan berusaha untuk menyelesaikan masalah serta memperbaiki kehidupan yang sedia ada.

                Oleh sebab itu, di saat Maryam dalam keadaan putus asa, Allah memujuk untuk berusaha mendapatkan buah kurma dengan menggoncangkan pokok kurma yang disandarnya walaupun dalam keadaan penat dan sakit setelah melahirkan Nabi Isa AS. Allah SWT sangat menghargai usaha Maryam untuk meneruskan hidup walaupun akan diuji dengan cemuhan dari masyarakat sekeliling. Konsep usaha ini membuatkan saya teringat akan hadis biji benih.

Rasulullah SAW bersabda, “Sekiranya di tangan kamu ada benih kurma dan kamu tahu bahawa esok akan berlaku kiamat, maka hendaklah kamu menanam dan jangan biarkan hari kiamat berlaku tanpa menanam benih kurma tersebut.” (Hadis Riwayat Imam Ahmad)

                Daripada hadis di atas, apa yang dapat saya pelajari ialah dalam kehidupan kita, Allah SWT sentiasa mengukur sejauh mana usaha kita untuk meneruskan hidup dan hasil dari segala usaha yang kita lakukan hanyalah daripada Allah SWT. Daripada hadis ini, kita tahu yang kita tidak akan dapat menuai hasil dari menanam biji benih kurma tersebut pada keesokan harinya kerana hari kiamat dan mungkin kita akan merasa sia-sia menanam biji benih kurma tersebut. Oleh sebab itu, dalam setiap usaha yang kita lakukan, kita letakkan sepenuh kepercayaan kita kepada Allah SWT dan hanya mengharapkan hasil yang baik daripadaNya.

                Akhir sekali, sebelum saya mula masak untuk makan tengah hari, lakukan yang terbaik setiap saat, setiap minit, setiap jam sekalipun kita tahu masa yang diambil untuk mendapatkan apa yang kita hajati mengambil masa yang lama atau mungkin langsung tiada apa-apa hasil dari usaha yang kita buat. Allah SWT memandang setiap langkah usaha kita dengan pandangan yang serius dan serahkan hasil, keputusan kepadaNya. That’s why He is God.

Expectation from the Slave

Assalamualaikum wbt

       Year 2018 will be coming soon. What is your expectation for next year? You will start a new job? like me haha InsyaAllah. Well, how I wish I am 'rajin' enough to make a video like Aida Azlin or other inspiring vloggers to talk about this topic. I want to write down my idea about this topic because of an incident that happened to me in Japan recently that made me reflect myself about how far should I have expectation from someone or some circumstances. I choose to keep silence and not telling anyone about that incident but I did 'muhasabah' myself as I realized how I'm so lack of knowledge to put a right amount of expectation on someone or some cases.

       After asking Mr. Google, the word expectation means a belief that someone will or should achieve something. This word also means a strong belief that something will happen or be the case. 

       Last time during usrah, my Naqibah said that human beings are 'beggars' in this world. We keep asking for something and expect that we will always get what we ask from someone. For example, a wife ask for a Gucci handbag from her husband. So, she will expect that her husband will buy a Gucci handbag not a LV handbag for her. If not she will get upset because she did not expect a LV handbag at all. Diva sangat kan. My Naqibah said when we realized that we are just beggars in this world, we will not ask or expect anything from another person because he or she is also a beggar. Should I define beggar? No need lah.

       Her point here is we should keep less expectation towards other people because each one of us is so full of flaws (read my previous blog please) that it is so impossible for us to please others or other people to please us. That is why we should not put blame on other person when it comes to a mistake. Perhaps, that person is actually not capable enough but we put such high expectation to him/her. I give you one example, parents that blame their child for not achieving good result in examination. All parents expect the best from their child because they provide the best facilities for their child to live and study. So, they want the same in return. But unfortunately, things don't go well like they expected. They scold and blame that kid. And that kid also will blame himself. See, when we put too much expectation from someone, we will easily get hurt and that person also will get hurt too. Nobody win.

       So, our highest expectation should be given to the Mighty Allah S.W.T. Why? Because He is Al-Quddus, The Most Sacred. The one who is pure from any imperfection and clear from children and adversaries. Ask from Him, you can expect anything from Him.
       

