Pemenang Summer Writing Contest 2008

Alhamdulillah, Para juri telah memberi nilai dan keputusan telah diambil bahwa pemenang Summer Writing Contest 2008 adalah:

• Level 1
  
  • I : Peserta #1.4 - Rida NurAsiah Jamila Himawan (7 yrs), TX
    
  • II : Peserta # 1.1 - Hilyatushalihah Audah (7 yrs), CT
    
  
  
  
• Level 2
  
  • I : Peserta #2.5 - Aisyah Mulyono (11 yrs), MA
    
  • II : Peserta #2.2 - Yasmin Amira Hanan (10 yrs), IL
    
  
  
  
• Level 3
  
  • I : Peserta #3.6 - Abraham Abdullah Samyono (13 yrs), VA
    
  • II : Peserta #3.4 - Annisa Hadi (16 yrs), CA
    
  
  

Selamat kepada pemenang dan terima kasih kepada semua partisipasi yang telah mengikuti "Summer Writing Contest 2008."

Team DKA juga mengucapkan banyak terima kasih kepada para juri yang memberikan waktunya dalam penilaian contest dan kepada orang tua peserta contest yang telah membantu untuk anak-anaknya menulis dan berkarya.

Semoga kegiatan ini menambah ilmu dan iman kepada anak-anak Muslim Indonesia di US.

Being A Good Muslim By # 1.5

      Being a good Muslim in Islam is very important. As a matter of fact, a good Muslim is one who seeks knowledge. Knowledge is the good base of faith for a good Muslim. In fact, we should put some of the Knowledge we learn in our daily life.

      That’s why knowledge is important. It is also part of being a good Muslim. Here is an example, you don’t go to school just for fun, your parents send you there because they want you to get smarter which means get more Knowledge every day and be a good muslim.

      We all know that there are many ways to be a good Muslim, like being a good brother or sister in Islam or even a good friend, but the most important thing is to believe in Allah (swt) and that there is no god but him alone. Many people in Islam were role models for being a good Muslim to us.

      Such as Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his companions and also Abu Bakar. Abu Bakar was a good friend of the prophet. He was one who was willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of Allah and the serve of his messenger saw; his blood, his wealth, his sweat, and his tears.

      Whenever the prophet saw something that needed to be corrected, he would do it in public for the education of others. This shows that the Abu Bakar and the Prophet is a good role model for us. There are many hadiths from the Quran telling about a good Muslim.

      On the authority of Abu Hurairah, who said: Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: "Part of someone's being a good Muslim is his leaving alone that which does not concern him." There are many benefits for being a Muslim. Like it might help you in this life and in the Day of Judgment it might insallah help you win Jannah.

Being A Good Muslim By # 2.5

To Stand Out


      My name is #2.5. I was born 11 years ago in Raleigh, NC. Now I am going to the public middle school in my town, Stow, Massachussets. My family have been in this town for four years. I have some good friends here, like Olivia, Janice, and Megean. They are all very nice, and let me come over to their houses. I let them come over to my house every now and then.

      Being a muslim alone, is not always easy. Sometimes it means you have to stand out. For example, as a muslim girl, I need to cover my head with a hijab. And If I am in the public, like in my school, I often get some questions or comments like: " Why are you wearing that?" or "What does your hair look like?"or sometimes bizzare, crazy comments like, " You look like a nun!" For the last comment said, I just react calmly and never make a big deal about it.

      Or sometimes my friends in the school ask, " Aren't you hot?" in the late spring and early summer days, while they wear short sleeved shirts, tank tops, skirts and shorts, which of course not follow the muslim dress code, we have to follow. Which for boys, the cloth should cover from belly button to knees, and for girls, the whole body is to be covered except hands and face.

      Another way to stand out is when ramadhan comes. What I do when I fast is to ask the teacher if I can stay in a classroom, library room, art room , or any other room unoccupied so I can read or even help the teacher during lunch break. But sometimes, I go to the lunchroom to talk with my friends. When I am in the lunchroom, every now and then, someone perks up to question, " Don't you want to eat?" I can't reply in any other way except," No, I cannot. I'm fasting." Fortunately, they stop asking me after that.

