Kesyahidan Anas Bin Nadhr

Anas bin Nadhr ialah salah seorang daripada sahabat-sahabat Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. yang tidak mengambil bahagian dalam peperangan Badar. Dia berasa kesal kerana tidak menyertai peperangan tersebut. Oleh hal yang demikian dia sentiasa menanti-nanti peluang untuk menyertai peperangan untuk menebuskan apa yang dianggapnya suatu kerugian bagi dirinya. Kesempatan yang dinanti-nantinya itupun tiba apabila berlaku perang Uhud pada tahun berikutnya. Anas pun dengan serta merta menyertai tentera Muslimin dengan semangat kejihadan yang berkobar-kobar kemedan pertempuran. Sungguhpun bala tentera yang dihadapi mereka berkali-kali ganda banyaknya namun sedang tentera Muslimin mengatasi pihak musuh, tiba-tiba berlaku suatu kesilapan.

Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. telah menghantar sepasukan pemanah-pemanah yang terdiri daripada 50 orang untuk menguasai tentera berkuda pihak musuh yang mungkin menyerang tentera Muslimin dari belakang. Mereka diperintahkan supaya menetap diatas sebuah bukit dibelakang tentera Muslimin selagi mereka tidak menerima arahan daripada Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. sendiri menyuruh mereka berundur dari situ. Tetapi mereka ini telah mengingkari arahan Baginda s.a.w. Apabila mereka melihat askar-askar musuh lari lintang pukang, diburu oleh Mujahid-Mujahid Islam, mereka menyangka yang kemenangan telah pun tercapai lantas meninggalkan tempat mereka sambil berkejar-kejaran untuk mendapatkan harta rampasan. Yang tinggal diatas bukit itu hanyalah ketua mereka dan beberapa orang yang masih taat. Apabila dilihat oleh pemimpin tentera musyrikin yang bukit itu telah ditinggalkan, dia pun mengerah pasukannya menyebu dan membunuh tentera panah Muslimin yang masih bertahan diatasnya dan melancarkan serangan balas terhadap tentera muslimin dari belakang ketika mereka sedang asyik mengumpulkan tentera rampasan.Dalam keadaan kelam kabut inilah Anas terpandang kepada Saad bin Maaz yang sedang melalui hadapannya. Dia memekik mengatakan:"Ya Saad! Kemana engkau? Demi Allah! Aku mencium bau Syurga yang datangnya dari Jabal Uhud".

Dengan berkata demikian dia pun menerkam musuh lalu menentang mereka habis-habisan sehingga dia gugur sebagai Syahid dimedan peperangan. Apabila badannya yang berlumuran darah itu diperiksa terdapat tidak kurang dari 80 liang luka semuanya.Tidak ada siapa yang dapat mengenalinya melainkan saudara perempuannya sahaja. Orang yang berjihad dijalan Allah s.w.t.. dengan penuh keikhlasan dan kejujuran akan mengecap nikmat syurga di dunia ini dan di akirat kelak. Demikianlah hal keadaannya dengan sahabat Anas bin Nadhr.

American Becomes A Muslim...

"Barang siapa yang diberi petunjuk oleh Allah, maka dialah yang mendapat petunjuk" (QS. Al-A'raf: 178)

Gambaran ayat di atas terlihat seorang jutaan yang asalnya dari Amerika. Mark Shaffer namanya. Dia mengisytiharkan keislamannya pada hari Sabtu, 17 Oktober 2009 yang lalu. Saat itu Mark sedang melancong ke Saudi Arabia untuk mengunjungi beberapa kota terkenal seperti Riyadh, Najran, dan Jeddah selama 10 hari.

Mark adalah seorang jutaan terkenal dan pengacara berpengalaman di Los Angeles Amerika Serikat, khususnya terkait hukum sivil. Kes besar terakhir yang ditanganinya ialah berkait dengan penyanyi pop terkenal Amerika Michel Jackson seminggu sebelum beliau meninggal dunia.

Menurut pengakuannya, yang mengilhaminya masuk Islam adalah dorongan pribadinya yang kuat untuk mengenal Islam. Dan setelah membaca maklumat-maklumat yang benar tentang Islam, dia yakin bahawa Islam adalah agama yang benar.

Sebenarnya, Mark sudah memiliki sedikit pengetahuan tentang Islam. Dan ketika berada di Arab Saudi dan menyaksikan sendiri kehidupan kaum Muslimin, khususnya ketika mereka bersolat berjamaah, dorongan untuk lebih mendalami Islam menjadi semakin kuat.

