Senin, 14 April 2008

Jika aku kehendaki maka mereka tiada mempedulikan kita


Syaikh Umar Al-Bazaar berkata, di suatu hari Jum’at aku dan Syaikh Abdul Qadir berangkat menuju masjid raya untuk melaksanakan shalat Jum’at. Di sepanjang perjalanan tidak ada seorangpun yang menyalami beliau. Dalam bathin aku berkata, “Biasanya kita pergi ke masjid dengan penuh perjuangan karena banyaknya yang berdesakan ingin menyalami sang Syaikh”. Selesai bathinku berkata demikian, tiba-tiba orang berduyun-duyun mengucapkan salam kepada kami, dan sang Syaikh memandangku dengan tersenyum. Akupun kembali berkata dalam hati., “Ini lebih baik daripada yang tadi”.
Selesai aku membathin yang demikian, sang Syaikh berpaling kepadaku dan berkata, “Umar, engkau yang meminta semua ini. Apakah engkau tidak mengetahui bahwa hati seluruh manusia berada di tanganku. Jika aku kehendaki maka mereka tiada mempedulikan kita, atau sebaliknya mereka akan tertarik kepada kita”.
Asy-Syarif Abu Al-Fath Al-Hasyimi Al-Muqra meriwayatkan, pada suatu hari Syaikh Abdul Qadir mengundangku untuk membaca Al-Qur’an. Ketika aku membacanya, beliau menangis dan berkata kepadaku, “Demi Allah akan aku do’akan engkau”. Kemudian salah seorang wali bangkit dari tempat duduknya dan berkata, “Tuanku, dalam tidurku aku bermimpi bertemu dengan Allah SWT. Pintu-pintu surga telah dibuka dan singgasana telah diberikan kepadamu. Lalu ada suara yang berkata kepadaku, “Berbicaralah”. Namun aku berkata dalam hati, ‘Aku tidak akan menceritakannya kecuali Syarif Al-Muqri datang’. Lalu suara tersebut kembali berkata, ‘Sekarang dia sudah datang’. Dan akupun berkata, ‘sekarang aku berbicara’.
Syaikh Al-Arif Abul Qasim Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Jahni berkata, aku biasanya duduk di sebelah kursi tempat sang Syaikh mengajar. Di sela-sela kaki kursi tempat beliau mengajar, ada dua nuqaba’ dan hanya orang-orang yang telah mencapai kondisi spiritual yang dapat duduk di kursi yang paling depan. Di bawah kursinya duduk pula beberapa orang pria yang memiliki kegagahannya seperti singa.
Pada suatu ketika sang Syaikh sedang tenggelam dalam kondisi spiritual sampai tidak menyadari bahwa lilitan serbannya sampai terlepas dan terjatuh. Seketika itu pula orang-orang melemparkan lilitan serban dan serban mereka. Setelah selesai beliau memerintahkan kepadaku untuk mengembalikan lilitan serban dan serban yang dilemparkan tadi kepada yang punya. Akupun melakukannya sampai hanya tersisa satu ikatan yang tidak aku ketahui pemiliknya dan pada saat itu tidak ada satu orangpun yang masih tersisa di sana. Syaikh Abdul Qadir berkata kepadaku, “Berikan benda itu kepadaku”. Akupun menyerahkannya kepada sang Syaikh dan meletakkannya di bahu kanan beliau, dan tiba-tiba serban tersebut menghilang. Ketika beliau turun dari kursinya beliau memegang bahuku dan berkata, “Abul Qasim, ketika orang-orang melemparkan serban dan lilitannya kepadaku, saudara perempuanku yang berada di Asfahan juga melakukan hal yang sama. Saat kau mengembalikan semua yang dilempar kepada pemiliknya dan meletakkan serban tersebut di pundakku, dia mengulurkan tangannya dan mengambilnya dari pundakku”.
The Great Importance of Good Manners by Muslims"According to most scholars, one of the reasons that Islam spread in the region of South-East Asia, to places like Indonesia and Malaysia was the fact that Muslim traders appeared to have excellent manners. There was no Jihad in Indonesia. We must also remember that the converse applies and that bad manners reflect badly on Islam."A khutbah (sermon) by M. Waleed Kadous.
In the name of Allah, and praises and peace be upon the Prophet of Allah. I advise us all to fear Allah, and to be conscious of his omniscience, for whoever does so, Allah will provide for him a way out of trouble.
There is no God but Allah the Kind and Merciful, and thanks be to Allah, the lord of the Great Throne. We ask that you bring upon us your mercy and the doors of your forgiveness, and protection from our own sins, and forgiveness of our minor transgressions.
I declare that the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) fulfilled the trust, and conveyed the message, and we are witnesses to that reality.
Whom Allah chooses to guide, there is nothing and no-one that can mislead him and whom he chooses mislead, there is nothing and no-one that can guide him.
Assalamu Alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. May the peace, blessings and mercy of Allah be upon you all.
Last week, I had the pleasure of attending an Iftar organised by the UTS Muslim Society. There, Soadad Doureihi, whom I notice is in the audience today gave a very interesting seminar, discussing the relationship between faith and action, between belief and behaviour, among a number of other points he touched on. I thought that this was a fundamental point. If you have a belief, then it affects the way you behave.
If you believe that a particular area is full of landmines, it's unlikely that you'll go walking through that area. If you see a spider in front of you, which you believe is poisonous, you're going to move out of the way pretty much quickly to avoid being bitten; unless you've got some serious psychological problems. If you didn't move out of the way, and I knew you were reasonably sane, what would I conclude? I would have no choice but to conclude that you didn't believe that the spider was poisonous.
What about the Muslim then? The basic criteria of being a Muslim is the shahadah - (say the shahadah) - I believe that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad (SAWS) is the Prophet of Allah. Like any other belief, there are consequences of this belief. The point made by Soadad was that the consequences of the Shahadah were that we accepted that Allah was the one who should define our behaviour and tell us how to behave and that we should always obey Allah, as conveyed through the Qur'an and the actions of our Prophet which form the basis of our Hadith.
In consequence, if someone was to assert that you could be a Muslim in heart only, without the belief manifesting itself in behaviour, then the strength of belief in the original statement must be weak or flawed in the first place.
What I want to talk about today is a specialisation of the above - one way which belief is manifested in behaviour. It's an area which I think is sometimes ignored; we sometimes become preoccupied with other issues. Still it is fundamentally important - and it is not just me who says it is important, but the Prophet (SAWS).
Before I tell you what I am talking about, let me put in a proviso - I am a human, and I have flaws - and in a way I am reminding myself about this aspect of Islam just as much as I am reminding you. There's an old saying which I've found to be very true: the best way to learn is to teach. By teaching something it forces you to compile, realise and reorganise. So if I do make a mistake, I ask you to forgive me.
What am I talking about? I'm talking about manners, adaab, akhlaaq - whatever you want to call it. I can almost see some of the eyes rolling in the audience - oh no, yet another lecture on the importance of manners. But it's an important topic, one which I think needs to be addressed, and one which people who are asked to give talks will continue to give talks until they can see that all the talk is finally sinking in.
Just to give you some idea of how seriously Islam takes this issue, let's look at some sayings of the Prophet. The Prophet, in Muwatta Imam Malik said (Wa ma awtita illa li'utamima makarim al-akhlaaq). ``Verily, I was sent for no other reason, except to perfect the noble traits of character'' - in other words; one of the Prophet's goals, in fact, the primary mission was the perfection of how people behave - their manners.
Furthermore, the connection between Iman and manners is also made clear by the hadith of the Prophet which says that faith consists of seventy branches, the least of which is the removal of a treebranch blocking the road, and in another narration, sixty branches, and Hayaa' (which is an Arabic term, which is hard to translate and covers manners, modesty, guarding of chastity, etc) is a part of faith. So again, manners and behaviour are linked directly to Iman.
Furthermore, there are many other specific areas of manners that the Prophet (SAWS) and the Qur'an went to great extremes to emphasise. This is intended short talk, but let's just sample some areas in which we can see how important manners are.
In the area of family, the Prophet (SAWS) said: The best of you is the best of you to his family, and I am the best to his family.
In the area of neighbours, the Prophet (SAWS) said: The angel Gabriel kept advising me about neighbours until I thought he would make him entitled to some part of the inheritance.
In speech, the Prophet (SAWS) said: Nothing is weightier on the scales of the day of judgement than his good behaviour. Allah treats a person who is given to loose and vulgar talk with displeasure.
With regards to backbiting, the Qur'an says: ``wa la yaghtab ba'dukum ba'da ayuhibby ahadukum and ya'kula la'hma akheehi mayyitan fakarihtumuuhu''.(surah al hujuurat, verse 12) And do not backbite, would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother; you would surely hate it (so you should likewise hate backbiting).
With regards to parents, the Qur'an says: (fa la taqullahmuaa uffin wa la tanharhumaa) - say not even a word to them in contempt and don't repel them (surah al-israa verse 23).
In controlling one's temper, the Prophet (SAWS) says: The strong man is not the good wrestler, but the strong man is he who controls himself when he is angry.
With regards to being forgiving and kind, the Prophet (SAWS), said to one of the Sahabah: ``You have two qualities which Allah (SWT) likes and loves: one is mildness and the other is toleration''.
These are just some of the hadith and ayahs that cover different aspects of manners. While the hadiths are themselves important and the points they make even more so, what I am trying to get to is that these aspects of manners are linked with such high praise, and deviation from these manners is condemned with such denigrating disgust.
Furthermore, if you tried to summarise this; tried to extract the essence of all these manners and tried to pull out the one link that connects them all; I personally think that you would find that there is one aspect that they all have in common; and that is considerateness. What does it mean to be considerate? Once again, there are no better words on this matter than the words of the Prophet (SAWS): ``None of you will have true faith until he wishes for his Muslim brother what he wishes for himself''.