"And when My slaves ask you (O Muhammad) concerning me, then (answer them), I am indeed near (to them by My knowledge). I respond to the invocations of the supplicant when he calls on Me (without any mediator or intercessor). So let them obey Me and believe in Me, so that they may be led aright." (2:186)

Have you ever noticed in the Quran, Allah always use the word 'My slaves' when He refers to muslimin. Like in Malaysia, we will give high respect and privileges to those people that have title Tan Sri or Datuk Sri right? Then, Allah gives His attention and privileges to His slaves, us, muslimin. The title 'slave' is actually the best title for a muslim as we give our highest expectation to Allah, He will never disappoint us.

"But Allah never fulfill my prayer till now."

"I wanted to further my study to German, but why He put me in Japan?"

"I hate my life, I never asked these bad things happen but why Allah do this to me?"

       Those dialogues are actually mine. Sorry. But I'm sure all of you at least face this kind of stuff once in your life right? One thing that we must bear in our mind, Allah is Al-Alim, The All-Knowing One. The Knowledgeable. The One nothing is absent from His knowledge. The way Allah plans our life and this universe is absolutely out of our control, out of our mind. I expect that study in German will make me be a better person but He knew that by sending me to Japan can help me to learn about His religion, my religion which is Islam in a wider perspective. That's why He is God.

       So, does Allah expect anything from us in return? No. But He likes His slaves to pray to Him, ask Him, beg Him and expect a lot of things from Him. He wants to see how far we depend on Him,  count on Him during difficulties and give all praise to Him during contentment. Before I end with my final full stop, it is okay to have any expectation from other people or any circumstance but prepare yourselves in case you get hurt because of the flaws in each one of us. And also please keep highest expectation to the Creator, Allah S.W.T. because even though things might change according to His plan, but He only plans the best to His slaves. 

Flaw

Assalamualaikum wbt

Amal sebenarnya tak jumpa perkataan Melayu yang sesuai dan sedap untuk menggambarkan kekurangan seseorang. Jadi Amal pilih perkataan ‘Flaw’ walaupun tulisan kali ini Amal akan cuba tulis 100% dalam Bahasa Melayu. Tiada bahasa rojak yang digunakan. Selalu kita dengar ayat “muka flawless” yang bermaksud tiada kecacatan dan kekurangan pada muka yang selalu diungkapkan oleh kebanyakan golongan wanita. Untuk penulisan kali ini, Amal nak cerita mengenai 2 orang sahabat dan cerita ini berdasarkan kisah benar tapi Amal akan ubah sedikit untuk menjaga aib watak sebenar dan mencantikkan lagi cerita ini.

2 orang sahabat diberi nama Samad dan Said, tinggal di sebuah kampung di utara tanah air dan hidup kais pagi makan pagi, kais petang makan petang. Samad sudah berkahwin, seorang yang rajin bekerja dan sangat bertanggungjawab. Oleh sebab Samad penat bekerja mencari rezeki, dia tidak ada masa untuk berpakaian segak seperti lelaki lain tapi sangat dikenali dalam kalangan penduduk kampung kerana rajin bersedekah dan menghadiri ceramah di masjid. Said pula belum berkahwin, lebih muda dari Samad dan sentiasa berpakaian segak. Senang cerita ramai wanita di kampung yang tergila-gilakan Said. Said tahu yang ramai wanita sukakan dia jadi dia mengambil kesempatan dengan menggoda wanita-wanita tersebut dan mengikis duit mereka. Biasa dengar perempuan yang kaki kikis kan, untuk cerita ini lelaki yang mengikis duit perempuan. Tak cukup duit belanja dari wanita-wanita tersebut, Said turut ‘bekerja’ dengan merompak kedai-kedai dalam kampung itu dan terlibat dalam kumpulan kongsi gelap. Ramai penduduk kampung yang tidak sukakan Said dan cerita mengenai Said juga tersebar ke kampung-kampung lain yang berdekatan. Tetapi, walaupun Said ada banyak ‘flaw’ dari segi peribadinya, Samad menerima Said sebagai sahabat baik dari kecil dan sering bersama Said dalam susah dan senang.

