Asking for "Evidences" is a Clear Daleel of Your Ignorance

- original url

By Shaykh Ridhwan Saleem

In the name of Allah. All praise is for Him, our Lord and Protector, and may peace and mercy be upon His final prophet.

The following comments are not intended to offend anyone. We love all our brothers, who love Allah and His messenger (mercy of Allah and peace be upon him), and are working sincerely for this deen, no matter which orientation they take. If the following words are seen to be a little harsh on some, it was in view of the serious nature of the age we live in that we felt it was time to get to the point.

The following brief comment arose as a result of my being asked the legal ruling on a certain issue. The questioner also wanted to know the "evidences" for the ruling. I realized that they intended to compare the "evidences" from different people they asked and come to their own conclusion as to which opinion was "strongest".

I felt that presenting the "evidence" from the Hanafi legal school on this issue to such a layperson was inappropriate. I will try and explain why.

I mentioned the ruling from the Hanafi legal school, and said: Such a fatwa, if it comes from one of the four legal schools of ahlis-sunnah wal-jamaa'ah , is the result of the study, research, and ijtihad of hundreds of the greatest scholars of this ummah, who contributed to, and revised the legal rulings of each school . They were masters of the Islamic disciplines, many of whom memorized over one hundred thousand hadiths of the beloved Prophet (mercy of Allah and peace be upon him). Many scholars of the Hanafi legal school reached this respected rank known as 'Guardian ( Hafidh ) of the Hadith'.

In addition to this they were people of the highest levels of piety and fear of Allah, which is absolutely confirmed from their biographies. Therefore we gladly accept the verdicts they gave without having to question them for their "evidences" , and we do not turn to those who do not submit to the authority of these great scholars of this ummah, and want to examine the "evidence" for every ruling, despite the fact most of them have not even had a basic training in the Islamic sciences, or even studied any of the authentic books of hadith with a teacher.

For such a layperson to ask for "evidence" is ridiculous. It's like someone who hasn't even studied GCSE science arguing about the theory of relativity with a professor of physics. Or like someone who has not even the basic knowledge of biology or chemistry arguing with a leading physician about which medicine is better for a particular disease.

Such a person would be a laughed at! Do you think a professor would even pay any attention to him?
He wouldn't even waste his time engaging him in a discussion. Such a person, if he really wishes to give his opinions on theoretical physics, should first go and study his GCSEs for two years, then do his A-levels for two years, then get a degree (3 years), then a masters (1-2 years), then a PhD (3-5 years). Finally, he will be in a position to begin a discussion with the professor!

Similar, or worse, is the Muslim who hasn't even studied a basic curriculum in Islamic Law, and yet steps forward to challenge the greatest scholars of Law, of the salaf and khalaf of this ummah! He does not even have the basic tools to understand or evaluate an "evidence".

Do you think giving opinions on Islamic Law is easier than giving opinions in theoretical physics?

The very fact that you ask for "evidence" is itself a clear daleel of your ignorance of what the process of ijtihad involves.

Do you think getting an "evidence" is as simple as being told a verse of Qur'an or a single hadith?
Your job as a layperson or a beginner in the sacred knowledge is not to ask for the legal rulings on an issue along with "evidences". Rather, your job is just to ask for the legal rulings alone, from one of the four accepted legal schools, and to know that the rulings are based on a deep knowledge and study of the sources.

If you really are interested in the "evidences" please step forward to study the sacred knowledge. You are most welcome! Just to get to a basic level will take at least 5-8 years of serious study. That's just a basic graduate; you haven't even begun to specialize yet!

Trust me, the "evidences" are there for each of the legal schools. The encyclopaedic reference works which discuss detailed evidences for the rulings of the Hanafi legal school are numerous and well-known, written by great masters of Hadith and Jurisprudence. Please feel free to consult them any time you wish to see the "evidence" for a legal ruling. But an untrained person, such as yourself, reading such works will not be able to make sense of them, like a GCSE science student trying to read advanced research papers in quantum physics, or cutting-edge medical research. He'll end up more confused than anything else.

It is time to be humble. If you are a GCSE student, you need to study the basics, and accept what your teachers tell you for now. In many years time, if you are an intelligent student, and put in lots of hard work, you may be in a position to discuss complicated theories and form your own opinions.