This hadith summarises the whole of the issues that I am trying to make - considerateness; thinking about your Muslim brother and what he is going through, and what impact your actions will have on him. Furthermore, it also, once again, emphasises the link between belief and action - that faith manifests itself in our behaviour to our brothers and sisters in Islam.
The sad thing is that you don't see this considerateness. For example, if you've ever tried to park near a mosque, you'll know that people will double park you, locking you in your place for hours on end, without showing any consideration. It happened to me yesterday. When you go use our bathroom upstairs, sometimes you'll find that the person before you left a mess with water on the ground. When you go to Friday prayers, there'll be people speaking while the Imam is speaking as if nothing was going on, showing little or no consideration for either the Imam or the people trying to listen to the Khutbah. And these are in things that are related to Islam; how do people behave in situations where Islam is not involved?
Some of you are probably thinking, ``Yeah, those are minor inconveniences, the guy's gone a bit overboard just to address a simple issue''. But manners are not a little issue, and the above are just some of the more salient versions of the problem.
Why should you choose to adopt good manners, even if they apparently inconvenience you? The primary reason you should adopt manners is out of obedience for Allah and his Prophet - they feel it is important, and it's quite clear that good manners are directly connected with Iman.
But what we find in the rest of Islam, as a number of scholars have put it is that Allah has not made anything Haram which benefits us, or allowed anything that hurts us. So while we would have good manners even if we did not know why Allah enjoined them, there are very good reasons for having good manners. So what are the possible reasons?
The first reason is that good manners are the best form of Da'wah. We all know the story of the Jew who was a neighbour of the Prophet (SAWS) who used to dump rubbish on his doorstep. One day, the Prophet found no rubbish. The next day he found no rubbish, so he asked about the Jew, only to find that he was sick. He then visited the sick Jew and tried to make him feel better. As a result, the Jew became Muslim.
According to most scholars, one of the reasons that Islam spread in the region of South-East Asia, to places like Indonesia and Malaysia was the fact that Muslim traders appeared to have excellent manners. There was no Jihad in Indonesia.
We must also remember that the converse applies and that bad manners reflect badly on Islam. For example, we received a letter from the sports association, complaining that the bathrooms for Friday prayer were left in a complete mess. They then asserted ``that it was known that Muslims wash their feet in the toilet''. Clearly, if the bathrooms were left clean such strange comments would not appear. Instead of being thought of as clean, decent, hygienic, well-mannered, mild, tolerant people; the image of Muslims here is that they are loud-mouthed, unclean, dole-bludging, violent and dodgy in their business dealings. While a certain amount of this is media beat-up, it is also self-inflicted to a certain extent, out of our not sticking to the Sunnah.
It is amazing how much one mild-mannered, polite Muslim can do to improve the reputation of Islam among his friends. So I would advise you all to be good, well-behaved, polite Muslims as a form of Da'wah.
A second reason, I think, is that I think we sometimes do not see the big picture. It is difficult to imagine for us that the lack of good manners could have drastic social effects. We think, ``so what if people are not always 100 per cent polite to one another - it's not a major thing for me to inconvenience someone else for a few minutes, nobody will mind''. But things are not always that simple.
I am not an anthropologist, but you don't need to be one to understand that society in general is a complex thing, and that it is extremely sensitive to things that, to many, do not appear to be major. Good manners is one of these.
Let me give you an example from our modern times, and then we'll look at how Islam and this modern research are related.
Some of you may have heard of some interesting research on crime, called the ``broken window'' effect. Two researchers did the following test. They put one car in the poorer areas of New York, with the hood open. They put another car in a really affluent suburb in California. The car in New York got pulled to pieces within 24 hours. The car in California remained untouched for two weeks. Then one of the researchers smashed one window in the car and within a day, the car ended up like the one in New York.
The conclusion? That by breaking the window on the car, they essentially marked the car as ``neglected'' and thus people thought of it as ``fair game'', even though it was in a good neighbourhood. Similarly, the authors concluded, if you allow little things to get away, like the breaking of windows, unless the window gets fixed very soon, all the windows get smashed.
So what? Well, three years ago, in New York, they got a new police commissioner. He decided to implement this idea, by ensuring that the police no longer just attack the big issues, the homicides, the car stealings, the breaking and entering; but also the little things, like making sure streets were clean, fixing broken windows. The net effect? Crime rates in New York, formerly one of the world's crime centres, fell by almost one third in three years.
Why does this work? By taking care of the little things, you give people a sense of security, of what in Arabic we call ``amanah''. Is this a new idea? No! If you look at the way Islam is structured, you will find that indeed this is a basic principle, that taking care of the ``micro'' if you like, leads to improvement in the ``macro''. In fact, in the Qur'an, Allah SWT is discussing what is said and Allah describes saying things without knowledge (in Surah Al-Nur) ``wa tahsabunahu hayyinan wa huwa 'indallahi 'atheem'' - you think of it as a light matter, while it is in the sight of allah, extremely serious.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the area of manners. By taking what some people think is a little thing and emphasising it, manners lay the foundation for a civilised society, and create that sense of ``amanah'', of security, that make it possible for people to become better Muslims. People will feel more comfortable, they will be less irritable, they will be more relaxed and have more energy to worship, to improve manners. If you like, the broken window is the manners, the little things that we have ignored, and by doing something that appears irrelevant, like adopting good manners, it may have a much greater effect than we can probably imagine.
Thirdly, human nature is such that when we do actions, they reinforce our beliefs. When we make Du'a to Allah, is that for Allah's sake? Allah knows what we want, we don't need to tell him. But it is the act of asking Allah, it is a symbol of our devotion to Allah and acknowledging that He is the only one who can grant us what we ask for. By making Du'a, we are reinforcing this belief, and this is why the Prophet (SAWS) encouraged it, saying things like ``du'a is the brain of worship'' and ``Allah likes the slave who is constantly making du'a''.
Similarly, by adopting good manners, we reinforce in ourselves the notion of consideration for other Muslims; that we have a responsibility to other Muslims, whether it be simple manners, or helping them to fight for freedom from oppressors. We create among ourselves a sense of brotherhood. And we strengthen our faith.
So how do we improve our manners? I'll just point to three steps that I think are important.
Imitation One way to learn how to do something is to pick a master at that particular thing and learn from him. And indeed in Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) we find that excellent example. In the Qur'an we find it says ``La qad kaana lakum fi rasulillahi 'uswatun hasanah liman kaana yarju llaha wal yawmil aakhir wa thakara Allaha kathiran'' (In suratul Ahzaab, verse 21). Indeed you have in the messenger of Allah an excellent example for anyone who him who looks to Allah and the Final Day and remembers Allah a lot. And in another verse in Suratul Qalam: ``Wa innaka la'ala khuluqin atheem''. And you (i.e the prophet) are indeed possesed of awesome manners. Ai'sha (RAA) when asked about the behaviour of the Prophet (SAWS) said that ``His manners were the Qur'an''.
So we should study the manners of the Prophet and try our best to imitate them.
Consideration However, there may be situations where the Prophet did not explicitly explain what we should do under particular conditions. In this case, the general rule discussed earlier applies, namely that none of us truly believes until he wants for his brother what he wants for himself. So before I undertake a particular action, I should always consider: Will this affect anybody else unduly? Who will I cause problems for by undertaking such an action?
Consultation The final way I think we can improve our manners is by advising each other. In the Qur'an, Allah says ``Wal Asr, in...'' By the age, indeed man is in loss, except for those who Believe, and do good Deeds, and advise each other in the Truth, and advise each other in patience.
The Prophet (SAWS) said: al-deen an-nasihah. Religion is advising one another. However, two things need to be clarified:
a.. The advice has to be given in the right way. You don't give advice in public in front of others; you give it in private - otherwise you embarass the person. It should be given as calmly and delicately as possible. b.. The advice must be received correctly. You shouldn't get angry about this person offering you advice, rather you should be grateful to this person for taking the time to discuss with you something that is not easy for him to discuss; and taking the risk that you might grow angry with him. Conclusion In conclusion, those of us who accept the Shahadah (and I hope that is all of us) must also accept that that belief has consequences. One of the most important of those is in having good manners. The benefits of good manners are many, three of which I think are important are da'wah, amanah and commitment to the Muslim community. How do we improve our manners? By imitating the prophet, by having consideration for other Muslims and consulting one another.
Thanks for your time. May Allah accept our fasting, and indeed, all our good deeds.
Wassalamu Alaikum wa rahmatullah.