Seorang pegawai pelancong yang menemani Mark selama 10 hari di Arab Saudi, Dhawi Ben Nashir menjadi saksi perjalanan keislaman Mark Shaffer. Ben Nasher menceritakan bahawa Mark mulai bertanya-tanya padanya tentang Islam sejak pertama kali menginjakkan kakinya di sana.

Sesampainya di A.Saudi, Mark menginap di kota Riyadh selama dua hari. Selama itu, Mark sangat concern pada Islam.

Selepas ke Riyadh, Mark pindah ke Najran, terus ke Abha dan Al-Ula. Di sanalah ketertarikannya pada Islam sangat terlihat. Ketika itu, dia sedang menuju ke padang pasir.

Di sana, dia melihat tiga pemuda A.Saudi yang mendampinginya sedang solat di atas permukaan padang pasir yang amat luas. Sungguh sebuah pemandangan yang sangat menakjubkan baginya.

Ben Nasher melanjutkan ceritanya, "Setelah dua hari di Al-Ula, kami pergi ke Al-Juf. Sesampai di Al-Juf, Mark minta dicarikan buku-buku tentang Islam. Lalu saya berikan beberapa buku tentang Islam. Semua buku tersebut dibaca habis oleh Mark. Esok paginya, dia minta saya mengajarkannya solat. Saya pun mengajarkannya solat dan bagaimana cara berwudhu'. Lalu dia ikut bersolat di samping saya."

Setelah mengikut bersolat bersamanya, Mark merasakan jiwanya sangat tenteram. Sebuah kenikmatan yang tidak terkira dibayangkannya.

Petang Khamisnya, Mark dan pegawai pelancongannya meninggalkan Al-Ula menuju kota Jeddah. Selama di perjalanan dia dilihat serius sekali membaca buku-buku tentang Islam. Dan pada Jum'at paginya, mereka mengunjungi kota tua Jeddah.

Sebelum waktu solat Jumaat tiba, mereka kembali ke hotel. Ben Nasher minta izin untuk solat Jumaat. Saat itu Mark ingin ikut bersamanya untuk solat Jumaat agar dapat menyaksikannya bagaimana solat Jumaat itu. "Welcome…," jawab Ben Naher dengan semangat.

"Kamipun pergi ke sebuah masjid yang tidak jauh dari hotel tempat kami menginap di Jeddah. Karana agak terlambat, saya dan sebahagian jamaah solat di luar masjid karana jamaahnya yang penuh. Terlihat Mark mengamati jamaah apalagi setelah selesai solat Jumaat, mereka saling bersalam-salaman dengan wajah yang cerah dan gembira. Mark semakin kagum dengan pemandangan tersebut," tutur Ben Nasher.

Setelah pulang ke hotel, tiba-tiba Mark menyampaikan kepada Ben Nasher tentang keinginannya untuk masuk Islam. Ben Nasher pun menyambutnya dengan gembira, "Silakan Anda mandi terlebih dulu," sarannya.

Setelah mandi, Ben Nasher membimbing Mark mengucapkan dua kalimat syahadah lalu solat sunat dua rakaat. Setelah itu, Mark mengungkapkan keinginannya untuk mengunjungi Masjid Haram di Makkah dan solat di sana sebelum dia meninggalkan Saudi Arabia.

Supaya dapat memasuki kota Makkah dan Masjidil Haram, Mark ditemani Ben Nasher pergi ke pejabat Dakwah dan Irsyad di kawasan Al-Hamro’ Jeddah untuk mengambil bukti rasmi keislamannya. Lalu Mark diberi sijil kemasukan dalam Islam. Kerana beberapa anggota pembantu yang mengikuti kunjungan Mark ke Saudi Arabia sudah harus kembali ke Amerika petang Sabtunya, alhamdullah, Ustaz Muhammad Turkistani bersedia mengantarkan Mark ke tanah haram Mekkah pagi itu juga.