Unfortunately, as part of the reprehensible innovations of modern times, a movement has developed within our ummah which rejects the following of the four established legal schools , and encourages laypersons to question every legal ruling, so they can form their own opinions and forge their own way! (This may well be the sunnah of the American singer, Frank Sinatra, who sang "I did it my way", but it certainly isn't the sunnah of the scholars of the salaf .) If you believe that as a GCSE student you can give opinions on quantum theory, then ahlan wa sahlan!

You should be warned however that what you are doing is completely haraam ie. giving a fatwa/legal ruling directly from the sources without being qualified to do so. If everyone was automatically qualified to issue/choose legal rulings, it would lead to disruption and chaos in the sacred law. (By the way, just because you are an Arab or speak Arabic doesn't make you an automatically-qualified mufti either!) All disciplines have curricula and methodologies for their study. Islamic Law and Juristic Methodology is one of the most difficult disciplines which takes many years to become proficient in.

To become a barrister, for example, you have to get excellent A-level results, then get a Law degree. Even after that you need to pass the Bar examinations. Still that is not enough! You then have to spend a further several years training with a barrister before you are allowed to practice for yourself. This is merely to become a junior barrister! After that how many years of continuing research and experience are required for one to become a QC, or a high-court judge?

Strange then it is that every Tom, Dick and Hamza from our ummah considers himself qualified to issue Islamic legal rulings after reading a few verses of Qur'an and a summarized version of al-Saheeh of al-Bukhari! It is a reflection of our deep ignorance of what it is we are dealing with. You haven't even entered Law school and you want to pass legal judgements!

You are a GCSE science student and you want to enter a discussion between professors!

Be humble! If you want to discuss issues of Islamic Law, go and sit at the feet of the scholars, the inheritors of the prophets (may peace be upon them), and study with them. Learn from their good character as well as their knowledge, purify yourself, so that you may become a worthy recipient of the light that is the sacred knowledge.

If you have spent your life studying engineering or medicine, or pursuing business ventures, instead of seeking the sacred knowledge, and now, in your older age, you have decided to get a bit "religious", start coming to the masjid, and so on, please don't think you can do a "crash course" in the deen by reading "Fiqh us-Sunnah" or the Tafseer of Mawdudi, and come to a level where you can debate with the scholars. Please leave the matters of the deen to those who actually did spend their youth and sacrifice many years of their lives to the study of the sacred disciplines.

As one of my teachers often says: " this is the deen, not teen (fig)!! " This is the teaching of Islam that you are dealing with! It's not the plaything of every common person. It is our western conditioning that makes everyone arrogant enough to believe they can give their opinions on all issues, from theology to Islamic Law.
The plain truth is you are not in any position to evaluate "evidences" for a legal ruling and come to a conclusion for yourself as to which opinion is the "strongest".

I remember once entering a discussion with an 18 year old, clean-shaven youth, dressed in jeans and a leather jacket, outside my local masjid. He had started practicing two years previously. He was quite soberly explaining to me how he examines the "evidences" put forward by the different legal schools on each "issue" and then is able to conclude for himself which is the strongest opinion! The fact that he didn't know a word of Arabic was not enough to deter his scholastic pursuits – he would get everything translated into English of course!

Unfortunately, such poor brothers have no idea of how complicated many legal rulings are, and how extensive the discussions between the legal schools on each issue can be. Don't they realize that they are merely "blindly following" whichever "scholar" has presented to them the information on this particular "issue". They haven't even checked the sources themselves, e.g. the reference books of the four legal schools, to see what they say in their discussion on the issue. It is well known that you cannot take Hanafi rulings from a Shafa'i text, or vice versa, because they often give inaccurate presentations of another legal school – you have to go to the texts of the school itself.

I will just give you one simple, commonly-seen, example where the poor brother/sister thinks that they have done a great "ijtihad", and come to their "own" conclusions on an issue (having realized that all the four legal schools got it wrong for the last 1,424 years). This is the issue of where to place the hands in the prayer. It is quite usual now to see Muslims praying while placing their hands on their chests or necks rather than the traditional above-or-below the navel position, which was the practice of the Muslims for over a thousand years until recent times. Indeed all four legal schools agree that the hands should be just above or below the navel – definitely not on the chest (except for women in the Hanafi school), and especially not on the neck! (Some of the Maliki's hold that the sunnah is to place the hands at the sides).

