BROTHERHOOD IN ISLAMIC VIEW

Assalamu’alaikum wr. wb.

All praises due to Alloh, who has created us as a social being, so we can feel the relation in each of us and know the feeling of love, anger, joy and sorrow. Peace and blessing be upon to our greatest messenger, the most noble prophet  Muhammad SAW, who has taught us many things in this full feeling life so we can feel all the affection that the world has.

I’m standing here to share something I knew and I would like you to know. It is about “Brotherhood in Islamic View”

Dear my lovely friends,

As muslim, our faith is not complete and our worship is not sufficient until we have built the strong bonds of brotherhood among ourselves.

Many muslim forget about this important thing to make our religion strong. Most muslim only focus and concern on the ritualistic worship aspect of Islam. Like we always do qiyamullail all night, go to the masjid in the morning for dhuha prayer, and we even recite the holy Qur’an for hundred of pages but we let our friends asleep beside us. Is it right?

However, my dearest friends, Islam also did teach us important aspect of our faith, which is the manner of how to deal with others. One important pillar of our dealing with others is the concept of brotherhood in Islam. And the concept is already emphasized in the qur’an and sunnah. “Believers are indeed brothers” ( Al Hujurat:10) and “ you will not be a believer until you love for your brother what you love for yourself” (narrated by Bukhari).

So what’s important about this?

Alloh is counting it as a great blessing for those who keep good relationship between each muslim. Alloh has already informed us that this unity and brotherhood is what saved us from falling to the hell fire.

And we have already known that a lot of story in the time when Rasulullah was on his fight for Islam. Brotherhood was really strong. That’s why Islam were never cracked and could spread fast.

Some examples we can see from the hijrah to Madinah, it’s the proof of strong brotherhood between the muhajirin and anshar.

We also know from shahabat who were attacked by their family because they choose Islam, but eventhough it hurt so much, they keep strong, because Rasulullah selected each of them to other muslim in Islamic brotherhood so they take care each other like family.

Even we can see by our own eyes and feel with our own heart because it brings us joy in our life as well. It will give us wonderful feeling of this sweetness of the faith, a feeling of pleasure of satisfaction.

So my dear sisters,

Let’s implement this concept of brotherhood in our life. It is part of our religion, and it’s part of our history. It is our identity that defines us as muslim and as followers of prophet Muhammad SAW.

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THE IMPORTANCE, BENEFITS AND POWER OF DU’A

Assalamu’alaikum Wr. Wb.

Alhamdulillah, All praise is due to Alloh, the Lord of the Worlds. The Beneficent, The Merciful. Master of the Day of judgment. Thee do we serve and thee do we beseech for help. Shalawat and salam may be upon to our Great Prophet Muhammad SAW, who has led and guided us from the dark into bright path. And it’s also a great honor for me to stand right here to deliver my speech about “The Importance, Benefits and Power of Du’a.”

Ladies and gentlemen,

What is du’a? What is its importance? And what are its benefits? Why do we tend to use du’a as our hope? Why are we so alienated from the power?

Dear my friends,

How many blessings has Alloh provided us with? It is a blessing that at this moment your heart is beating rhythmically, that air is, by Alloh’s command, entering your lungs and that your eyes are blinking as you read. What would happen if just one of Alloh’s blessing was stripped away from you? and how now have you thanked Alloh, the Highest, for all your blessings?

“And He gave you all that you asked from Him, and if you count the Blessings of Alloh, never will you be able to count them. (And yet) be hold, man is indeed most persistent in wrongdoing, stubbornly ingrate! “(Surah Ibrahim: 34).

Brothers and sisters,

Du’a is a powerful means of asking from Alloh and as the Prophet Muhammad SAW said, “Du’a is worship” (Tirmidzi). Du’a is such a beautiful thing in the sense that we make du’a for our own good and for the good of the Muslim community and yet not only do we have our du’a answered, by the Will of Alloh, but we are also rewarded for worshipping Him. SubhanAlloh.

My dear friends,

Don’t you like to be loved by your family? Your friends? How will it then be if you gained the love of Alloh, your creator and sustainer? The Prophet SAW said : “Nothing is dearer to Alloh than one’s supplication/du’a to Him”. “Du’a is a weapon of a believer, a pillar of religion, and a light of the heavens and the earth”. Using du’a, they can achieve great things and overcome many problems. By making du’a to Alloh, we become aware of our weakness and His greatness. The more we ask from Alloh, the closer we get to Him and the more sincere our actions become. Our trust in Alloh increases and we realize that He is the only one capable of answering our needs and wants.

Dear my friends, There are some benefits of Du’a:

 Pleases the Almighty.

Alloh loves that believers should pray to Him constantly.