Berkaitan kunjungan Mark ke Masjidil Haram, Ustaz Muhammad Turkistani menceritakan, "setelah Mark medapatkan sijil Islam sementara kami pun langsung berangkat menuju Masjidil Haram yang mulia. Ketika dia menyaksikan Masjidil Haram, kelihatan sekali wajahnya sangat cerah dan memancarkan kegembiraan yang luar biasa. Ketika dia masuk ke dalam Masjidil Haram dan menyaksikan sendiri Ka’bah, kegembiraannya semakin bertambah. Demi Allah saya tidak bisa mengungkapkannya dengan lisan akan pemandangan tersebut. Setelah dia tawaf mengelilingi Ka’bah yang mulia, kami solat sunat dan kemudian keluar dari Masjid Haram. Saya lihat Mark sangat berat untuk berpisah dengan Masjid Haram."

Setelah Mark mengumumkan keislamannya, dia sempat mengungkapkan kebahagiaanya pada al-Quran Al-Riyadh sambil berkata, "Saya tidak sanggup mengungkapkan perasaan saya saat ini. Sekarang saya baru dilahirkan kembali dan kehidupan saya baru bermula…" Mark menambahkan, "saya sangat bahagia. Kebahagiaan yang saya rasakan tidak sanggup saya ungkapkan pada anda saat saya berkunjung ke Masjidil Haram dan Ka’bah yang mulia."

Setelah menjadi muslim, Mark bertekat akan lebih serius mendalami Islam dan akan kembali lagi ke Saudi Arabia untuk menunaikan ibadah Haji.

Pagi Ahad 18 Okteber 2009, Mark meninggalkan Bandara King Abdul Aziz Jeddah menuju Amerika. Sebelum meninggalkan Jeddah, saat mengisi borang imigrasi, Mark mencatatkan agamanya adalah ISLAM.

Selamat jalan saudaraku . . . semoga Allah sentiasa menjagamu dan memilihmu untuk menjadi duta Islam di Amerika. Semoga Allah menganugerahkan hidayah kepada rakyat Amerika melalui tanganmu. Membuka mata hati pemimpin negerimu melalui sebab dirimu. . . .

Subhanallah....

Halloween~Harmless or Haram?

Do Muslims celebrate Halloween? How is Halloween perceived in Islam? To make an informed decision, we need to understand the history and traditions of this festival.

Religious Festivals

Muslims have two celebrations each year, 'Eid al-Fitr and 'Eid al-Adha. The celebrations are based in the Islamic faith and religious way of life. There are some who argue that Halloween, at least, is a cultural holiday, with no religious significance. To understand the issues, we need to look at the origins and history of Halloween.

Pagan Origins of Halloween

Halloween originated as the Eve of Samhain, a celebration marking the beginning of winter and the first day of the New Year among ancient pagans of the British Isles. On this occasion, it was believed that supernatural forces gathered together, that the barriers between the supernatural and human worlds were broken. They believed that spirits from other worlds (such as the souls of the dead) were able to visit earth during this time and roam about. At this time, they celebrated a joint festival for the sun god and the lord of the dead. The sun was thanked for the harvest and given moral support for the upcoming "battle" with winter. In ancient times, the pagans made sacrifices of animals and crops in order to please the gods.

They also believed that on October 31st, the lord of the dead gathered all the souls of the people who had died that year. The souls upon death would dwell in the body of an animal, then on this day the lord would announce what form they were to take for the next year.

Christian Influence

When Christianity came to the British Isles, the church tried to take attention away from these pagan rituals by placing a Christian holiday on the same day. The Christian festival, the Feast of All Saints, acknowledges the saints of the Christian faith in much the same way that Samhain had paid tribute to the pagan gods. The customs of Samhain survived anyway, and eventually became intertwined with the Christian holiday. These traditions were brought to the United States by immigrants from Ireland and Scotland.
Halloween Customs and Traditions

"Trick or Treating": It is widely believed that during the Feast of All Saints, peasants went from house to house asking for money to buy food for the upcoming feast. Additionally, people dressed in costumes would often play tricks on their neighbors. Blame for the resulting chaos was placed on the "spirits and goblins."

Images of bats, black cats, etc.: These animals were believed to communicate with the spirits of the dead. Black cats especially were believed to house the souls of witches.

Games such as bobbing for apples: The ancient pagans used divination techniques to foresee the future. There were various methods of doing this, and many have continued through traditional games, often played at children's parties.