Bagi Samad, Said sebenarnya banyak membantu Samad ketika Samad dalam kesusahan terutama dari segi kewangan. Walaupun Samad tahu, duit itu bukan dari sumber yang halal tapi dia tetap mengambil duit itu kerana terdesak dan tak pernah berhenti menasihati Said untuk berubah. Bagi Said, walaupun dia sering dikelilingi orang-orang yang jahat, jauh di sudut hati dia masih mahu berubah menjadi orang baik seperti Samad. Dia menganggap Samad sebagai abang kandung sendiri dan contoh untuk berhijrah menjadi lebih baik. Said nampak cahaya dan jalan untuk berubah apabila bersahabat dengan Samad. Suatu hari, nasib tidak menyebelahi Said apabila polis berjaya menangkap Said dan konco-konconya kerana jenayah merompak kedai-kedai dalam kampung tersebut. Said dijatuhkan hukuman penjara selama beberapa tahun dan Samad satu-satunya sahabat yang sentiasa melawat Said di penjara.

Apabila Said keluar dari penjara, dia tiada tempat untuk dituju dan terus ke rumah Samad. Pada waktu itu, Samad sudah berjaya menjadi seorang ahli perniagaan yang berjaya dan menawarkan pekerjaan kepada Said. Tidak lama kemudian, sekali lagi Said buat hal dan dijatuhkan hukuman penjara untuk jenayah yang lain pula. Samad tidak pernah terfikir untuk menjauhkan diri, jauh sekali memutuskan hubungan persahabatan dengan Said. Samad melawat Said di penjara dan sentiasa memberi nasihat serta semangat kepada Said untuk berubah. Apabila Said keluar dari penjara untuk kali kedua, Said sudah berumur dan tiada orang di kampung yang ingin mengambilnya bekerja ditambah dengan status bekas banduan. Pada suatu hari, Said mahu meminjam duit Samad untuk membeli makanan tapi kata Samad, “Tak payah pinjam. Kau mana ada duit nak bayar balik. Kalau takda duit, datang jumpa aku. Aku bagi duit belanja kat kau.” Said rasa sebak dan nekad untuk betul-betul berubah.

Kalau dahulu tak pernah solat cukup 5 waktu dalam sehari, Said belajar untuk solat dengan betul memandangkan dia sudah semakin lupa bacaan dalam solat. Said juga tidak memilih pekerjaan, dia lakukan apa sahaja kerja yang ada di kampung asalkan halal. Dia bekerja di kebun buah, di bendang malah berniaga kecil-kecilan di pasar malam kampung tersebut. Said tidak berkahwin dan tidak mempunyai anak. Tiada perempuan di kampung tersebut yang mahu mengambil Said sebagai suami dengan kisah lampaunya. Jadi dia menganggap anak-anak Samad sebagai anak kandung dan sering meluangkan masa dengan mereka. Samad pula tidak pernah menceritakan ‘flaw’ yang ada pada Said dan menutup seketat-ketatnya kisah lampau Said dari pengetahuan anak-anaknya. Tidak perlu untuk mengungkit perkara yang lepas kalau apa yang ada sekarang lebih baik. Betul tak?

-TAMAT-

                Amal percaya ramai yang pernah dengar Hadis Persahabatan : Tukang Besi dan Penjual Minyak Wangi.

                “Bersahabat dengan orang yang soleh dan dengan orang yang jahat persis seperti berkawan dengan pengedar minyak wangi dan tukang besi (yang menghembus bara api). Pengedar minyak wangi sama ada ia memberi anda sebahagian atau anda membeli bau-bauan daripadanya atau sekurang-kurangnya anda mendapat juga baunya. Manakala tukang besi pula sama ada ia menyebabkan baju anda terbakar atau anda mendapat bau yang hapak.” (Riwayat Abu Daud)

Dalam cerita ini, Said ingin merasa bau wangi yang ada pada Samad walaupun dia sering mengotorkan dirinya dengan perkara yang tak elok. Bagi Samad, walaupun dia merasa bahang panas kerana bersahabat dengan Said, tapi dia tidak pernah berputus asa memberi sebanyak mungkin minyak wangi dan tidak malu untuk berkawan dengan orang yang lebih ‘busuk’ darinya.

