When I first came to JC, I felt the sting of having some of my privileges taken away from me. Mainly stemming from my madrasah background, these privileges include the privilege of comfort, of being constantly reminded to do good and avoid bad, the privilege of wearing my hijab, and many others I fail to mention.

One of the most prominent privileges is the privilege to pray, comfortably and casually. There will always be time given to me, presented to me, to pray. And not only the five obligatory ones, but also the sunnah, the recommended. When I entered JC, that privilege was torn away from me. It felt as though one of my limbs were taken away as I had to stumble time and time again to squeeze prayers in my packed schedule. Ideally, schedules should revolve around prayers but I realise that such a schedule is only a privilege in this country and age. More often than not, Muslims have to work harder and go through more difficulties so that they are able to pray at least the five obligatory prayers.

There'll always be time to pray. There'll always be a way. But time and methods aren't the only factors that affect prayer. There is social pressure, forgetfulness, physical fatigue, skepticism, and many more. I wish I can say that I'm unaffected by these things, but my weakness as a human prevents me from saying so.

All that being said, however, I still stand firm on the belief that no prayer is to be missed intentionally. It's a personal value I hold very closely to myself and I do my best to stick to it.

When I went to KL for two weeks under a CCA that definitely did not place prayers as a priority, my prayer privilege taken away stung very deep. It was hard; we were constantly moving from one place to another, the centres we went had scarcely any clean space, and our time spent working clocked more than 12 hours.

But God is always there; so I still managed to pray all the obligatory prayers, despite it not being in the most ideal condition.

Which is why, of the infinite things I'm to be grateful for, I'm mostly thankful for the fact that I was brought up with the constant reminder to pray five times a day. My parents were annoyingly incessant about it, and drilled it into me since I was young: whatever it is, never forget to pray. Not many people were as blessed, and that doesn't make me any better than them, it just makes me more privileged, because I've always been having it easier.

I've realised this long ago, but going through such experiences enhance the realisation, and humbles me further. It prevents me from thinking too highly of myself and too lowly of others. It's a reflection I've to constantly remind myself.

So I'm happy, and grateful. I hope that with this privilege I can help myself more, as well as others, and never put them in a position that makes them feel less or inadequate. Because even though I'm privileged, that only makes me more accountable to more things.

We're all on our own journey of learning and improving.