 Gives peace and contentment

A person who prays to Alloh, put all faith and trust in Him, never feels alone or lonely. “Those who believe and whose heart are set at rest by the remembrance of Alloh, surely by Alloh’s remembrance are hearts set at rest”

 Increases knowledge and humility

Most du’as teach us about the greatness of Alloh. They also make us aware of our lowly position and our helplessness. This will prevent us from becoming proud and arrogant

 Changes what is destined

Du’a reverts what has been destined. Although Alloh decrees all things, he has given us the ability to make changes through Du’a.

 Averts difficulties

Many problems and difficulties in life can be avoided by praying to Alloh. He is in complete control, and can keep away all afflictions from those who ask Him for that.

Dear my friends,

Whoever ask something from Alloh, his du’a is always heard and answered. Sometimes it is not answered in the way the supplicant expects. No du’a is rejected. A believer who prays and asks from Alloh, is guaranteed one of three things:

 Either his du’a is answered immediately

 Or he is given a reward for it for the hereafter

 Or a difficulty is averted from him.

Remember that He is the one who created you and it is Him to whom you will ultimately return. That’s all from me.

Wassalamu’alaikum Wr. Wb.

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THE IMPORTANCE OF MASTERING ENGLISH

Assalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarokatuh,

Your Excellencies the committee, The honorable juries, Dear my friends who participate in this speech contest, and my beloved brothers and sisters.

In the name of Alloh, the Beneficent and the Merciful.

All praises be to Alloh SWT, the lord of the world, the master of the day after, the creator of everything in this Universe, where he has no partner. He has also given us enjoyment, particularly faith and health and comfort, hence, we could attend here in a good situation.

Peace and Salutation be upon our prophet Muhammad SAW, who has taught us the cardinal principles of the unity of God, obliged us to confess it with the tongue and believe it in the heart. He also has brought us from the darkness to the brightness, from stupidity to cleverness, in the other word “Minazzhulumaati Ilannuur”

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Indeed, it is very great pleasure for me in this precious chance to deliver my speech to the most honorable audiences entitled: “The Importance of Mastering English”

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Language plays an important role in human life. One tries to acquire, learn and use language as a means of communication, and simultaneously as social symbol of humanity. By using language, someone could make statements, convey facts and knowledge, explain or report something, and keep social relations among the language users. These indicate that by means of language, people can express their ideas, feeling, information etc through communication.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As one of language in the world, English is considered and applied as international language. Since then, it is very popular and has been spoken and learnt by almost all people in the world. There are some reasons why English is important and many people attempt to learn it. Some of them are: for finding job, traveling, interacting one with others, doing business, taking examination, doing research, writing in the foreign language, etc.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In such developing country like Indonesia, English has a vital role in all aspects of life, particularly in science and technology. Furthermore, it can be used for developing relationships in the international forum, for reading English book (especially for students from primary school up to colleges/university), to tighten the relationship among nations in the world, etc. As students, we learn English that is intended to obtain various knowledge, to comprehend and understand the textbooks written in English, to gain knowledge and skills, and to be ready to enter the university, as one of the test requirements for students of senior High School (SMA), etc. Looking at the above important roles of English, that is why English is very important to understand and to master by every people around the world.

My brothers and sisters!

At the end of my speech, I will quote a wise expression: “English will make everybody survive and go anywhere”. This expression reminds us how important English for human life is. As global or universal language, English does not only enable us to communicate and interact with every people in the world, but also it could alter our life to be better. Furthermore, we also must be aware that the western countries play extra ordinary role in developing and keeping science and technology.

Thus, if we want to be a skilful scientists, linguists, and be able to compete with the other countries in the world, we must understand, master and learn the language they use, namely English.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Before ending this speech, let me conclude the essential points of my speech:

 English is highly necessary to be learned and mastered by everyone, in order to be able to compete in the globalization era;

 English is a key to open and master science and technology, because most of scientists write their experts and inventions in English.

 As students of high school (SMA), we have to prepare ourselves by learning hard, particularly English as well as the other subjects at school;

 Mastering English enables us to survive and go anywhere around the world;

Goethe (a Greek philosopher) has ever said:

“Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.” Therefore, let’s learn English and use it in our daily activity.

Don’t Forget “English is a bridge for the future.”

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I think it’s completely enough for me to this point. The wrong utterances are caused by limitation of my ability and the right ones are merely from Alloh SWT. So, I beg your pardon, finally I say.

Wassalamu’alaikum Wr. Wb.

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The Role of Youth In Developing Indonesia (An English Speech)

The Honorable Jury,

The Respectable Chairman,

And all my beloved audiences,

All praises be to Alloh SWT, the most merciful, the most beneficent, who created the world belong to the mankind. Shalawat and Salam may always be given to our prophet, Muhammad SAW along with his family, his friends, and his followers.