                Setiap manusia ada ‘flaw’ sama ada tersembunyi atau jelas di pandangan mata manusia yang lain. Jadi apabila kita sedar hakikat ini, sekalipun ada manusia yang mungkin bagi kita tiada harapan untuk berubah, besar tanggungjawab kita untuk melindungi ‘flaw’ yang ada pada manusia sekeliling dari pengetahuan orang lain dan berusaha untuk menerima serta menjadikan seseorang manusia menjadi ‘flawless’. Tidak ada manusia atas bumi ini yang tidak mahu menjadi orang baik dan tidak mahu masuk syurga Allah. Sekalipun manusia tersebut dikelilingi dengan orang-orang yang berperangai ahli neraka dan bergelumang dengan dosa, dia tetap ingin merasa bau wangi syurga. Bagi Amal, memang penting untuk memilih kawan tetapi jangan mengabaikan kawan-kawan yang jauh tersimpang sebab mungkin dengan hubungan persahabatan yang terjalin, InsyaAllah hidayah akan datang. Sejak Amal mula terlibat dengan usrah, Amal mula rasa kepentingan untuk berkawan dengan semua orang sekalipun kadang-kadang tercalit bau busuk dan bahang panas. Kalau bau busuk, Amal hadiahkan minyak wangi. Kalau rasa panas, Amal hadiahkan kipas. Haha. Faham je kan apa yang Amal cuba sampaikan.

                Terima kekurangan yang ada pada sahabat yang hadir dalam hidup kita dengan redha. InsyaAllah, Allah akan meredhai hubungan persahabatan yang terjalin. 

Sapiens (Part 1)

Assalamualaikum wbt

            It has been a while since my last post about job hunting or 就職活動 (baca: shushokukatsudo) in Japan. So now, while sitting inside AirAsia X D7 522 on the way to Haneda Airport, Tokyo, I want to use this 8-hours free time to write a review about a new book that I just read title “Sapiens” written by Dr Yuval Noah Harari, a PhD in History from the University of Oxford and now a lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, specializing in World History. The main reason why I bought this book because it is one of 10 books that most read by big leaders and successful people all around the world. I’m warning you, this gonna be a very long post.

Part 1 : The Cognitive Revolution

            “Just 6 million years ago, a single female ape had two daughters. One became the ancestor of all chimpanzees, the other is our own grandmother.” Dr Yuval started the first chapter with strong evidences to prove that Charles Darwin theory is true even many people from different religion backgrounds refuse to believe it. Honestly, if I read this book with a scientific belief, I will agree to him even though there are many questions float in my mind but the evidences such as pictures and history timeline are so convinced. However, the moment I read those words as a Muslim, it makes me feel like God is unfair if He created us from animal genes. Why? I tell you later.

            Dr Yuval defined the word human as ‘an animal belonging to the genus Homo’, and there used to be many other species of this genus besides Homo sapiens such as Homo rudolfensis (East Africa), Homo erectus (East Asia), Homo neanderthalensis (Europe and western Asia) and more. We are the last human species, Homo sapiens. As he believes that our ancestors revolved from ape and scattered into different species like other animals and finally become to the shape of human beings right now, he questioned about Adam (Nabi Adam as) and Eve (Hawa) were actually coming from which species? Would the Quran have reserved seats in heaven for all righteous human, whatever their species?

Who dare to answer him?

            From a single female ape, how can only one of two daughters revolved to human being? The most commonly believed theory argues that accidental genetic mutations changed the inner wiring of the brain of Sapiens, enabling them to think in unprecedented ways and to communicate using an altogether new type of language. It is called as the Tree of Knowledge mutation. My questions here are in other animal species, is there any ‘accidental genetic mutation’ has ever happened? What is the ratio of these mutation from one species to other species? Why only ape? Not cat, whale or bird? If these species also experienced ‘accidental genetic mutation’, what are the consequences to them? Can they think like us and conquer the world? Sorry for many questions but for me, it is irrational to put human beings at same level as animals. 