      When I stand out, I might have some problems. To face these situations, I should stand up for myself, and have the courage to do what I have to do. It will be easier when I know more about my religion, like why I should wearing hijab, why I should doing fasting, and etc. So I have good reason to do all strange things that may be my friends thinking about what I am doing. And the highest reason is so Allah will be pleased with me, and put me in His Heaven .

      Wearing my hijab doesn't mean I cannot do anything. Of course I can do anything that are positive, even doing sport! I play soccer, with my hijab. I can juggle (although I'm not very good at it) and dribble the ball, and make goals. I made a goal for our team on the last game during the spring season. Everybody was happy when I made it, especially me! And the more exciting news is that our team just lost once from seven games we had!

      So don't be afraid to stand out when you know you are right because you just want to practice your religion. May Allah always guide us and make stronger our faith.

Being A Good Muslim By # 2.4

Ramdan with Qur’an

      I was in kindergarten when it was the first time I fasted, but I didn’t fast the whole month. I only fasted 20 days. I fasted the whole month of Ramadan for the first time when I was in 3rd grade. Now in 4th grade I did something else new.

      That month of Ramadan, when I was in 4th grade, I did fast the whole Ramadan, Alhamdulillah. I also did pray Tarawih, but not all 20 raka’at. I only prayed eight. It was this month, for the very first time, I finished reading the whole Qur’an in one month. I finished the whole Qur’an before, but in one month, this was my very first time.

      Everyday, during that month of Ramdan, I wake up early to do Suhur. Then when Fajr came, I prayed. After that I go to school. When school starts, I read Qur’an during the times like, when I’m done with work and has nothing to do and I have to wait for my friends. Also before we pray Dhuhur. I pray Dhuhur together with the whole school because I got to an Islamic school.

      At home, that month, the teachers barely give us any homework to do so I just read the Qur’an. I read 20 pages or one Juz everyday. Sometimes I read more and sometimes less. Sometimes I go to the Masjid to pray Tarawih and after that I read Qur’an. It’s pretty hard to do that because my friends go to that Masjid too. So sometimes I get carried away and play with them and start to forget to read Qur’an. Also sometimes, I do remember, but I was just lazy.

      Then hours, days, weeks past and Ramdan was about to end. I still had a lot of more pages to read. Then it was the 29th day of Ramdan and I still had 50-something more pages to go. I started to think that I couldn’t do it. I mean 50-something pages in one day, that’s a lot. Still, I hoped that tomorrow isn’t Eid because Ramdan can have 29 or 30 days. Then the next morning I found out that it was still Ramdan. I was so happy that I just might finish. That day I tried to read as much as possible. Then the day started to end. Then I reached Surah An-Naas. Then I read the last verse. I felt extremely happy that I finished. I just couldn’t believe it. At the beginning of the month I started at Surah Al-Fatihah and now I’m done.

      When Eid came I felt so happy that I succeeded to fast the whole Ramdan, and not only that, I also finished reading the whole Qur’an. I just got surprised. Everyday I read and read and read. Finally at the end I was done reading. I just have nothing else to say, but Alhamdulillah. I got nothing else to do, but to thank Allah (SWT) for me to finish reading the whole, entire Qur’an.

Being A Good Muslim By # 3.7

Chat Room:- What Should I Write About?