The High Levels Of Those Who Show Leniency To Those Who Are In Difficulty




Bukhari and Muslim narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said:


“A man used to lend money to people, and he used to say to his servant, 'When you come to one who is in difficulty, let him off, perhaps Allah will let us off.' And when he met Allah, Allah let him off.” [Mishkaat al-Masaabeeh, 2/108, hadith no. 2899.]


Nasaa'i, Ibn Hibbaan and Al-Haakim narrated with a saheeh isnaad from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said:


"There was a man who never did anything good. However, he used to lend money to people, and would say to his messenger, 'Take what they can afford to pay you, and forget about what they cannot afford, and let them off. Perhaps Allah will let us off.' When he died, it was asked, 'Have you ever done anything good?’ He said, 'No, but I had a slave and I used to lend money to people. When I sent him to collect the debts, I would tell him, 'Take what they can afford to pay you, and forget about what they cannot afford, and let them off. Perhaps Allah will let us off." Allah said: 'I will let you off.’” [Saheeh al-Jaami' as-Sagheer, 2/204, hadith no. 2073.]


In Mustadrak al-Haakim it is narrated with a saheeh isnaad from Hudhayfah, 'Uqbah ibn 'Aamir and Abu Mas'ood that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said:


"Allah will bring forth one of His slaves to whom He had given wealth, and will say to him, 'What did you do in the world?’ He will say, 'I did not do anything, O Lord, but You gave me wealth, and I used to engage in trade with people. One of the ways in which I treated people was that I would be easy-going with those who could afford it and I would postpone payment for those who were in difficulty.' Allah will say, 'I should be more tolerant than you; let My slave off.’” [Saheeh al-Jaami' as-Sagheer, 1/92, hadith no. 124.]



Bukankah seluruh wali Allah selalu berkunjung kemari







Syaikh Abul hasan Al Jausaqi berkata,”Tuli telingaku dan buta mataku jika mendengar dan melihat orang seperti Syaikh Abdul Qadir”.
Syaikh Khalifah An-Nahri Al-Maliki murid Syaikh Abi Sa’id Al-Qailawi, ”Ketika aku melalui sesuatu negeri aku melihat seseorang duduk di udara. Akupun bertanya, dengan apa engkau mendapatkan anugerah seperti ini ?” Orang tersebut menjawab.”Ya Khalifah aku tundukkan hawa nafsuku dan aku tunggangi taqwa maka Allah mendudukkanku di udara”. Setelah itu aku mendatangi Syaikh Abdul Qadir dan mendapati beliau sedang duduk di kubah para wali dengan orang yang aku jumpai berada di depan beliau dengan sikap tawadhu’. Orang itu berbicara dan bertanya kepada sang Syaikh tentang persoalan ma’rifat dan hakikat yang tidak aku pahami. Setelah selesai aku berkata kepada pria tersebut,’ Sekarang aku bertemu kamu di sini’.
“Bukankah seluruh wali Allah selalu berkunjung ke mari “. Jawabnya.
“Semua yang kamu bicarakan dengan sang Syaikh tidak ada yang aku pahami”. Kataku,
Ia menjawab, “Disetiap maqam ada hukum tersendiri yang juga mempunyai makna sendiri yang diinterpretasikan dengan melalui ibarah yang sesuai dengannya. Sebuah ibarah tidak akan dapat dipahami kecuali dengan memahami maknanya. Makna tersebut juga tidak dapat dipahami kecuali mereka yang telah mendapatkan hikmah yang tidak akan terealisasikan kecuali mereka yang telah mencapai maqam yang ditunjukkan”.
Kemudian aku kembali bertanya kepadanya, “Aku tidak pernah melihat ada yang bersikap sedemikian tawadhu’ seperti yang engkau lakukan dihadapan Syaikh Abdul Qadir”.
Ia menajwab, “Bagaimana aku tidak bersikap tawadhu’ kepada beliau yang telah memberikan jabatan kepadaku jabatan (wilaayah) dan otoritas ....
Beliau mengangkatku sebagai ketua dan memberikan otoritas untuk mengatur seratus orang (rijal al-ghaib) yang tinggal di udara. Mereka titdak dapat dilihat kecuali oleh orang-orang yang diikehendaki oleh Allah SWT. Firman Allah SWT, “Dan tidaklah kami (jibril) turun dengan perintah Tuhanmu. Kepunyaan-Nya lah apa-apa yang ada di hadapan kita, apa-apa yang ada di belakang kita, dan apa-apa yang ada di antara keduanya.) (QS. Maryam 24).
Syaikh Khalifah di atas juga mengatakan bahwa semua rahasia dan urusan para wali selalu merujuk kepada Syaikh Abdul Qadir. Karisma diri dan pandangan beliau membuat penduduk satu daerah yang dipandangnya-di barat maupun di timur- akan merasa segan. Dengan pandangan berkah beliau mereka mengharapkan tambahan terhadap kondisi mereka dan mereka sangat takut akan diturunkannya kondisi mereka karena pandangan sang Syaikh.
Syaikh Baqa’ bin Bathu’ An-Nahri Al-Maliki mengatakan bahwa pada suatu ketika syaikh AbduLlah bersama seorang pemuda menghadap Syaikh Abdul Qadir. “Ya Syaikh doakanlah anakku ini”. Pintanya kepada Syaikh Abdul Qadir. Padahal anak tersebut sebenarnya bukanlah anaknya, namun anak hasil zina.
“Sampai sedemikian inikah perlakuanmu terhadapku ?”. Kata Syaikh Abdul Qadir dengan gusar. Kemudian beliau bangkit dan masuk ke dalam rumahnya. Seketika itu pula terjadi kebakaran di berbagai tempat di Baghdad. Setiap kali api berhasil dipadamkan di satu tempat, kebakaran kembali terjadi di tempat lain. Ketika itu aku melihat bala diturunkan di atas Baghdad bak awan dan semua itu karena kegusaran Syaikh Abdul Qadir.
Aku segera menemui beliau yang sedang duduk di dalam rumahnya dalam keadaan marah. Aku berkata kepadanya, “Tuanku, kasihanilah makhluk. Orang-orang telah mendapatkan celaka”. Seketika itu kemarahannya reda, dan seiring dengan redanya kemarahan beliau, kebakaran yang terjadi seluruhnya padam.



How to understand the hadeeth when the prophet instructed the one who prayed badly to repeat his prayer and not ordering Mu’awiyah to repeat it?
How can I understand and join between the hadeeth of when Mu’awiyah said to a person who sneezed “May Allah have mercy on you” while he was praying, and the Prophet, peace be upon him, did not order him to repeat his prayer. Mu’awiyah did not know that external talk during the prayer invalidates it. For the Prophet, Peace be upon him, not to order Mu’awiyah to repeat his prayer, this means that his prayer is valid. And the other hadeeth of when the prophet, peace be upon him, ordered the one who prayed badly to repeat his prayer. This means his prayers was invalid even though he was ignorant of how to pray properly?.

Praise be to Allaah.


The hadeeth of Mu’aawiyah ibn al-Hakam was narrated by Muslim (537) from Mu’aawiyah ibn al-Hakam who said: Whilst I was praying with the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), a man among the people sneezed and I said: Yarhamuk Allaah (may Allah have mercy on you). The people glared at me and I said: May my mother be bereft of me! Why are you staring at me? They started striking their hands on their thighs, and when I realized that they were telling me to be quiet, (I felt angry) but I kept quiet. When the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had prayed – may my father and mother be sacrificed for him; by Allaah I have never seen a better teacher or better teachings before or since; he did not rebuke me, hit me or revile me – he said: “This prayer is not the right place for any of the people’s speech, rather it is tasbeeh, takbeer and recitation of Qur’aan.”



The hadeeth about the man who prayed badly was narrated by al-Bukhaari (757) and Muslim (397) from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) entered the mosque and a man came in and prayed, then he came and greeted the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) returned the greeting and said: “Go back and pray, for you have not prayed.” The man went back and prayed as he had prayed before, then he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and greeted him, and the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “Wa ‘alayk al-salaam.” Then he said: “Go back and pray, for you have not prayed.” When he had done that three times, the man said: By the One Who sent you with the truth, I cannot do more than that. Teach me. He said: “When you go to pray, say takbeer, then recite whatever you can of the Qur’aan. Then bow until you are at ease in bowing, then rise until you are standing up straight. Then prostrate until you are at ease in prostration, then sit up until you are at ease in sitting. Then do that throughout the entire prayer.”



Both ahaadeeth indicate that the one who is ignorant is excused, but in the hadeeth of Mu’aawiyah he is not commanded to repeat the prayer, whereas in the hadeeth of the one who prayed badly, he is not commanded to repeat the prayers he had offered before, rather he was commanded to repeat the current prayer only.



Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said, commenting on the hadeeth of Mu’aawiyah: As for the words of the ignorant one, it was because he was new in Islam, so they are like the words of one who forgets, so they did not invalidate his prayer if they were few, because of this hadeeth of Mu’aawiyah ibn al-Hakam, which we are discussing here, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not command him to repeat the prayer. But he taught him that it is haraam to talk during prayers for future reference. End quote.



With regard to commanding the one who prayed badly to repeat his prayer when he did not command Mu’aawiyah to do so, that is because there is a difference between doing that which is forbidden and not doing that which is enjoined. Omitting what is enjoined is not excused because of ignorance or forgetfulness when it is possible to make it up, which is unlike doing what is forbidden.



Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said, in a discussion of things that are forbidden whilst in ihraam: The correct view is that all of them may be excused. If a person is excused due to ignorance, forgetting or being forced to do something , there are no consequences to his actions whatsoever, whether it has to do with having intercourse, hunting, clipping the nails, wearing tailored garments or anything else. We have mentioned above evidence from the Qur’aan, Sunnah and rational thought.



The same applies to all other actions that are forbidden during acts of worship; the ruling does not apply, if they happen in cases of ignorance forgetfulness or compulsion, because of the general meaning of the texts and because the penalty, fidyah or kafaarah (expiation) is only prescribed in order to compensate for going against the rules or to expiate sins, but the ignorant, forgetful person or one who is forced did not deliberately go against the rules, and if he had remembered, been aware or had the choice he would not have done it.