            In page 30, when humans started to form friendships and hierarchies, they grow larger and need an effective social order to maintain it.  However it is not easy and need to create a fiction ‘goal’ so that large numbers of strangers can cooperate successfully. This is where religion appeared. It is also called as ‘imagined reality’, a reality that everyone believes can exert force in the world. Time pass by and this not only implemented in religion but also in law. For example, two Catholics who have never met can go together on crusade because they both believe in the same God. Two lawyers who have never met can work together to defend a complete stranger because they both believe in the existence of laws. In other words, it is an objective, a big objective that can’t be seen but can be accepted. In Quran, this ‘imagined reality’ has been mentioned as ‘the Last Day’ by Allah.

Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabeans [before Prophet Muhammad] – those [among them] who believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteous – will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve. (Al-Baqarah 2: 62)

            We need knowledge to survive in this world. The importance of knowledge had been realized since thousand years ago by our ancestors to find food and materials to live. They did not forage for knowledge by reading like us, they studied how to make a stone knife, how to lay a rabbit trap or how to turn food into medicine to cure sickness. These many skills required years of practice to master it. However, in modern days, most people don’t need to know much to survive in this world. We have been trained to just master our own tiny field of expertise and if we want to do other stuff that is out of our field, we can just rely blindly on the help of other experts, whose own knowledge is also limited to a tiny field of expertise. For example, we learn medic to become a doctor or a surgeon but if we want to eat delicious food but have no time to make it, we can just go the fancy restaurant where it has many professional cooks. The same thing goes to a cook, they learn how to cook a good food but if they get injured, they don’t learn to treat it on their own instead just simply go the hospital and ask any doctors to treat them. Our technologies might be much greater that our ancestors but at individual level, ancient people were the most knowledgeable and skillful people in history.

            When human beings try to survive searching for food, there will be natural disasters that can disrupt their activities and make their lives harder. Long time ago, our ancestors believe that natural disasters happen because the nature got mad and they need to do the scarification to ‘persuade’ it. Later, they began to create speech, song, dance and ceremony to contact the spirits of dead and be friend with the nature. This is called as animism. I’m sure we read about it in our text book. However, what think I learned here, animism is not a specific religion that we learned at school. Because inside animism, there are different religions, cults and beliefs. Pffttt.

            With skills and knowledge, human beings learned how to build and manoeuvre ocean-going vessels and became long-distance fishermen, traders and explorers. This have brought to an unprecedented transformation in human capabilities and life-styles. At the same time, every other animals also began to extinct. Even though some scholars try to exonerate Homo Sapiens and blame climate change, we are still the culprits. Through Agriculture Revolution, we have been too greedy to change our life to better till we abandoned other living creatures that also have right to live peacefully on this earth. If we knew how many species we’ve already eradicated, we might be more motivated to protect those that still survive. But we only count what still left to be exploited for our own purpose.

To be continued…

Job Hunting in Japan 就職活動

Assalamualaikum wbt

       It seems that I left my blog for quite a long time sampai berhabuk fuh fuh. As you can read the title up there, it sounds serious but for those who currently or will do job hunting, you have to read this. I'm not sure if some of you know about my condition because actually I was planning to further study to Master degree this year. Well, a lot of things happened, Allah knows the best for me so I end up doing job hunting in Japan. If you want to know more, please pm me.

       In Japan, job hunting for university students start during 4th year for degree and 2nd year for master. Which means, the students will try to get a place in any companies in Japan before graduated and begin their job next year in April, a month after graduation ceremony which usually held in March every year. For my case, I started job hunting after graduated because of some circumstance that I don't want to mention here. InsyaAllah I will start job in April next year, which means 1 year late from my other friends.

       A lot of people asked me about how I can extend my visa in Japan for job hunting because my visa students end in June. In Japan, there is a "Designated Activities Visa" or in Japanese Language 特定活動ビザ. I applied this visa via International Students Center in my university and I need to do an interview to get recommendation letter from university or 推薦 to get this visa. One more thing, I also need to write a report every month about my progress in job hunting and submit it to my university or otherwise, the university will take back the recommendation letter. Sounds 面倒くさい right? So my advice here, don't be like me and start job hunting before graduated. You can follow the link below to know more about 特定活動ビザ (in Japanese language)

http://www.moj.go.jp/ONLINE/IMMIGRATION/ZAIRYU_HENKO/zairyu_henko10_21_10.html

       For foreign students in Japan, there are many websites, agents that can help to find job in any companies in Japan.