Jack-O'-Lantern: The Irish brought the Jack-O'-Lantern to America. The tradition is based on a legend about a stingy, drunken man named Jack. Jack played a trick on the devil, then made the devil promise not to take his soul. The devil, upset, promised to leave Jack alone. When Jack died, he was turned away from Heaven because he was a stingy, mean drunk. Desperate for a resting place, he went to the devil but the devil also turned him away. Stuck on earth on a dark night, Jack was lost. The devil tossed him a lighted coal from the fire of Hell, which Jack placed inside a turnip as a lamp to light his way. Since that day, he has traveled the world over with his Jack-O'-Lantern in search of a resting place. Irish children carved out turnips and potatoes to light the night on Halloween. When the Irish came to America in great numbers in the 1840's, they found that a pumpkin made an even better lantern, and this "American tradition" came to be.

Islamic Teachings

Virtually all Halloween traditions are based either in ancient pagan culture, or in Christianity. From an Islamic point of view, they all are forms of idolatry (shirk). As Muslims, our celebrations should be ones that honor and uphold our faith and beliefs. How can we worship only Allah, the Creator, if we participate in activities that are based in pagan rituals, divination, and the spirit world? Many people participate in these celebrations without even understanding the history and the pagan connections, just because their friends are doing it, their parents did it ("it's a tradition!"), and because "it's fun!"

So what can we do, when our children see others dressed up, eating candy, and going to parties? While it may be tempting to join in, we must be careful to preserve our own traditions and not allow our children to be corrupted by this seemingly "innocent" fun. When tempted, remember the pagan origins of these traditions, and ask Allah to give you strength. Save the celebration, the fun and games, for our 'Eid festivals. Children can still have their fun, and most importantly, should learn that we only acknowledge holidays that have a religious significance to us as Muslims. Holidays are not just excuses to binge and be reckless. In Islam, our holidays retain their religious importance, while allowing proper time for rejoicing, fun and games.

Guidance From the Quran

"When it is said unto them, 'Come to what Allah has revealed, come to the Messenger,' they say, 'Enough for us are the ways we found our fathers following.' What! Even though their fathers were void of knowledge and guidance?" (Qur'an 5:104)

"Has not the time arrived for the believers, that their hearts in all humility should engage in the remembrance of Allah and of the Truth which has been revealed to them? That they should not become like those to whom was given the Book aforetime, but long ages passed over them and their hearts grew hard? For many among them are rebellious transgressors." (Qur'an 57:16)

A Time To Thank to God...

Sometimes we take things for granted and behave as if we created ourselves and acquired everything we have from our own efforts.

It is He who brought you forth from the wombs of your mother when you knew nothing, and He gave you hearing and sight and intelligence and affections, that you may give thanks to God. (Qur'an 16:78)

We thank You God for everything we have, for everything good that happens to us.

"Everything good that happens to you (O Mankind) is from God; everything bad that happens to you is from your own actions.: (4:79)

We thank You for creating us as humans, the best of creation, with intelligence and five portals to decide what is right and wrong.

"Have We not given him (mankind) two eyes, a tongue and a pair of lips, and shown Him the two highways of good and evil." (90:8-10)

Our Lord ! You sustained us through nine months of helpless intrauterine life, continued to provide us with food and other materials to sustain us throughout our life.

"O you who believe! Partake of good things which we have provided for you as sustenance, and render thanks to God, if it is truly Him that you worship." (2:172)

We thank You God not only for creating and sustaining us, but also for guiding us, for accepting our prayers and for forgiving us when we wrong ourselves. Thus it is impossible for us to deny You favors upon us.

"For how long, you will deny the favors of your Lord." (Qur'an: Surah Ar-Rahman)

We thank You God for our own gains. Whoever is thankful (to God) is in fact thankful for his own self.

"But if anyone is ungrateful, verily Allah is free of all wants, Worthy of all praise." (31:12)

We thank You God for giving us, to live and prosper a spacious land of freedom and opportunity, where 'the weak and oppressed could migrate to. (See Qur'an 4:97)

We should thank You God by remembering You , not on just one day a year but in our daily life.

"Then do ye remember Me; I will remember you. Be grateful to Me and reject not Faith." (Qur'an 2:152)

My Best Friend...

FRIENDSHIP REMAINS AND NEVER CAN END (F.R.A.N.C.E).

When the school year was going to start, it was the most joyful moments that I had ever had. Other people said I was a weird person because for them, they liked to go home rather than staying back at the hostel. I said so because when I got into the school, I could meet my friends and did everything with them. Being in the boarding school, I found it was very hard to make friends with people in my hometown. Although there were lots people that I called friend but none of them could be considered as a close friend. Nevertheless, it finally ended when I met a friend named Zikri. He was a new-intake student in form 4 from daily school. He came from very respectable background but he behaved as though there was nothing special about him. He was my age and even sat next to me. We made up our mind to join the same club as well.

