MPSU The Climb

Assalamu'alaikum wr br!

It is the start of a new year. A great way to spend our new year with the MPSU Hike - One Purpose,  One Peak, A New Beginning.

MPSU is a platform where all the 5 Polytechnics Muslim Societies - TPNI, NPMS, SPMLS: Munawwar, NYPMSN and RPMS - come together with a purpose of building unity among Muslim students in different polytechnics. Established in 2013, MPSU Mission was to forge stronger ties between the 5 Muslim Societies Polytechnics in Singapore, with a Motto of "Five Polytechnics, One Ummah".

MPSU Hike, The Climb, is the first event organized by the Leaders of each Polytechnics Muslim Societies under the name MPSU. (There's been collaboration in the past before MPSU was formed.)

Alhamdulillah, the event was fun, yet a learning experience for all of us too. We were divided into groups and there were 5 stations throughout the hiking route. The 5 stations were a short, brief Tazkirah shared by the 5 different Muslim Society Polytechnics Presidents, based on Islamic Fundamental Roots - Shahadah, Solat, Fasting, Zakat and Hajj. The idea was to start from the very beginning of Islamic Basics, as this day, 1st January 2014, is a new start for all of us.

Here, one of the sisters who had joined the hike, sister Fadiilah, shares her experience:

The hike was an amazing experience. Through out the hike, I've got to learn more about the five pillars of Islam which are the shahadah, solat, puasa, zakat and hajj. While hiking we were supposed to feel as if we were at haj. It felt that way too because there would be distractions all around you and the journey would be far and you might lose your strength.

Zakat is about learning how to give and help your brothers or sisters in Islam, because not all of us are fortunate enough to get food and shelter.

As for fasting, there is a lot of benefits and rewards in it. I've learnt that it's encouraged to puasa sunnah on Mondays & Thursdays and to avoid fasting on Fridays only but if we were to fast on Friday, we would have to fast the day before(Thursday) or the day after(Saturday) as mentioned in Hadith Bukhari & Muslim. Point to take note, being a Muslim is not only about worshipping, but also self-improvement, being a better Muslim in the sight of Allah swt. One of the steps we can take for self-improvement is by fasting.

For prayer, I've learnt that if there is no one that truly understands you or whenever you feel as if the world is against you or your world is falling apart, let yourself know that He is always there to listen to, guide you and just be with you.

Last but not least, the shahadah. Whenever we say our shahadah, we tend to forget what's the meaning behind it and it goes as just simply saying. I've learnt that saying your shahadah with your heart and your eyes closed, it helps me feel the true meaning of the shahadah and I felt Him closer to me and also it helped me to remember our Rasul s.a.w. 

What a better way to sum up the times we had than through this video made by the Publicity person of NPMSS, Brother Redhuan! Watch it here :)

MPSU, Ready to Hike!

(Photo Credit to Khairunnisa)

Look out for future MPSU events in the future, insyaAllah!