Characters:
Person 1:- #3.7
Person 2:- #3.7

Person 1: What should I write about?
Person 2: I don’t know!!!
Person 1: It’s supposed to be about growing up Muslim in America.
Person 2: Oh wow! That’s hard to think about.
Person 1: Ya I know.
Person 2: Why not write about dealing with friends?
Person 1: Nah…Noting special about it. I go to an Islamic school. How hard can that be?
Person 2: Oh, ya. I remember. What about Qur’an?
Person 1: Once upon a time, I read Qur’an at night… The end!!!
Person 2: Oh I see. How many pages do you read at night anyway?
Person 1: 2 pages. Sometimes more if I want.
Person 2: Noting special there. What about fasting.
Person 1: I don’t think there is anything special about fasting. You just not eat or drink from dawn until dusk. And you have to control yourself or the fasting will not get you anything.
Person 2: Well that’s something.
Person 1: What?
Person 2: Controlling yourself in Ramadhan and other months as well.
Person 1: Oh. Maybe that might work but still, I don’t think I can make it into a page.
Person 2: Really. This conversation is filling up a page.
Person 1: What?! You are typing up this conversation?
Person 2: Ya!
Person 1: Oh. Ok. I’ll write about fasting…I guess.
Person 2: That’s the spirit!!
Person 1: Wow…how’d you do that smiley face.
Person 2: You just press this : and this ).
Person 1: Oh, ok. That’s sort of neat.
Person 2: So, are you going to write?
Person 1: Nah. Anymore ideas?
Person 2: Hijab?
Person 1: No. I wore it since I was little so it’s not something I did in America.
Person 2: Come on. You have to write about something.
Person 1: Ya. So give me ideas.
Person 2: Music?
Person 1: Huh? What about music?
Person 2: I don’t know. You can talk about avoiding songs with bad contents.
Person 1: Haha. Weird idea. What bad contents. Like bad words?
Person 2: Ya. What about movies and shows with bad contents?
Person 1: I don’t think sane people will want to watch nude people. So disgusting!!!
Person 2: Never mind. Come on I’m out of ideas.
Person 1: OH OH. What about eating halal foods?
Person 2: Ok. That can work.
Person 1: So should I write about eating choosing foods carefully?
Person 2: Ya that’s good.
Person 1: The thing is my mom chooses my food, not me.
Person 2: Oh. What about the foods that your friends give you?
Person 1: My mom tells me what’s haram and halal so I just avoid foods from my friends that my parents said is haram.
Person 2: Keep on going.
Person 1: And then I tell my friends what is haram. Even though they don’t listen sometimes, I just tell them. Also I don’t let them touch me if they eat something haram until they wash their hands. Of course I don’t tell them that, I just tell myself to not let them touch me.
Person 2: Oh. I see.
Person 1: See. There is nothing for me to write about.
Person 2: Well, little bits add up and now I collected some info on what you do.
Person 1: Oh that’s nice. But that’s still not enough.
Person 2: Well just keep on going. Write about anything else you want about even if it’s not in order, just write and let your ideas flow. I’ll stay online to read your idea.
Person 1: Ok.
Person 2: Well, so, start.
Person 1: Ok. Here’s what I came up with:

For me, being a Muslim in America has been nothing but blah. There’s never any challenge…at all!!! No one ever asked me about being a Muslim or anything other than my parents checking my answer. It’s so boring, yet Alhamdulillah it’s easy.

My parents taught me how to pray when I was three. I remember asking my guy cousin why he didn’t wear hijab while he prayed, he answered, “I don’t know?” Anyway, they kept on encouraging me to pray even before I was seven. I wouldn’t pray Fajr on time but I was reminded after I woke up. But when I was seven, they pushed a little harder. They let me sleep through some Fajr, but they tried to wake me up. When I was ten, they said they would pinch me if I don’t pray (they don’t believe in hitting), but they didn’t have to, Alhamdulillah. Also, since I go to an Islamic school praying Dhuhr was never hard.

When I was little I used to always spit out my food so fasting was not that hard. There is an exception though, sahur. My mom used to wake me up 1 ½ before Fajr so I could finish and sometimes I still didn’t finish.

I think they started teaching about fasting when I was five. They would let me fast half a day if I get weak. I guess that’s not a really good idea because I would just eat from Asr until Maghrib doesn’t really feel like fasting.

When I was seven and eight, sometimes when I get hungry, I’ll confess, I would take one or two pieces of cereal and say, “Ya Allah. I’m still a child. Forgive me for doing this but I just am too hungry and weak to continue. Bismillah,” or something similar and then I would eat it and just continue the day.

I started fasting the whole Ramadhan when I was nine, I think, didn’t miss taraweeh when I was ten, finished the whole Qur’an in Ramadhan when I was eleven, and did Sunnah fasting in Shawwal when I was eleven or twelve But the method my parents used to get me to do it was a chart. If the chart was good, there was money ready. This encouraged me to fast. But when I was ten, I told my parents that now I’m not going to fast, or pray taraweeh, or read Qur’an for money, I have to do it for Allah only.