If a person drinks by mistake in Ramadaan (because he forgets he is fasting), he does not have to make it up. The evidence for that is the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him): “Whoever forgets when he is fasting and eats or drinks, let him complete his fast, for it is Allaah Who has fed him and given him to drink.” The one who does not deliberately go against the rule is not sinning and does not have to offer any fidyah.



Similarly, when ‘Adiyy ibn Haatim wanted to fast, he took a black thread and a white thread, because of the verse in which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “and eat and drink until the white thread (light) of dawn appears to you distinct from the black thread (darkness of night), then complete your Sawm (fast) till the nightfall” [al-Baqarah 2:187]. They used to take the rulings directly from the Qur'aan. But the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to him: “Your pillow must be very wide, if the black and white threads are beneath your pillow.” But he did not command him to repeat the fast because he was ignorant of the ruling.



Similarly, Asma’ bint Abi Bakr (may Allaah be pleased with her) said that they broke the fast on a cloudy day at the time of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and he did not command them to make it up – because they were unaware of the fact that the sun had not yet set.



The same applies to prayer. The evidence is that Mu’aawiyah ibn al-Hakam (may Allaah be pleased with him) started to pray with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and a man sneezed, so he said, “Yarhamuk-Allaah (may Allaah have mercy on you)” whilst he was praying. The people glared at him – i.e., they looked at him disapprovingly – and he (may Allaah be pleased with him) said, “May my mother be bereft of me!”, i.e., he added more words to what he had said. So they started to slap their thighs with their hands to make him be quiet, and he fell silent. When he had said the salaam, the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) called him. Mu’aawiyah said: May my father and mother be sacrificed for him; by Allaah I have never seen a better teacher or better teachings before or since; he did not rebuke me, hit me or revile me – he said: “This prayer is not the right place for any of the people’s speech, rather it is tasbeeh, takbeer and recitation of Qur’aan.” And he did not tell him to repeat it because he was unaware of the ruling.



The texts point to this principle, which is not blaming people for forgetting, not knowing, or being forced to do something. This is what is implied by the words of Allaah (interpretation of the meaning):



“your Lord has written (prescribed) Mercy for Himself, so that if any of you does evil in ignorance, and thereafter repents and does righteous good deeds (by obeying Allaah), then surely, He is Oft‑Forgiving, Most Merciful”



[al-An’aam 6:54],



And the words of Allaah in the hadeeth qudsi: “My mercy prevails over My wrath.”



Omitting to do that which is enjoined, however, is not excused on the basis of forgetting, ignorance or being forced, when it is possible to make it up, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever sleeps and misses a prayer or forgets it, let him pray it when he remembers it.” So it is not waved in the case of forgetting. And because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not waive the current prayer on the grounds of ignorance, as we see in the hadeeth of the one who prayed badly; he commanded him to repeat it even though he was ignorant, because he was omitting to do something enjoined.



Moreover, it is possible to make up things that are enjoined, but forbidden things are over and done with. But if a person is doing something that is forbidden, he should stop doing it as soon as he realizes. If someone says that Allaah’s words (interpretation of the meaning): “Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget or fall into error” [al-Baqarah 2:286] are general in meaning and include both omitting things that are enjoined and doing things that are forbidden, the response is that that is indeed the case; the one who does not do something that is enjoined out of ignorance or because he forgets will not be punished for not doing it, but not doing it means that he is obliged to discharge his duty once the excuse is no longer applicable. End quote from al-Sharh al-Mumti’ (7/200).



And Allaah knows best.


Syaikh Abdul Qadir benar-benar merupakan kerugian begi mereka yang tidak mengenalnya.


Syaikh AbduLlah Al-Bathaihi bercerita, “sewaktu Syaikh Abdul Qadir masih hidup, aku pergi ke Umm Ubaidah untuk mengunjungi Syaikh Ahmad Rifa’i dan tinggal di ruwaqnya untuk beberapa waktu. Pada suatu hari Syaikh Ahmad Rifa’i memintaku untuk menceritakan sedikit perjalanan hidup Syaikh Abdul Qadir. Saat aku sedang menceritakan kisah Syaikh Abdul Qadir, tiba-tiba ada seseorang yang memotong ceritaku. “Tidak, jangan engkau pernah menceritakan perjalanan hidup seseorang kecuali orang ini”. Ujarnya sambil mengisyaratkan ke arah Syaikh Ahmad Rifa’i.
Syaikh Ahmad memalingkan wajahnya sambil memandang orang tersebut dengan penuh kemarahan dan orang itu meninggal seketika. Kemudian beliau berkata, “Siapa yang dapat mencapai apa yang dicapai Syaikh Abdul Qadir. Lautan syari’ah di kanannya, dan lautan hakikah di kirinya. Beliau dapat mengambil dari kedua lautan tersebut sesuai dengan kehendaknya. Saat ini Syaikh Abdul Qadir tiada duanya”.
Kemudian Syaikh AbduLlah juga berkata, “Aku juga mendengar Syaikh Ahmad Rifa’i berwasiyat kepada para keponakannya. Mereka adalah Syaikh Ibrahim Al-‘Adzabi dan saudaranya Abu Al-Faraj AbduRrahman dan Najmudin Ahmad-Putera Syaikh Rifa’i- hadir pula saat itu para murid utamanya. Pada saaat itu ada orang berpamitan hendak pergi ke Baghdad,
Beliau berkata, “Jika kalian tiba di Baghdad, dahulukan mengunjungi Syaikh Abdul Qadir jika beliau masih hidup. Atau menziarahi kuburnya apabila beliau sudah meninggal. Karena beliau telah mengambil janji Allah bahwa semua pemilik kondisi spiritual yang tidak menomor satukan beliau akan dicabut kondisi spiritual yang dimilikinya. Syaikh Abdul Qadir benar-benar merupakan kerugian begi mereka yang tidak melihatnya.
Penyusun kitab Raudhul abrar wa mahasinul akhyar mengatakan bahwa yang meriwaytkan kisah ini adalah syaikh AbduLlah Al-Yunani RA waLlahu a’lam.


Interview on Tawhid (Islamic Monotheism) with Dr. Ja`far Sheikh Idris


Z.SERDAR: Over 200 years of colonisation, and four decades of modernisation have cut Muslim societies from their traditional roots, and what society is perfect? Therefore, in contemporary times the significance of these Islamic ideas and concepts is not always clear to us. In these conversations we are trying to develop a fresh perspective on these ideas. Here we'll be discussing the concept of Tawhid, which is normally translated as the unity of God. Dr. Idris, let me start off by asking you how do we define Tawhid?

DR. JAAFAR SHEIKH IDRIS: It comes from the Arabic word Wahid, or Ahad, which means one, and it refers to what is for us the most fundamental, the most important fact and that is that there is only one God. Tawhid has three aspects: we acknowledge the fact that it is this God who creates, who sustains everything, who preserves the world. This much is acknowledged by many people, whether they be Muslims or non-Muslims, in fact some people who don't even belong to any religion acknowledge this fact that there is a power behind the world and it is this power which was responsible for creation and it is responsible for the sustaining of the world. The other aspect is that this God has attributes which are very unique, attributes which are not shared by anything else. That doesn't mean that we don't say, for example, we say that "God knows", this doesn't mean that we don't say that a human being knows. But rather it means that when this attribute applies to God it applies to Him in a way in which it does not apply to human beings. The third aspect which is the most important is that it is only this God who deserves to be worshipped. And this is why some people think, and I agree with them, that it is wrong to, to translate La ilaha ill Allah as "There is no God", because there are many gods.

Z.S.: This in fact is the basic tenet of Muslim belief: "La ilaha ill Allah."

J.S.I.: Yes. La ilaha ill Allah , the basic tenet of belief whose real meaning is that there is no God worthy of being worshipped except the one true God whom we call in Arabic, Allah.

Z.S.: If the attributes of God are unique how do we know them?

J.S.I.: This point was explained very nicely by one of the Muslim theologians. He said that these attributes are not unique in the sense that there is no relationship between them and the attributes of created things, there is a common meaning. When I s ay, again the example of knowing: if I say to you so, Zia knows" and I say "Allah knows". So there is a common meaning here -- a core which is common to both. But the difference is about what Imam Malik called the form. You see, when this attribute applies to you, Zia, it takes a different form than when it applies to Allah, Suhhaanahu wa ta`aala , because all His attributes are interconnected. If Allah is everlasting, if He is eternal then the knowledge of an eternal being cannot be like the knowledge of someone like you, who is not...

Z.S.: Not very knowledgeable...

J.S.I.: Not eternal. So we know the attributes of Allah through His creation. So from creation we go to Creator. But, of course another very important source is Revelation, that is when Allah Himself tells us about Himself. We have to know what are the ba sic attributes. especially in relation to His creation. The basic attributes are those we find in Surah al Fatihah.

Z.S.: The opening chapter of the Quran.

J.S.I.: Yes, in the opening chapter we read "Alhamdulillah Rabbil-`Aalamin". Praise be to God, Lord of the World, Rabb. So this is the first attribute, He is Rabb and Rabb in Arabic is a very rich word. It means that He is the Creator, He is the Sustainer , it is He who looks after things. Rabb also comes, the word is related to Tarbiya, which means education. So "Alhamdulillah Rabbil-`Alamin, Ar Rahman ir Rahim: The Compassionate, The Merciful. And then we say, "Maliki Yawm min din": He's the Lord also in the Hereafter. So these are the basic attributes of God. When we talk of or when we say that God becomes angry or He is vengeful also then we have to be careful and not to think of Him as being angry in the way human beings are angry. In fact there is a Tradition of the Prophet which says that Allah's mercy ov ercomes His anger.

