I know nothing about my maternal grandfather. Even my sister couldn't offer any information about him. I have to ask my two living aunties to know more but one is in Johor Bahru and the other nearby but sufferring from Alzhiemer. Then she is the right person to ask, because Alzhiemer patient remembers from the very early days so vividly. My mom (Salmah was her name) came from a family of six, three brothers and two sisters. She and siblings must have been orphaned from a very young age cause my eldest uncle, Bak Long (Abdul Hamid) took charge of the family by helping his mom to take care of his siblings. My memory of that Uncle is that he was educated, spoke English during those days, travelled to places in his line of work though I am not sure exactly what he does. I too remember him as the uncle who gaveme a lot of compliments when I did well in school, when I entered boarding school and finally when I got the scholarship to further my studies in England.
Coming back to my first intention of writing this epistle is to write about caring and giving. The big house we lived in was actually built by Bak Long for his mom and his siblings on a land that was wakaf to him, probably because the family was considered as the 'needy'. Then, at that young age he was probably working already thus he could afford to build that humble big house for his mom and siblings to live. The families that stayed in the house was my mom's, my uncle's, Bak Leh (Salleh was his name) and my aunt's, Chik (Safiah). My third uncle, Bak Man (Osman) was living on his own with his family at a nearby neighbourhood and the youngest aunt, Uchu (Rokiah) was married and lived separately. Bak Long himself I remembered lived in Batu Pahat for a long time.
Bak Long showed his love for his mom (my Grandma) by providing her and her children, his siblings with shelter at a very young age. I have to find out when they first lived there and then I will be able to know how young he was then. A bit of Maths to do there. He must have sacrificed so much then to make sure that all are fine with his mom and siblings. When the siblings got married, they remained in the house until all the children were born in that house at least the younger children I presume. I am sure I was born in that house, I reckon. I lived in that house until the age of eleven. When the finances got better for the three families, my uncle moved out with his family first, then my mom's family and my aunt's family moved out to a new house that both my uncle and my sister shared to buy. So much memories in that house to be told but maybe on another occasion. Having shelter was a blessing from Allah through my loving uncle.
I said in my earlier blog, I grew up with so much love around me, the uncle who cared so much for his mom and siblings which is what is expected in Islam anyway of a son or the male in the family. That's the very reason if there are any wealth left behind by the demise, the son gets a bigger portion and it is only for this purpose that Allah made it such. My uncle never thought of the rewards from Allah when he was doing all that but little did he know how much he has changed at least twenty-one lives, mine, my siblings' and all my cousins'. If not for his caringness, kindness in giving and love we wouldn't be who we are today without our good start, even in poverty, with the Grace of Allah.
Bak Long passed on last year, 2010 at the age of 95. My mom passed on at age 66 on 8.6.86, my father passed on in August 1991 at the age of 81, Bak Leh passed on in the seventies and Bak Man in the nineties. My living Aunts' husbands too have passed on. May Allah bless their souls and give rahmat and reward them for all their good deeds. Al-Fatihah.
Coming back to my first intention of writing this epistle is to write about caring and giving. The big house we lived in was actually built by Bak Long for his mom and his siblings on a land that was wakaf to him, probably because the family was considered as the 'needy'. Then, at that young age he was probably working already thus he could afford to build that humble big house for his mom and siblings to live. The families that stayed in the house was my mom's, my uncle's, Bak Leh (Salleh was his name) and my aunt's, Chik (Safiah). My third uncle, Bak Man (Osman) was living on his own with his family at a nearby neighbourhood and the youngest aunt, Uchu (Rokiah) was married and lived separately. Bak Long himself I remembered lived in Batu Pahat for a long time.
Bak Long showed his love for his mom (my Grandma) by providing her and her children, his siblings with shelter at a very young age. I have to find out when they first lived there and then I will be able to know how young he was then. A bit of Maths to do there. He must have sacrificed so much then to make sure that all are fine with his mom and siblings. When the siblings got married, they remained in the house until all the children were born in that house at least the younger children I presume. I am sure I was born in that house, I reckon. I lived in that house until the age of eleven. When the finances got better for the three families, my uncle moved out with his family first, then my mom's family and my aunt's family moved out to a new house that both my uncle and my sister shared to buy. So much memories in that house to be told but maybe on another occasion. Having shelter was a blessing from Allah through my loving uncle.
I said in my earlier blog, I grew up with so much love around me, the uncle who cared so much for his mom and siblings which is what is expected in Islam anyway of a son or the male in the family. That's the very reason if there are any wealth left behind by the demise, the son gets a bigger portion and it is only for this purpose that Allah made it such. My uncle never thought of the rewards from Allah when he was doing all that but little did he know how much he has changed at least twenty-one lives, mine, my siblings' and all my cousins'. If not for his caringness, kindness in giving and love we wouldn't be who we are today without our good start, even in poverty, with the Grace of Allah.
Bak Long passed on last year, 2010 at the age of 95. My mom passed on at age 66 on 8.6.86, my father passed on in August 1991 at the age of 81, Bak Leh passed on in the seventies and Bak Man in the nineties. My living Aunts' husbands too have passed on. May Allah bless their souls and give rahmat and reward them for all their good deeds. Al-Fatihah.
8.6.86
ReplyDeleteI will remember that inshaAllah.
Syahmi was born exactly a year after that.