And I don't forget to thank particularly to the committee who has given me an opportunity to deliver a speech in front of you all. I am standing here I would like to deliver my speech under the title: The Role of Youth in Developing Indonesia.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Do you know that our first President, Mr. Soekarno, has ever said ‘give me ten youth, then I will make them rock the world’? And why did he say that? Of course, there is a meaning behind it. Do you still remember, before the freedom of Indonesia, there were some Youth Organizations like Budi Utomo, Jong Celebes, Jong Sumatera and many others? They were united in the Youth Oath on October 28, 1928 to proclaim the freedom of Indonesia from the colonialism. Their struggles finally reached the best result in August 17, 1945. The freedom of Indonesia was announced to the whole of the world. It was really hard working of our heroes. They had to give their time, money and even their life to this country.

My beloved audiences,

It is contrary with the current condition I have seen in the television and the Internet, as well as what  I heard in the Radio. How worried our young generation is. They do what they want to do, they enjoy their life freely, and more ironically, they do negative things such as juvenile delinquency, drugs abuse, free sex. Let’s take a look at an example, a few months ago, the police in Jakarta found that there was a health centre used for abortion. Do you know who the patients were? Yes, YOUTH. In addition, In Yogyakarta, there was a survey about the Youth Virginity and do you know the result? More than 80%, they had done free sex before marriage. It is absolutely clear that our young generation is in a terrible moral degradation. But I believe that all the audiences here do not belong to it.

Ladies and gentlemen,

If we pay attention to the facts above. Then, what can we give to our country? It is impossible we can reach our goals and develop our country with all those conditions. I can't imagine that. Perhaps, our country will be recolonized by the other country.

So, what can we give to develop our country? I have three answers. They are:

First, obey and respect our parents and our teachers. Why must we do it? Remember, when we were babies, there was nothing we could do except our parents. Now, we have grown and become a student at school. Our teachers teach us from zero to million.

Second, study hard. If we study hard whatever we want, we will get it by the knowledge. Remember, Many Indonesian students have shown their ability in International Science Olympic Exhibition and they got it. Of course it will make our country more popular among countries in the world.

Third, stay away from the negative things like what I said previously. Drug abuse, free sex and other negative things are the main factors which can make our country fall down. Remember, if we are the students with those problems, it means no future at all because we can do nothing.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me conclude my speech that we as the young generation must aware deep in our heart to develop our country. Why? Because as Imam Syafi'i said that "the young generation today is a Leader in the future." So, keep our spirit to respect our parents and our teachers. And don't forget to study hard in order to develop our own country, Indonesia.

Thank you very much.

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The Students' Role in Preserving The National Culture of Indonesia (An English Speech)

We begin in the name of Allah, the most merciful, the kindest.

The respectful judges, committees, and all fellow participants of the English Speech Competition.

My name is Qashmir Ramadhan and I am speaking as the delegate of MA Husnul Khotimah.

Before coming to my speech, I would like to thank, if I may, all of the audiences here, especially the committees, for giving me the opportunity to speak. In this grateful occasion, I would like to talk briefly about, “The Students’ Role In Preserving The National Culture.”

Ladies and gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to talk about the significance of preserving the national culture. To begin with, our father of education, Ki Hajar Dewantara, in a simple word, proposed that the national cultures of Indonesia are the characteristics of the nation itself. Therefore, preserving national cultures means preserving ‘the existence’ of the nation since the characteristics of a nation make the nation broadly acknowledged.

Then, this issue has become far more pressing and significant as there are over 30 national cultures of Indonesia that have been claimed by other countries. On the other hand, modernity has been assumed as the best culture across the globe.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Overcoming this problem, by all means, is the responsibility of all elements of the society in this country. So, let’s talk about what we, as students, could possibly do regarding this issue.

Let me begin by saying, for me, there is a solution which in many circumstances, has been barely discussed. It is a concept that we know as ‘adaptation’.

Well, many have said, and I’m trying to agree, that in order to preserve our culture, we have to learn more about the culture itself, and then practically participate in it. But what I’m saying now is more than that. People often think that cultures are something old, something out of date. Because of that mindset, then what we also should do is adaptation. We make the cultures adapt the condition.

Examples of this concept have actually emerged recently. Today, we see batik in football shirts, promoting batik by holding Banyuwangi Batik Fastival, batik fashion show in Festival “Jogja Kota Batik Dunia”, promoting modern design of batik in Indonesia Fashion Week and many more.

The thing is, to make it possible, we need those who understand both the cultures and the condition of today’s world at the same time. And I believe, those are the young generation, and obviously, including the students.

Indeed, it is important to make our culture remain unchanged, yet I believe, it is still more important to preserve the positive values of our culture. As the world around us changes, the core of positive values of our culture remain there.

So, brothers and sisters,

Nothing will be changed until someone changes something! As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world!”

So, learn more about our culture, love our culture, preserve the positive values of our culture, and be proud of our culture! Let the world know Indonesia as a place where culture breeds innovation.

Indonesia has more than 150 million young-productive students from total 250 million citizens. If Soekarno said that he could ‘shake’ the world with 10 youth who have truthful love to their nation, so what on earth we cannot do with 150 million of those? Don’t wait for Indonesia, because Indonesia has been waiting for you!

Thank you very much.

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