Z.S.: So in fact Mercy is the basic attribute of God?

J.S.I.: Yes it is. And one theologian also said that these are the positive attributes.

Z.S.: I'm not quite sure about one or two things. You are drawing a rather human picture of the Muslim God are you not?

J.S.I.: No. No, this is what I am saying and I think this is a very important point. You see there are two extremes here: to run away from likening God to human beings or to creatures. some people have gone to the extreme of likening Him just to an idea. 'they don't want to, attribute to Him anything because they fear that if they say He is angry or He is merciful or whatever, then they are likening Him to a human being. So they end up by, as one Muslim theologian again said, by likening Him to nothing, because it is only non-existent things which don't have any attributes -- anything which exists must have some positive attributes. The correct attitude is to say yes God is a being, He exists. He is not just an idea in our minds -- He is outside there so He must have attributes. But then because His nature is not like, or He's not of the same nature as things around us, things which are created then these attributes apply to Him in a way which is different from that in which they apply to human beings. Ho w, the nature of that difference, we don't know.

Z.S.: You say God is out there. Does it mean that He is not in here, within our hearts, or around here, within the world around us?

J.S.I.: No, according to the Quran, and this is very clear in the Quran, He is here only by His knowledge. When we say that God is everywhere -- we don't mean that He is in person everywhere. And you know there is a famous anecdote that one priest was tel ling some children that God is everywhere. So one child said, "Is he here?" Pointing to a glass of water. The priest said, "Yes." So the child said, "I caught Him", by placing its hand on top of the glass. So He is not everywhere in person, according to t he Quran He is everywhere by His knowledge, by His Mercy, the fact that He is Rabb that He is looking after everything. But He is -not part of the world, He is distinct from it.

Z.S.: Does the idea of Tawhid only include the idea of unity of God, does nor Tawhid have other notions of unity contained within it, like the unity of man and nature and the unity of man and man?

J.S.I.: Tawhid, you can say, it is like the premise from which all the details of Islam are deduced, everything in Islam is related to Tawhid. Because according to Islam every human being is born a Muslim, so Tawhid is the essence of human beings. Every h uman being is born with Tauwhid and when he deviates from Tawhid he is alienated. If he becomes a Muslim, in fact he returns to the religion of his human nature, he becomes himself. And this Tawhid is linked with the best that is in human beings.

Z.S.: What is the distinction between Tawhid and the conception of nature. I mean, does Tawhid also mean that Muslims can dominate nature or could dominate other creations of God?

J.S.I.: No, no. And I'm glad to say that some people in the West now are criticising this attitude towards nature. I read recently that one of them said it was a by-product of capitalism to think of nature as something to be conquered. But in the Quran it is stated that nature is made by Allah to serve human beings. So it is not we who conquer nature and make it subservient to our purposes, it is made for our service So nature serves us, and it serves us the better, the better Muslims we are. The more we abide by the moral laws, nature serves us If we deviate from them then whatever we do we cannot conquer nature and it has a way of punishing us, I mean even in this world, before we go to the Hereaf ter. And this is one of the very basic concepts of the Quran where we read "(Since they have become oblivious of God), corruption has appeared on land and in the sea as an outcome of what man's hands have wrought" (Surah ar-Rum 30:41). Pollution, for example, is a result of moral corruption. So we don't think of nature as something that is to be conquered. It is, you can say, a creature of Allah and our feeling towards nature is the feeling of brotherhood.

Z.S.: What kind of society is Tawhid trying to create?

J.S.I.: You can say that it is a society of true human beings. Human beings who are intellectually very good, who are morally upright, whose society is organised in a way that fosters whatever is good in them as human beings, a society in which people live as brothers, a society in which the relationshilp between the ruler and the ruled is not one of oppression or dictatorship. Even the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims: we treat them as brothers in humanity, I mean so long as they are ready to co-exist with us. So whether it be in the political or economic or social aspect Tawhid helps us to organise our society in a way that is very consonant with our true human nature as human beings. But the problem of the Muslims nowadays is that in fact their behaviour, whether it be personal behaviour or the way they organise their society and so on, is not very much related to what they read in the Quran or the Sunnah of the Prophet. It has bee n influenced by many non-Islamic ideologists, and this has been for a very long time, even before the time to which you referred at the beginning of imperialism and so on.

Z.S.: I'm glad you brought in the idea of a contemporary Muslim society. Now when we look at Muslim society today -- we numerous ills. Some of them, as you describe, are moral but others are very physical. malnutrition; lack of sanitation; lack of housing - and so on and so forth. Can anything be done from the perspective of Tawhid to solve soe of these problems?

J.S.I.: I think perhaps the logical point is, the first start is to tell people what Tawhid is. Because, 1 hope I will not be pessimistic if I tell you that I think that the majority of the Muslims, though they say that they believe in Tawhid, I don't think they do.

Z.S.: Is this not a very harsh judgment?

J.S.I.: Tawhid is not just to say that there is only one God. Sometimes a person says this but in his behaviour, he doesn't show this. He behaves in a way which shows that he really thinks that there are powers beside God who are responsible for running the Universe, or who can change the course of Nature. Or if he believes that what some people say is always right. You see, the early Muslims were very, very careful about this. For example, again Imam Malik, he used to say, you have to tell people from every human being we take and we reject, we take from them things and we reject other things - except from the man that lies in that grave, and here he refers to the Prophet. Not because the Prophet is divine, but because Allah made him Infallible as far a s conveying the Message is concerned, and that doesn't apply to anyone after the Prophet. It doesn't apply to the Companions of the Prophet, it doesn't apply to any Imam, it doesn't apply to any Sheikh, to any saint. That doesn't apply to anyone. Everyone his. to be judged by what the Quran says and what the Prophet Mohammad says. Can you tell me how many Muslims abide by this?

Z.S.: I'm afraid very few.

J.S.I.: And by the way, when I say this about the Muslims -- I'm not saying that everyone who demonstrates these attitudes automatically becomes a non-Muslim. But he is not the Muslim that is following what is demanded by Tawhid, and so his behaviour does not reflect Tawhid. The behaviour of Muslims, whether they be individuals or societies does not reflect Tauwhid at all. Of course, it's influenced by it, in some respects.

Z.S.: You have talked about degeneration of Muslim society. Now how about regeneration of Muslim society -- how can Tawhid help us regenerate Muslim society and bring our intellectual tradition alive?

J.S.I.: As I said earlier I think the first thing we have to do is to invite people to Tawhid again. I think we also have to make it relevant to the ideologies that are prevailing in the world today. It seems to me that we Muslim intellectuals have ? v ery big role to play. From my contacts with some Western intellectuals I think that it is only we, the Muslim intellectuals, who can invite people to religion again. Many other theologians who belong to other religions, many of them, I think t hey are very sincere people but the problem is that the religion, or the kind of concept of God that they have cannot be at al accepted by someone whose mind is shaped by science, or someone who demands, who looks for evidence, for reasoning. Man y people as a function of their religions, I mean they are very intellectual people, but it's because of their religion they have to say that there is no contact between reason and religion, or that we have to keep science and religion apart. They say religion, but, in fact, they should have said Christianity or Judaism or Buddhism, or whatever, because we Muslims don't think so, we do not agree with this separation of religion from science. We can argue even with the atheist, with the m aterialist, because, again I discover, that the kind of God that they reject is not the . . .

Z.S.: The kind of God of Islam?

J.S.I.: The God whom we believe in. I sometimes tell them that if this is the kind of God that you re rejecting, so I am also an atheist because I also reject that kind of God. This is one thing that we should do. The other thing is to make this Tawhid our philosophical frame- work, I mean a philosophical framework for all our sciences. I am sure, though many people might dispute this, that the prevailing philosophical framework of all the sciences is materialistic and atheistic one. Even people who believe in God whether they be Christians or Jews or even sometimes Muslims, they assume this philosophical atheistic, materialistic framework when they are practising their sciences, or they remember their religion only when they leave this science and go to the mosque or the church. You see this has to be changed, but this demands a lot from us. We have to give people good reason for believing that there is a God, and that this God is One and that belief, that fact, has to form the philosophical; framework for all the sciences. Now this brings me to another very important question. Many people now are talking about the Islamisation of the sciences. But then I discovered, to my astonishment, that when they talk say about Islamic sociology, they think of a sociology that applies only to Muslim society, as if Islam has nothing to say about non-Muslim society. Of course, if we think in that way then we can never be scientists because to be a scientist you have to look for th e laws which apply to all nature, or if you are a social scientist you have also to look for the laws which apply to all human societies. So our concept of science is an universal one, it is not sectarian -- it is not nationalistic, it does not apply just to a particular group of people. When the Quran says in the verse which I quoted earlier that corruption, material corruption, appears in the world as a result of moral corruption it is not talking about the Muslims, this applies to everyone. And also, I realise that some Muslims confuse Islam with the Muslims. They think that to defend Islam they have also to defend whatever happened in Islamic history, or whoever was called a Muslim theologian or Muslim scientist, or sometimes that they have even to defend the status quo of Muslim society. Of course, if we do that we will be betraying our Islamic ideals. No, we should be very scientific minded, we should be fair, we should look for the truth and acknowledge the truth. We should be very courageous in this, even if it doesn't please some Muslims, even if it is against ourselves, we should do this because as Muslims, we uphold truth. It is not our job just to defend people because they am Muslims or because they are brothers, in fact, the Quran tells us not even to defend our fathers if they do something wrong.