For example:

1. ASEAN Career-> https://www.aseancareer.asia/

2. Japan Career-> http://www.japan-career.jp/en/

3. My Navi-> https://job.mynavi.jp/conts/2018/tok/p/8624/

4. Career Tasu-> https://job.career-tasu.jp/2018/features/foreign/student/

5. Rikunabi-> https://job.rikunabi.com/agent/kaigai/

6. Benesse-> https://doda-student.jp/lp/foreign.html

I think there are more but I used these websites to find job here in Japan.

Steps of Job Hunting in Japan
1. Company briefing（説明会）or （説明選考会）


    After registered with websites above, you will get a lot of information about companies that are looking for fresh graduates. So, choose your ideal companies and register for company briefing. Why you need to register? Because I noticed that the company will prepare any important documents to be given during the company briefing based on the attendees that booked earlier. If you didn't book, it's quite troublesome for the company.

       What is the difference between 説明会 and 説明選考会? In 説明会, you just listen to the staff explaining about the company, company's vision, company's profile etc. In 説明選考会, the flow is still same, but after the company briefing, you will need to do some kind of group discussion with other students and you will be judged based on your performance during group discussion. If you pass, you can go to the next step of interview. I have joined twice. I still remember that I need to do presentation on how to expand the company's potential, I also need to work together with other students to build a tower by using balloon and also got a mathematics task for example calculating the fastest route and time from A station to the company by using hints given by the staff  etc.


2. Document selection（書類選考）

　After joining 説明会,the company staff will remind you to register at company's website and fill in the entrysheet. For me, this is the hardest part. Why? You need to write an essay why you want to work in that company and why they should hire you. Let say you apply 20 different companies, so you need write 20 different essays. There are also another essays that you need to write like 学生時代に力を入れたこと, 当社でのキャリアプラン. Of course you have to write in Japanese language.  

3. SPI Test

    Next step, even though it is job hunting, you still need to study and take exams especially if you wish to get hired by big companies in Japan. Exams that students usually take during job hunting is called as SPI test. SPI test is kind of test that will test your Japanese language of course and mathematics solutions like statistics and probabilities. My advice is don't take SPI test for granted and study well. Why? I tell you later. You can find SPI test books in any book stores in Japan or just practice via website. For 派遣会社 or employment company, usually there will be two types of exams, SPI test and 技術試験 (technical test, I'm not sure if it is called as technical test in English). For example, if you are mechanical engineering student, then the company will test you with basic knowledge in mechanical engineering.

1. Study Pro-> http://saisokuspi.com/

2. My Navi-> http://job.mynavi.jp/18/pc/forward/forwardMockTest/index

I used these websites to study for SPI test and very helpful.

       So now, you know what and how to study for SPI test. So, when and where you will take this test. Some companies especially big companies, you need to take test provided by the company itself. For other companies, you need to register and book your ideal examination date at Test Center, then the results will be sent automatically to the companies that you apply. You can click at the link below.

http://arorua.net/viva/docs/ae_s0141.jsp

       Done with job hunting websites, done with SPI test, then last but not least, resume and interview. About resume, you can just google 履歴書の書き方 or pm me and I will email you my resume for reference. Resume in Japan is absolutely difference with Malaysia. No fancy font, no colorful, just plain resume with personal details and 4[cm] x 3[cm] picture. For interview, it depends on company. I have been for interview with small company and the interviewer was usually 1 person only. For big companies, the interviewers were around 4 people even though it was just first interview or 1次面接 because in Japan, usually the interview will be done twice before you get the offer letter. There is also company that carried out 6-8 levels of interview. And I only passed at 3rd level. 

       Honestly speaking, job hunting in Japan quite difficult for me. Up until now, I have been to countless 説明会 or company briefing, I think more that 20 companies. I failed in total 12 companies, 7 companies I failed at SPI test while others at first interview or 1次面接. 

       So, I pray all the best for those who are still doing job hunting or 就活 in Japan. All I can say is Allah knows the best and His blessings are everywhere on this earth. If you can't find it here in Japan, don't give up because Allah will give the best at other places. May Allah ease everything you do.