Since we knew each other better, our intimacy increased as we always did almost every single thing together. One day, the advisor of my club asked us to join the club activity which was an expedition to Gua Niah. Without further thinking, I decided to leave the chance due to my financial problem but he persuaded me to join with him. He told that he wanted to help me to find the money together. So, we started to keep money by selling hot dog in hostel. We did it a few months and we got more than what we expected. As a result, we managed to join the expedition together without any barrier. As time passed, we had our own lives and pursued our studies at different institutions. It did not mean that we have no friendship ties anymore, but we often managed to see each other on holidays. We shared everything together as if there are no secrets between us. I could feel that he was the best friend that I have ever had and hopefully our friendships would last forever.

"Sleep Now, Remember Later"

Sleep Improves Memory

There are several different types of memory, and scientists have designed ways to test each type. Whether the test involves figuring out how to do something, remembering facts, or recalling life events, performance improves when you learn the task and then “sleep on it”. “It’s as if our brains squeeze in some extra practice time while we’re asleep....This isn’t to say that we can’t form memories when we’re awake. If someone tells you his name, you don’t need to fall asleep to remember it. However,sleep makes it more likely that you do.”

A Tired Brain Has Difficulty

Sleep-deprivation experiments have shown that a tired brain has a difficult time capturing memories of all sorts. In fact, when tired, we forget information associated with positive emotion more easily than information tied to negative emotion. This could explain, at least in part, why sleep deprivation can trigger depression in some people. Memories tainted with negative emotions seem to the most sticky, in the sleep-deprived brain.

Hippocampus talks to Neocortex

Sleep also seems to be the time when the brain’s two memory systems—the hippocampus and the neocortex— “talk” with one another. Experiences that become memories are laid down first in the hippocampus. To retain a memory, the brain has to ship it from the hippocampus to the neocortex—that wrinkled outer layer of the brain that processes higher thinking. Unlike the hippocampus, the neocortex is a master at weaving the new with the old. Sleep helps the hippocampus do its job by closing down external information for a while, so that the “undistracted” hippocampus can shuttle memories to the neocortex, and the neocortex can connect this memory to other related memories.

How sleep helps us consolidate memories is still a mystery. However, recent research suggests that in sleep, electrical waves of brain activity actually change the physical nature of the space (called a synapse) that connects one brain cell with another. This change greases the flow of information, so that brain cells deepen connections in a process that we know as learning.

Sleep Improves Understanding too!

It’s not just memory that is improved by sleep. Recent studies indicate that sleep also helps us develop new understanding. Scientific history is full of tales of scientists with nocturnal “aha!” experiences. The chemist, Dmitri Mendeleev, awakened from a dream with his periodic table of elements, the fundamental core to chemistry. In a recent study in Germany, subjects were given a game to play that required mathematical calculations. There was a hidden rule. If players happened to discover the hidden rule, they would identify final answers quicker. Speed was a part of winning the game. Some of the players played the game, did other things for eight hours and played the game again. Another set of players played the game in the early evening, slept, then played the game again after awakening. The players who slept were almost three times more likely to have the insight that allowed them to spot the hidden rule, than those who did not sleep. Yet, none of the players were told there was a hidden rule to even spot! Sleeping allowed these players to make a discovery and connect the dots. We spend about a third of our lives asleep, and we realize how little we understand about that third of our lives. So we continue experimenting, hoping to understand sleep better. And perhaps someday we will. After we’ve slept on it.

Why is this information so important? Some sleep researchers believe that for every two hours we spend awake, the brain needs an hour of sleep to figure out what all these awake experiences mean. Sleep plays a crucial role in constructing the meaning of our lives. And, breakdowns in sleep processing may contribute to the development of depression.

No Real Loss In Our Life..

“We are the champion – my friend,
And we’ll keep on fighting – till the end,
We are the champions,
We are the champions,
No time for losers,
Cause we are the champions – of the world.”

When you listen to this song, what first comes to your mind? Do you feel like a champion holding trophy on a stage? Is it everything for you? Is it really necessary to win? From the article “Winning Isn’t Everything” written by Pete Hamill, an American coach, Vince Lombardi once said “Winning isn’t everything, but the will to win is everything”. When you read the quote, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Do you think that the quote is eloquent or merely useless to people? Perhaps some people in the world might agree with the former and some might agree with the latter. For me, the quote is really meaningful as it is a motivation for me to improve myself and to be a better person. From the article, I agree that winning is not everything because the process to reach victory is the thing that helps me to develop my characters, winning is nothing without struggle and winning sometimes inhibits other winnings.