Z.S.: Do you think that our approach to Tawhid should be such that it makes us more humble and more appreciative, and perhaps should help us recognise the problems that we face today in our own society?

J.S.I.: Of course, and I like very much what one of the Hadith which was reported by a Companion of the Prophet states. He said something to the effect that the more you are conscious of God the more you become humble, and the more you find excuses for people. You see sometimes, of course, if one has a wrong attitude to religion, then you tend to become arrogant: you say "O, Alhamdulillah, I pray, I don't drink wine, I don't commit this and that, so I am better than other people." But in fact the attitude should be just the opposite. You say "Alhamdulillah I would have been a bad person had it not been for the mercy of Allah and I hope that people who do this and that and that will stop doing it, and who knows, perhaps Allah knows that there is something in their hearts which makes them better than myself," - because Allah is not interested in appearances.

Z.S.: This has been a very, very enlightening discussion and you've shown that from Tawhid, from the concept of the unity of God emerges a whole brotherhood between men and nature. And that Tawhid seeks to promote a very enlightened society, a very democ ratic society, a society where mercy and beneficence and that mercy. Professor Idris, thank you very much.



Qutb para wali dan empu rahasia Ilahi


Ibnu Al-Khidr bercerita, “setiap kali aku menghadap Syaikh Abdul Qadir di musim dingin yang menusuk, aku selalu mendapatkan beliau hanya mengenakan satu helai baju dan peci (thaqiyah). Namun, keringat bercucuran dari badannya dan selalu ada yang mengipasinya seperti sedang dalam musim panas yang luar biasa teriknya”.
Syaikh Abu Thahir Muhammad bin Al-Hasan Al-Anshari menyatakan bahwa ia pernah mendengar syaikh Abu AbduLlah Muhammad Al-Quraisy menyatakan bahwa dirinya juga pernah mendengar dari Aba Rabii’ Sulaiman Al-Maliki menyatakan bahwa tuan (sayyid) zamannya adalah Syaikh Abdul Qadir yang telah mencapai tingkat yang tidak terlukiskan. Dan di dalamnya terdapat ilmu agung, dikumpulkan di dalamnya berbagai makna”,
Kemudian syaikh Aba Thahir berkata kepada Syaikh Al-Qurasyi, “Apakah Syaikh Abdul Qadir sayyid zaman ini ?”. “Benar” jawabnya. Kemudian ai meneruskan, “Diantara para wali Dialah yang paling tinggi dan sempurna. Diantara para ulama dia lah yang paling wara’. Dan diantara para ‘aarif beliau lah yang paling dalam dan sempurna pengetahuannya. Sedangkan diantara para syaikh, dia lah yang paling kuat”.
Pada suatu hari syaikh Abu Muhammad Al-Qasim bin Abdul Bashri ditanya tentang Khidir AS, beliau menajwab,”Pada suatu saat aku bertemu dengannya. ‘Ceritakan padaku kisahmu dengan para wali’. Pintaku kepadanya waktu itu. Beliaupun bercerita pada suatu hari aku lewat di laut mediterania. Tiba-tiba aku melihat seseorang tidur berselimut jubahnya dan terbetik dalam hatiku bahwa ia adalah seorang wali. Aku menghampirinya dan membangunkannya dengan kakiku. Dia terbangun dan berkata kepadaku, “Apa yang engkau inginkan ?”. ‘bangkitlah untuk berkhidmad’. Kataku kepadanya. “Pergi dan urus urusanmu sendiri”. Katanya kepadaku. Kemudian ia berkata, “Hai Khidir, siapakah aku ?”. akupun menyerahkan urusan ini kepada Allah dan berkata, ‘Tuhanku, aku adalah kepala para wali’. Tiba-tiba terdengar sebuah suara dari langit, “Khidir, engkau adalah kepala orang-orang yang mencintai-Ku. Sedangkan yang ini adalah orang yang Aku cintai. “ Mendengar hal itu aku memohon kepadanya untuk mendoakanku. Dia menjawab, ‘Semoga Allah memberikan kebaikan yang berlipat ganda kepadamu”.
Akupun kembali berjalan dan menemukan seorang perempuan di puncak bukit pasir tertidur berselimut jubah. Aku berniat membangunkannya dengan kakiku sambil berkata dalam hati, “agaknya ini adalah isteri dari orang yang aku jumpai tadi”. Tiba-tiba terdengar suara, ‘Bersiakp sopanlah kepada orang-orang yang Kami cintai’. Pada waktu ashar, orang perempuan tersebut bangun. Setelah membaca doa, dia berpaling memandangku dan berkata, “Akan lebih baik jika engkau bersikap sopan kepadaku tanpa harus dilarang (oleh Allah) terlebih dahulu”. Dan dia mendoakan seperti doa suaminya.’
Setelah Nabi Khidir selesai bercerita, aku bertanya kepadanya, “Apakah orang-orang yang dicintai tersebut memiliki seorang pemimpin yang dipatuhi perintahnya ?”. ‘Ada’ Jawabnya. Aku kembali bertanya kepadanya, “Pada saat sekarang ini siapakah dia ?”. Khidr AS menjawab, ‘Dia adalah Syaikh Abdul Qadir. Dia lah afrad para golongan yang dicintai dan qutb para wali serta empu rahasia Ilahi’”.

Jumat, 11 April 2008

Syaqiq Al-Balkhi

Namanya Abu Ali Syaqiq bin Ibrahim Al-balkhi, wafat pada tahun 149 H / 810 msehi dan termasuk guru besar sufi khurasan. Beliau adalah guru Hatim Al-Asham.

Diceritakan bahwa Syaqiq Al-Balkhi adalah putera seorang yang kaya raya. Ia pernah pergi berdagang ke Turki ketika masih muda, lalu masuk ke sebuah tempat penyembahan berhala. Ia melihat seorang pelayan beribadah dengan kepala gundul dan dicukur jenggotnya serta memakai pakaian berwarna hijau. Syaqiq heran, tidak bisa tinggal diam maka mendekatlah ia kepada orang itu dan berkata, “Wahai pelayan, sesungguhnya kamu memiliki Tuhan Yang Maha Menciptakan, Yang Hidup, Maha Tahu dan Maha Kuasa maka sembahla Dia dan jangan menyembah berhala-berhala yang tidak bisa mencelakakan dan menguntungkan”.

Pelayan itu menjawab, “Jika memang apa yang kamu ucapkan itu benar bahwa Tuhanmu Maha Kuasa untuk mtmberikan rizki kamu di negerimu, mengapa kamu bersusah-susah datang kemari untuk berdagang ?”

Hati Syaqiq terpukul, kata-kata itu menusuk hatinya. Dia sadar bahwa selama ini dirinya terlalu sibuk dengan dunia. Diapun membuang kehidupannya dan lebih berhati-hati. Sejak saat itu ia memilih jalan zuhud.

Diceritakan bahwa sebab kezuhudan Syaqiq adalah karena ia telah melihat seorang budak yang beriman sedang bermain dan bersenang-senang di musim paceklik (kekurangan pangan). Orang-orang pun senang menontonnya.

“Kegiatan apakah yang kamu lakukan, tidakkah kamu melihat keadaan manusia di musim paceklik seperti ini ?”.

Budak itu menjawab, “Saya tidak perlu merasa susah dengan musim paceklik ini karena tuan saya mempunya desa / ladang yang bebas untuk kami ambil apa saja yang kami butuhkan”.

Jawaban itu mampu menggores hhati Syaqiq. Dia lebih berhati-hati dan tidak gegabah dalam mengambil tindakan. Dia bergumam, “Jika tuannya hanya memiliki ladang, maka tuannya adalah juga termasuk miskin juga, dan budak itu tidak perlu pusing dengan rizkinya. Maka bagaimana seorang muslim merasa pusing dengan rizkinya sedangkan Tuhannya adalah Tuhan Yang Maha Kaya”.

Hatim AL-Asham berkata, Syaqiq adalah seorang yang kaya. Dia suka bergaul dengan anak-anak muda. Ketika itu yang menjadi penguasa daerah Balkh adalah Ali bin Isa bin Mahan. Dia adalah seorang Amir yang suka memelihara anjing-anjing pemburu. Suatu saat ia kehilangan seekor anjingnya. Dia mengira bahwa anjingnya berada di rumah salah seorang tetangga Syaqiq. Merasa dicurigai, tetangga itu kemudian lari dan meminta perlindungan di rumah Syaqiq. Dia sangat takut, akhirnya Syaqiqpun pergi menemui Amir dan berkata, “Biarkan dia lari, anjing itu ada padaku. Saya akan mengembalikannya kepadamu dalam waktu tiga hari”. Lalu Syaqiq pulang ke rumahnya. Pada hari ketiga datanglah teman Syaqiq yang telah lama pergi dari Balkh. Ia menemukan seekor anjing di jalan dengan memakai kalung. Anjing itu diambilnya seraya berkata, “Akan saya hadihakan anjing ini kepada Syaqiq. Dai adalah orang yang suka berbuat seperti anak muda”. Anjing itu kemudian dibawanya kepada Syaqiq, sementara Syaqiq tahu bahwa itu adalah anjing milik Amir. Maka gembiralah Syaqiq, dan ia segera membawa anjing itu kepada amir. Terbebaslah Syaqiq dari jaminannya sehingga ia lebih waspada dan bertobat dari semua yang telah dilakukannya, dan memilih jalan zuhud.