And I’m used to people eating in front of me when I’m fasting because I have two younger brother and sometimes my youngest sister who don’t really notice, so I got used to it and I don’t care anymore.

My mother put the hijab on me when I was so little I can’t remember. She never forced me. All she did was put it on me and let me do whatever I wanted with it on my head. The reason I didn’t take it off was because she wore one too and you know how little kids just love to copy their parents. So wearing a hijab was shaped into me and I wore hijab full time when I was seven. I never had to go through the problem of, “I’ll wear it when I’m 16 or so” which a lot of girls had to go through.

So? What do you think?
Person 2: It’s ok. So why not just send that in.
Person 1: You know what? I’ll just send this whole conversation in. It’s so neat.
Person 2: Ok.

Being A Good Muslim By # 1.4

Me Fasting

      I started to fast when I was in kindergarten or 5 years old. I felt really great because I just started to do a new pillar of Islam.

      When I was in kindergarten at the year 2006, I fasted 10 days. The first time I fasted, I felt really hungry but yet really happy. During school, my teacher didn’t let me fast because she said that I would get hungry and get sick. My mom told me to fast and bring food in case I get hungry. So from that day until the last day of Ramadan I fasted and brought food to school. I tried to fast the whole month, but I couldn’t do it so in total I fasted 10 days.

      After a year past, I went to 1st grade. When I was in 1st grade I fasted 19 days. Even though I didn’t fast the whole month, I did fast nine more days then last year. I felt a little bit happier because I fasted more. Again, the teacher still told me to bring food in case I get hungry.

      This year I promised my mom that I’d try to fast the whole month of Ramadan. If I don’t do it, I’ll still try my best to fast. Including waking up early for Suhur. That’s mostly why I don’t fast.

      Weather or not I fast this whole Ramadan, InshaAllah, Allah (SWT) will reward me for fasting. Also, I’m going to do whatever it takes to try and fast the whole Ramadan for the first time.

Being A Good Muslim By # 3.6

      To me being a good Muslim does not only mean doing the five pillars of Islam, like prayer five times a day, but also doing other things.

      One of these things for example can be taking care of our environment. Allah gave us the earth to live on that we should take care. Something that we should do to take care of the earth is that we should not litter or pollute it. Another thing is that we should pay attention to issues that would have an impact on the world. An issue like that could be global warming. One way to reduce global warming is to walk, to ride bikes or a bus to get to places. We should not throw away our trash or household waste on the ground or into the body of water. Instead we should clean up and throw away the trash with care. Taking care of the earth is one of our tasks as stating in the Quran.

      Another thing that we should do to be good Muslims is to have a good attitude. If we acted misbehaving in front of non-Muslims, then they would start to think bad things about our religion. Muslims should be good examples for them. That way you will convey the good things about Islam to them.

      When a Muslim brother or sister has trouble, then we should try to help him or her out. Then, that way we would be able to get a closer relationship as brothers or sisters. Even, you do not need to ask them if they are in need. “The believers, in their mutual friendship, mercy and affection, are like one body; if any part of it complains, the rest of the body will also stay awake in pain.”(Bukhari and Muslim)

      The most important thing is that we should respect and obey our parents, being nice to them, not back-talking to them, and even saying “ah” to them is prohibited in our religion. We could go to the Jannah or Jahannam depends on our deeds to our parents. There is a story about a young man who was dying, but he could not die. This man prayed five times a day and looked like a good Muslim. Prophet Muhammad (saw) was told that he was not nice to his mom. Prophet asked his mom to forgive him, but she refused. Then, Prophet ordered to burn him live. Before people did, his mom forgave him. Then, he could die.

      Sometimes we can join or create groups to do thing that would help people. For example we can make a group to feed homeless people by giving free lunch for them. We can also even try raising money to donate to shelters. The poverty is a decease that we should cure, because the poverty can lead poor people to hate Allah, then they will disobey Allah and not believe in Him.

      Therefore, to me being good Muslims is not only doing five pillars of Islam, but also enjoining what is good even small thing, and forbidding what is evil.


      Norfolk, July 20’08