Istikharah

Salaamz.

Gw lagi menghadapi suatu dilema yang cukup akut :)

Keterima kerja di Philip Morris International hari Rabu lalu, bikin gw bingung jungkir balik.
I consult my situation briefly with my bestfriend and a true brother in Islam.
First, he asked me, how do I feel it in my heart? Karena Allah memberikan hati kita for a reason.

Kedua, he explained to me about the ruling of cigarette from Islamic perspective.

Ketiga, he adviced me to go and pray Istikharah. Mintalah yang terbaik.
Jika ini memang yang terbaik, minta mudahkan hati ini menerimanya. Jika bukan, minta dilapangkan dada untuk bersabar, dan PASTI Allah akan menggantikannya dengan yang lebih baik.
Ketika menolak untuk mengambil tawaran kerja ini, make do'a in your heart: "Ya Allah, aku menolak ini karena Engkau, dan aku mohon, berikanlan pengganti rezekiMu ini dengan yang lebih mengundangan RahmatMu, dan dibukakannya pintu Surga FirdausMu".

Keempat, alasan2 yang gw kemukakan untuk mengambil kesempatan ini memang valid, but then, wouldn't it be the same thing to say "gw drug dealing aja, karena uang nya akan lebih cepat menghasilkan, dan gw bisa keluar dari masalah gw lebih cepat lagi".
Or making this as a stepping stone for 2 years or so. Or being able to support my family. These are valid reasons.

Kelima, memang, kerja dimanapun itu, misalnya, di Oil and Gas company, kalo ditilik lebih jauh lagi dalam supply chain mereka, pasti ada juga mereka support company di industry yang diharamkan juga, e.g. Alcoholic and Beverages, etc. But this is more indirect effect, compare to actually working in the industry.


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After I finished my conversation with him, gw tidur, dan bangun untuk shalat tahajjud dan istikharah. I made my do'a and have a conversation with my own self for a while.

And then, I jumped on to Internet, balik lagi ngeliat seek.com.

And I saw an opportunity with IBM, sebagai Category Specialist juga, mirip2 dengan apa yg gw apply ke PMI.

Is this the answer to my prayer?
Wallahualaam. Tp, I wasted no time, dan gw langsung apply at 3.30AM last night. Hopefully, at least, I get a call for an interview.

Gw juga lgsg email agent gw yang trying to hook me up with PMI, gw minta waktu lagi.
7 hari setelah gw dikasih tau diterima. That means, it'll be next Wednesday. Gw juga bilang, di dalam Q&A session dengan Head of Operation, I bombarded him with various strategic and environmental/social responsibility issues. There are several responses that made me feel unease // didn't feel quite right.


Ya Allah, jika memang pekerjaan ini yang terbaik, maka mudahkanlah. Jadikan hati ku tenang menerimanya. Dan terimalah taubatku dalam hari2 kedepan aku menjalaninya.

Ya Allah, jika ini bukan yang terbaik, maka gantikanlah rezeki ini dengan yang lebih baik, lebih banyak agar aku bisa membantu keluarga ku, gantikanlah dengan rezeki yang halal dan thayyiban.

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This is some research I've done on Smoking and Cigarettes:

http://www.emro.who.int/publications/EMROPublications/HealthEdReligion/Smoking/FT_AbdullahalMishad.htm

1. The Prophet PBUH also said: "God has sanctioned certain obligations which you shall not neglect; He laid down certain limits which you shall not exceed; and He passed over certain things in silence out of compassion for you and not out of being forgetful and these you had better leave undiscussed" (reported by Al-Bukhari, Muslim and Al-Daraqutni, as relayed by Abu Thaalaba).
The sharia as laid down by God for His servants, has specific purposes, namely: necessities, needs and supplementaries to help in meeting the requirements of sharia. Necessities are components upon which the life and welfare of people depend, as they bring benefit to them and keep evil away from them. If one such component is missing, the whole life system is disturbed and chaos and corruption prevail.

Those components are: the soul (self), the mind, wealth, religion and honour. Clear-cut stipulations emphasized the importance of the soul, the mind and wealth, and the necessity of preserving and protecting them from harm. To destroy or violate them is strictly prohibited, and that is why when God created them He set definite rules aiming at the preservation and protection of those elements, as well as the prevention of the destruction or violation of them.

The soul is the being or the essence of life God says: Do not kill yourselves (4:29). God created life and enjoined marriage as the means for the procreation and survival of the species. To preserve life God called on man to earn a living (food, drink and shelter), and to keep it out of harm's way God prescribed retaliation (qissass), blood money and penance. God says: And do not with your own hands cast yourselves into destruction (2:195). And destruction here includes torture, poverty and fear. God says:

They only destroy their own souls (6:26). Man's life is of great value. It ought to be preserved and spared destruction. Survival is a human instinct. All laws, both divine and man-made, safeguard human life and declare it unlawful for a person to kill another or do harm to another unless for the protection of society. Sanctions are prescribed to penalize transgressors and deter others. Thus the right to live, the most important of all the prescribed rights, is established. The sharia forbids self-destruction: And kill not yourselves, for surely God is most merciful to you. If anyone does that in rancour and injustice soon shall we cast him into the fire (4:29-30). The Prophet PBUH says "And he who killed himself by falling from the top of a mountain would certainly fall in hell-fire". In the farewell sermon the Prophet PBUH says: "O Men, your lives and your property shall be inviolate until you meet your Lord".

2. Wealth: is held by God on a par with children: Wealth and children are the adornment of the present world (18:46). It was graciously bestowed by God upon His servants: And we succoured you with riches and children and made you outnumber them (17:6), in men who take pride in wealth and children. God warns people against spending money on things that will harm them: O you who believe, let neither your riches nor your children divert you (63:9). That is by spending these riches uselessly and in ways that cause harm. Again He says: And know that your wealth and your children are but a testing temptation (8:28), that is, putting you to the test, for He will be asking you to account for the money you spend as well as for your deeds

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