Hatim Al-Asham berkata, kami pernah bersama Syaqiq di salah satu medan pertempuran untuk menyerbu Turki. Saat tiada yang terlihat selain kepala-kepala orang mati, tombak-tombak yang patah dan pedang-pedang yang putus, Syaqiq berkata kepadaku, “Apakah kamu merasa khawatir pada hari ini ?, apakah kamu bisa tidur seperti malam-malam ditemani isterimu ?”. Jawabku “Tidak sungguh tidak “. Syaqiq berkata, “Demi Allah, hari ini saya merasa tenteram seperti melam itu”. Kemudian Ia tidur diantara dua barisan, sementara saya berada di bawah kepalanya sehingga saya bisa mendengar suara dengkurannya”.

Diantara mutiara hikmahnya :

1. Jika kamu ingin mengetahui kejujuran seseorang, lihatlah janji Allah dan apa yang dijanjikan manusia. Apakah hatinya lebih mantap kepada janji Allah atau janji manusia.

2. Ketaqwaan seseorang dapat dilihat dari tiga hal : Dalam kesukaannya menerima pemberian, keikhlasannya dan pembicaraannya.


Pillars of Faith


The pillars of Faith, Iman, enumerated in many verses of the Qur'an and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, are belief in God, in God's Angels, His Books, His Messengers, in the Hereafter and in Qadar (Destiny). These are familiar terms; but the non-Muslim reader would be mistaken if he thought that the Islamic concepts designated by them are the same as those of other religions and philosophies. It is hoped that the following exposition, which is itself made in the light of the Qur'an and the sayings of the Prophet, will make this point clear. It will also make clear the fact that the Islamic concept of faith itself is, in many ways, different from the popular Western one. In the West faith is usually contrasted to reason and knowledge. But according to the Qur'an true faith is that which is based on knowledge and supported by argument. Any belief which is not so based and supported is considered by the Qur'an to be mere caprice and whim which a thinking person must avoid. True faith can therefore be gained through reflection and the acquisition of knowledge, and not by blind and irrational commitment. A person armed with such an enlightened faith can enter with great confidence into rational discussion with people who do not share his beliefs with the hope of showing them their mistakes and weaknesses and winning them over to truth. If this paper helps to take the reader a step in that direction it will have achieved its purpose, and all praise is due to God.

Contents:

God
The Hereafter
The Angels
The Books
The Messengers
Qadar
Conclusions

Abu Yazid Al-Busthami


Namanya Abu Yazid Thaifur bin Isa Al Busthami (188-261 H/804-875M). Kakek beliau bekas orang Majusi yang kemudian masuk Islam. Beliau tiag bersaudara, bernama Adam Thaifur dan Ali. Mereka semua ahli zuhud dan ahli beribadah. Namun Abu Yazid Al Busthami (Thaifur) adalah yang paling agung diantara ketiganya.

Diantara mutiara hikmahnya adalah :

1. Beliau pernah ditanya “dengan apa engkau mencaoai ma’rifat ini ?”. beliau menjawab “dengan perut yang lapar dan tubuh yang lusuh”.

2. Beliau berpesan, “Saya telah bermujahadah selama 30 tahun, tidak ada yang paling berat bagiku selain mempelajari ilmu dan mengamalkannya. Kalau bukan karena perbedaan pendapat para ulama, pasti saya akan tetap mendalaminya. Perbedaan pendapat para ulama adalah rahmat kecuali dalam masalah tauhid”. Pernah dikatakan pula bahwa Abu Yazid tidak meninggal dunia kecuali dia telah mengkhatamkan Al-Qur’an seluruhnya.

3. Beliau pernah berceritam “Saya pernah mengunjungi seseorang yang terkenal dengan kewaliannya. Dia seorang yang banyak dikunjungi dan terkenal dengan kezuhudannya. Lalu saya datang kepadanya. Ketika saya melihat ia keluar dari rumah dan masuk masjid, ia meludah ke arah kiblat, maka saya berpaling dan tidak mengucapkan salam kepadanya. Dia tidak dapat dipercaya dan tidak berpegang teguh dengan adab-adab RasuliLlah SAW. Jika demikian, bagaimana mungkin kewaliannya dapat dipercaya “.

4 Saya pernah ingin memohon kepada Allah SWT agar mencukipiku dengan bahan makanan dan wanita (isteri). Namun saya bergumam, “Bagaimana mungkin saya memohon kepada Allah seperti ini sedangkan RasuluLlah SAW belum pernah memohonnya”. Akhirnya saya tidak memohon lagi dan Allah malah mencukupi saya dengan wanita (isteri) yang baik. Sejak saat itu saya tidak peduli jika bertemu dengan wanita atau dinding.

5 Pernah ditanyakan tentang awal taubat dan zuhudnya, dijawab, “Zuhud tidak memiliki kedudukan”. “Mengapa?”. Beliau menjawab, “Karena ketika saya berzuhud selama tiga hari, pada hari keempatnya saya keluar dari zuhud. Sesungguhnya pada hari pertama saya zuhud dari dunia dan seisinya. Pada hari kedua saya zuhud dari akhirat dan seisinya. Pada hari ke tiga saya zuhud dari apa saja selain Allah SWT. Maka pada hari ke empat tiadalah yang tersisa selain Allah SWT lalu saya menemukan kesimpulan pengertian. Tiba-tiba saya mendengarkan suara bisikan yang mengatakan “Wahai Abu Yazid, tidak ada rasa takut orang yang bersama Kami”. Sayapun menimpalinya Inilah yang saya inginkan”. Maka datanglah suara berikutnya yang mengatakan “kamu telah menemukan. Kamu telah menemukan”.

6 Pernah ditanyakan, “Penghalang apa yang paling berat dalam menempuh perjalan menuju Allah ?”. Jawabnya, “Saya tidak dapat menerangkannya”. Ditanyakan lagi, “Usaha apa yang paling ringan untuk menghindari nafsu ?”. Jawabnya, “Kalau ini saya dapat menerangkan. Saya pernah mengajak nafsuku untuk ta’at keapda Allah namun ia menolak, lalu saya berpuasa selama setahun”.

7 Saya melakukan shalat sejak 30 tahun. Tiap shalat saya kerjakan dengan mantap namun saya merasakan shalatku seperti orang majusi, sehingga ingin sekali aku memotong ikat pinggangku”.

8 Jika kamu melihat seseorang yang telah diberi keramat sampai bisa terbang di udara sekalipun, maka janganlah kamu tertipu dengannya sehingga kamu dapat menilai kesungguhannya dalam melaksanakan perintah dan menjauhi larangan Allah, dalam menjaga batas-batas hukum Allah dan dalam melaksanakan syari’at allah.

9 Pamanku Al-Busthami pernah menceritakan dari ayahnya. Dia mengatakan, “Di suatu malam Abu Yazid pergi ke suatu markas untuk berdzikir di pagar markas, namun sampai pagi ia tidak dapat berdzikir. Saya tanyakan sebabnya lalu dijawab, “Saya teringat sebuah kata ketika saya masih kecil yang kata ini teerus berputar-putar di lidahku, sehingga saya malu untuk berdzikir kepada Allah”.



The Necessity to Refer to the Qur'an and Sunnah
Abdul Qadir Abdul Aziz
al-Jumu'ah Magazine
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



It is necessary to refer all matters of disagreement between Muslims to Allah
and His Messenger, sallallahu alayhe wa sallam. This is important for the
Muslim to know and implement because it indicates the complete submission to
Allah without which one would not be a Muslim.

Allah says, " If you differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allah
and His Messenger, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is best and
most commendable in the end" [4:59] also, He says, "And whatever you disagree
upon, its decision is with Allah" [42:10]

Ibnul Qayyim said, "Based on these verses, scholars have agreed that
referring to Allah means referring to His Book, and referring to the
Messenger, sallallahu alayhe wa sallam, means referring to him in person when
alive, to his Sunnah after his death." The first verse of surah an-Nisaa
(surah 4), is also proof that the Shari'ah has been perfected and completed.
Ibnul Qayim commented on this verse, "It covers everything that the believers
may disagree upon concerning their religion, from the smallest to the
greatest, whether hidden or evident. And if there were not a clear solution
to their disagreement in Allah's Book and His Messenger's Sunnah, or if they
were not enough for that, then He would not have ordered us referral to them."

Shari'ah is the Judge and is not to be judged: This is its power and its
role. This means that the Shari'ah rules and judges whether people's sayings
and doings are correct or not. It judges between them when in conflict and
disagreement. It confirms the right and abolishes the falsehood. This fact
sometimes is violated through some wrong practices:

Fanaticism: The fanatics in the different Madha-hib, schools of thought,
judge the Qur'an and Sunnah by what their Imam say. For example, Abul Hassan
al-karkhy, a prominent Hanafi Imam, said, "Every verse 'in the Qur'an' that
differs with our Madh-hab's understanding is either wrongly interpreted or
abrogated, and the same applies to every hadeeth as well."

Democracy: Today, one of the ugly examples of people taking the Divine
Shari'ah into their own hands, is the one related to the so-called democracy
by taking people's opinion, directly or through their parliament, about
implementing the Islamic Laws. The essence of this is subjugating the
implementation of the Creator's Shari'ah to the will of His creatures or
rendering it to a mere choice like any human-set constitution or laws. This
is total and clear disbelief, Kufr.