First of all, from the article, I found that the process is the thing that helps me to develop my characters. Pete Hamill told us about competition. He said that “Competition isn’t really a problem for Americans. All sports, in one way or another, are competitive. But an individual’s primary competition is with himself and all his attendant weaknesses” and “The problem isn’t competition, which is a part of life; it is in the notion of the necessity of triumph. A man can lose but still win. And the point of competition in sports is an old and not very fashionable one: It builds character”. It is very true what the writer had said in the article because I think that people can win at certain times and sometimes they can lose. Nevertheless, for me, the most important thing is how people confront the obstacles. Triumph or defeat is common among people because it’s merely the rule in any form of competition. The real competition is the competition within ourselves to overcome our weaknesses. For instance, during my high school years, I failed in my studies due to my active participation in sports. Even though I got bad results in my examination, I tried hard and was determined to overcome the problem. I reduced my involvement in sports, gave serious attention and focus on my studies. It indirectly built a better character in me where I tried to figure out my weaknesses and overcame them. On the other hand, from my failure, I realized that it is just a part of life. The failure motivated me to rebuild my character. In that situation, I managed to summon my strength to overcome my shyness so that I was brave enough to discuss my problems with my colleagues. Then, I started asking them if they were free, asking them to assist me in my studies. If this did not happen I would be very reluctant to consult and discuss my problems in studies with my friends. Even sometimes, my friends came to see me to ask some questions. By teaching them, I indirectly understood what I had learned, making my knowledge and understanding on that particular topic better. Simply said, the failure really helped me to develop my character as well as made me become a better person in my life as a student. In short, the real competition is the competition within ourselves and failure is not the biggest problem in our lives.

Another significance of the quote, “Winning isn’t everything” is winning is nothing without struggle. From the article, the writer tells that “The true athlete teaches us that winning isn’t everything, but struggle is – the struggle to simply get up in the morning or to see hope through the minefields of despair. Viewed that way, a marriage, or any relationship with another human being, is an ongoing struggle”. We know that from the article, the life is a series of struggles, not one gigantic effort. To struggle is the essence of everything because to win a game, to succeed in a job, to improve our lives, we need to struggle and put in a vast amount effort. Likewise our relationships with other human beings such as in marriage and friendships all require efforts and struggle. For me, struggling is a continuing process because in this real realm, there are too many challenges to face; so struggle is the only method to overcome this problem. For instance, ever since I was a small child, I had to cry to ask for food and up until now, I certainly ought to struggle to get my meal; I cannot just hope or cry for the food to come and then suddenly out of nowhere my food will just fell from the sky? Other than that, I also need to struggle in order to achieve the best grades in my studies and even to get a better position in my career in future. Clearly, we can see that struggling is a continuous process that people will go through.

Apart from that, one victory sometimes inhibits other victories. From Pete’s article, I discovered that the writer said “Winning isn’t ‘the only thing.’ Such an idea muddles the idea of competition, not simply in sports, but in all aspects of our lives. We’ve learned the hard way in this century that the world is a complex place; it’s certainly not the National Football League. Winning isn’t the only thing in love, art, marriage, commerce, or politics; it’s not even the only thing in sport.” I agree with the quote in Hamill’s piece by Vince Lombardi because it relates to my own experience. When I was in primary school, I had always won the athletic events I participated in. In standard six, I had won three gold medals out of four events with new records and I was also declared the best athlete in my district. This continued until up my boarding school years. The successes have cost me my studies. I had thought that I could always be the winner either in sports or studies, but I was wrong. It was my fault for not giving serious attention in my academic achievements. I had often spent my time doing sport practices rather than using the time to study. I was very disappointed with my bad time management. In short, it is true what the writer said in the article that winning isn’t the only thing.

In conclusion, it is true that the quote by Vince Lombardi in Pete Hamill’s article, “Winning isn’t everything, but the will to win is the only thing”. Although the article seems to demean people, but at the same time it assists people to realize the reality of life in the world. In my view, I really agree with the contents of the article. Moreover, it is related to my own life. As a determined civilian, we should aim high to be the authentic winner. Lastly, I hope the article will motivate other readers as it is a real problem related to their lives as they had done to mine.