In explaining the Islamic Aqueedah, Imam at-Tahawi said, concerning the one
who rules with other than Allah's rule, "If he thought that ruling in
accordance with what Allah has descended is not mandatory and that he has a
choice in it, or he belittled it, while certain that it is Allah's judgement,
then he has committed Kufr, disbelief." No one from this Ummah is faultless
except the Prophet, sallallahu alayhe wa sallam. And so Allah ordered us,
when in conflict, to refer to Him and to His Messenger, sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam, and not to refer to anyone else's opinion or saying or laws. Hence it
is understood that there can be fault in anyone's sayings except the sayings
of Allah and His Messenger, sallallahu alayhe wa sallam. This also indicates
that the claim of some sects that their Imams are faultless is baseless.

Asserting this principle, Imam Malik said, "Any one's sayings may be
corrected except those of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhe wa sallam." And
similar statements were quoted from Abu Hanifa, Ahmed, Shafi'ee and others
although their exact words may differ a little. Allah says, " Had it been
from other than Allah, much discrepancy would have been found" [4:82]

The referral to the Qur'an and the Sunnah has to be done by those who qualify
for it, the scholars, Allah says, " If you do not know, ask of those who
possess the Message." [16:43]

With regards to asking the scholars and referring to them, we caution the
Muslims from two types of scholars:

1) Scholars who are deeply buried under their books and have lost contact
with the outside world. Ibnul Qayim said, "The Mufti and the Governor cannot
govern fairly unless they have two kinds of knowledge. The first is the
understanding of the reality, being totally involved in it and being able to
derive facts from what happened using evidence, indications and signs, until
they are totally informed. The second is the understanding of Allah's rulings
depicted in His Book or through the sayings of His Messenger, sallallahu
alayhe wa sallam, and understanding how to apply them to the reality under
consideration."

Also, Abu Batah al-Akbari said, "Imam Ahmed said, 'It is not acceptable for a
man to establish himself as Mufti unless he has five characteristics. First,
he must have the intention. If he does not have an intention, there will be
no light in him or in his speech. Second, he must have the knowledge,
tolerance, dignity and tranquility. Third, he has to be sure of his speech
and his knowledge. Fourth, he must be self sufficient (financially). If not
he will be used by people. Fifth, he must know the people."

Ibnul Qayim commented on this saying, "Knowledge of the people is a great
trait that every Mufti and Governor should have. They should be involved with
the people, be very knowledgeable in enjoining the good and forbidding the
evil, and then applying the one to the other. Otherwise they will do more
harm than good. If they are not knowledgeable about people, they might
mistake the oppressor for the oppressed and the rightful for the wrong-doer,
and vice versa. If they are ignorant of the people, their circumstances and
their customs, they will not be able to distinguish between the good and the
bad. They have to be very knowledgeable in people's cunning, deception,
fraud, customs and traditions. A fatwah is subject to change depending on the
time, place, customs and traditions and that is all from Allah's religion."

2) Scholars who sell themselves for worldly possessions. The Messenger of
Allah, sallallahu alayhe wa sallam, said, "Keenness on money and worldly
belongings will ruin someone's religion more effectively than a couple of
hungry wolves can ruin in a herd of sheep, if left alone with it." (Daremi)

Ibnul Qayim said, "When people of knowledge prefer this worldly life and love
it, they will definitely say what is not true about Allah, in their fatawa,
judgments, sayings and actions." This is due to the fact that Allah's rulings
are not always in accordance with people's desires especially those in
positions of power and those who follow dubious paths. Their needs are always
fulfilled in disagreement with the Truth. If the scholars and Governors have
a liking to power and follow dubious paths, they will have their way only by
using what opposes the truth.

Beware of these two types of scholars. Those who have lost contact with
reality and those who prefer worldly affairs especially in matters concerning
jihad, enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, and everything that
concerns tyrant rulers. Ibn Taymiyah has described both types of scholars in
one saying, "It is imperative, concerning jihad, to take the opinion of the
true religious people who have experience in real life, not the people who
love this world and whose views on religion are not in depth. Their opinions
and the opinions of those scholars who lack contact with reality and life

should not be taken."


Ahmad Al-Anthaki dan Abu Hamzah Al-Bazaar.

Ahmad Al-Anthaki.

Namanya Abu ALi Ahmad bin Ashim Al-Anthaki satu periode dengan Bisyir bin Al-harits, Sary As-Saqathi, dan Harits Al- Muhasibi.Abu Sulaiman Ad-Daraani menjulukinya “seseorang yang menjadi mata-mata hati” (jushuusul qulub) karena ketajaman firasatnya.

Diantara mutiara nasihatnya adalah : 1. Jika kamu ingin memperbaiki hatimu maka jagalah lidahmu. 2. Allah SWT berfirman, “Innamaa amwaalukum wa aulaadukum fitnah”. (QS. At-Taghabuun 15). Namun kita selalu mencari fitnah.

Abu Hamzah Al-Bazaar.

Namanya Abu Hamzah Al-baghdadi Al-Bazaar wafat pada tahun 289 H / 902 M, hidup seperiode dengan Al-Junaid namun wafat terlebih dahulu. Bersahabat dengan Sariy As-Saqathi dan Hasan Al-masuhi. Beliau seorang ahli fikih dan ahli baca Al-Qur’an, dan beliau adalah putera dari Isa bin Aban. Ahmad bin Hambal pernah bertanya kepadanya tentang beberapa masalah dan memanggilnya, “Bagaimanakah pendapatmu tentang masalah-masalah ini wahai sufi ?”. maka beliaupun menyampaikan nasihat-nasihatnya di majlisnya pada hari Jum’at. Ketika itu kesehatannya kurang sempurna sehingga beliau terjatuh dari kursi dan wafat pada minggu berikutnya. Diantara mutiara hikmahnya adalah :

1. Barang siapa yang mengetahui jalan kebenaran, maka ia akan mudah menempuhnya. Tidak ada pemandu ayng mengantarkan kepada Allah SWT, kecuali dengan mengikuti perilaku, perbuatan dan sabda-sabda RasuliLlah SAW.

2. Barang siapa yang memiliki tiga hal ini maka ia akan selamat dari bencana-bencana yaitu : Perut yang kosong serta diikuti sikap bathin yang qana’ah. Kemiskinan yang disertai sikap zuhud dan ketabahan yang disertai keabadian dzikir.



Rights of Allah


Allah's Rights upon His creation are the rights that must be kept the most. Allah is the sole Creator and Sustainer of the universe. He is the Almighty who created everything with absolute wisdom. Allah is the One who initiated every being from nothing. He is the One who protects humans in their mothers' wombs, as infants, as children and as adults. He, alone, sustains all humans and provides them with food and every aspect of life. Allah said, what translated means, "And Allah has brought you out from the wombs of your mothers while you know nothing. And He gave you hearing, sight and hearts that you might give thanks (to Allah)." [16:78]

If Allah refuses sustenance to anyone he will be instantly destroyed. Allah's mercy is what keeps humans and everything else alive.

Allah's control over his slaves is perfect. His bounties are countless. If this is His role in the life of humans, then His rights are what one must keep the most. Allah does not need sustenance from His slaves. He said, what translated means: "We ask not of you a provision. We provide it for you. And the good end is for the Muttaqeen (the ones who fear Allah)." [20:132]

Allah only wants one thing from His slaves. "And I (Allah) created not the Jinn and mankind except they should worship Me (alone). I seek not any provision from them nor do I ask that they should feed Me. Verily, Allah is the All-Provider, Owner of Power, the Most Strong." [51:56-58]

Allah only wants mankind to worship Him alone and ascribe no partners with Him in worship, and truly be His slaves. He wants them to surrender to His will, as they surrender to His control for the means of their lives. It is only fair to worship only the One who holds the existence of everything and everyone is in His Hands. One should thank Allah who, alone, provides for him by worshipping Him alone. Allah said, what translated means: "And whatever of blessings and good things you have, it is from Allah. Then, when harm touches you, unto Him you cry aloud for help." [16:53]

What Allah requires His slaves to do is easy. He does not want hardship to come to those striving to worship Him. He said, what translated means: "And strive hard in Allah's cause as you ought to strive (with sincerity). He has chosen you (to convey Islam), and has not laid upon you in religion any hardship, it is the religion of your father Abraham (Islam). It is He (Allah) who has named you Muslims both before and in this (the Quran), that the Messenger (Mohammad) may be a witness over you and you be witnesses over mankind. So offer prayer perfectly, give Zakat (compulsory charity), and hold fast to Allah, He is your Lord, what an excellent Lord and what an excellent helper!" [22:78]

What Allah wants from us is to worship Him with sincerity, and to perform religious deeds. Five prayers a day bring forgiveness from Him and purity in the heart. Muslims must try to perform prayer in the best form: "So keep your duty to Allah as much as you can." [64:16]

The Prophet said, what translated means, "Stand while praying, if you cannot then while sitting, and if you cannot then while laying on your side." [Al-Bukhari] Allah also wants His slaves to pay a small amount of their money to the poor, the needy, strangers who have no money, the indebted and to others who are eligible to take money from Zakat. Zakat is so minimal that it does not harm the rich, yet it provides tremendous benefits for the poor. Allah also requires fasting in the lunar month of Ramadhan. He said, what translated means: "So whoever of you sights the (crescent on the first night of the) month (of Ramadhan), he must fast that month, and whoever is ill or on a journey, the same number (of days he misses) from other days." [2:185]

Also, Hajj (pilgrimage) to Makkah once in lifetime is obligatory upon all Muslims, if they are able to do so. In general, we have the obligation to abide by all of Allah's orders, and stay away from all He had made forbidden upon us.

Above mentioned are the duties of Allah's slaves towards Him. They are not difficult to perform. The reward outweighs the requirements by far. The reward is "And whoever is removed away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise, he indeed is successful. The life of this world is only the enjoyment of deception." [3:185]



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