However the young mujtahids of the 21st century know better. Obviously all those great legal experts of the four schools didn't have access to " Fiqh us-Sunnah ", that essential guide for all budding mujtahids! It's even available in a handy translated version for non-Arabic mujtahids! You simply flick open the relevant chapter on: "Sunnah acts of prayer, The Position of the Hands" (vol.1 p.132) and you will discover that al-Tirmidhi narrates a hadith that the Prophet (mercy of Allah and peace be upon him) prayed with his hands on his chest, and that al-Tirmidhi grades this hadith "as hassan". Also you will read that a similar hadith is found in "The Saheeh" of Ibn Khuzayma, and that Ibn Khuzayma "considers it as sahih".

That's it! The young mujtahid has done his job! Obviously there are sahih hadiths about this! (Don't know who that Ibn Khuzayma guy is…but he sounds important!) The four legal schools got it all wrong! Thereafter the brother is seen in the local masjid placing his hands high up on his chest, looking rather scornfully at those who "blindly" follow the legal schools.

Now let's have a closer look at the "evidences" given above in "Fiqh us-Sunnah". We make some startling discoveries.

First of all, those who actually studied "al-Jaami'" of al-Tirmidhi itself would realise that al-Tirmidhi does NOT even mention a hadith that the Prophet (mercy of Allah and peace be upon him) prayed with his hands on his chest! Let alone grade it as hassan!! A very serious mistake on the part of the author of "Fiqh us-Sunnah".

Second major mistake: although Ibn Khuzayma (may Allah have mercy on him) does mention a hadith of the Prophet (mercy of Allah and peace be upon him) placing his hands on his chest, he DOES NOT consider it to be saheeh. In fact Ibn Khuzayma makes no comment on the authenticity of the hadiths that he narrates in his book. But those who know Ibn Khuzayma's methodology will see that all indications are that he did not consider this narration as sound. First of all he does not mention placing the hands on the chest in the chapter heading of that chapter (which is his usual method of indicating his understanding of the legal implications of the narrations in the chapter). Secondly, he places the narration at the end of the chapter, which also indicates its weakness.

Anyhow, a look at the chain of narrators of this hadith will show that it contains Mu'ammal ibn Isma'il, who most scholars of hadith say is a weak narrator, pointing out that he had a terrible memory! Imam al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) actually says he is "munkar al-hadith", meaning his hadith are totally rejected! There are also further criticisms of this narration possible but we will not delve into these right now.

Now we see the problem. The young mujtahid was not really a mujtahid after all! He was the worst type of "blind follower" . He read a chapter from "Fiqh us-Sunnah" and accepted what he read "blindly", all the while thinking that he had done a great ijtihad! Imagine how many more mistakes this book contains. And it is one of the most popular books nowadays amongst Muslims! The type of mistakes pointed out above are serious errors. One of my teachers said that these are not the type of slips you would see sometimes in the writings of scholars. Rather they indicate a real ignorance in the author that is inexcusable.

At the end of the day, the reality is that you are a muqallid, whether you know it or not . The choice simply remains as to whom you follow: is it going to be the author of "Fiqh us-Sunnah", or al-Albaani, or one on the four legal schools. In the end, studying evidences for legal rulings is not wrong in itself, but it has a certain context and place.

Other comments may be made regarding these matters, but we will suffice with what has been stated, praying to Allah that He covers us all in His mercy and guides us to the truth in all matters, and enables us to follow it, and act according to what pleases Him at all times. And may peace and the mercy of Allah be upon His beloved messenger, his family, and all his companions. And all praise is to Allah, Lord of the Worlds.

Written by,
servant of the sacred knowledge,
Ridhwan ibn Muhammad Saleem.
Damascus , Ramadhan 1424 H


Further reading:

1. "Refutation of those who follow other than the four legal schools" ("radd 'ala man ittaba'a ghayr al madhahib al arba'ah"), by Imam Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (Arabic)

2. "Non-madhhabism: The most dangerous innovation threatening the Islamic Law" ("La madhhabiyyah: akhtar al-bid'ah tohaddidu al-sharee'ah al-islamiyyah"), by Shaykh Dr. Muhammad
Sa'eed Ramadhan al-Bouti (Head of the dept. of Sharee'ah, University of Damascus )(Arabic)

3. "The legal status of following a madhhab", by Justice Shaykh Taqi 'Uthmani (Chief Qadi of Pakistan ) (English)

4. "The Four Madhhabs", by Shaykh Abdul-Hakeem Murad (English)

5. "Benefits of the sciences of jurisprudence" ("fawaa'id 'uloom al-fiqh"), introduction to "'ilaa ul-
sunan", by Shaykh Kayranwi (Arabic)

6. "Meaning of the saying of the Muttalibi Imam: 'If a hadith is authentic, then it is my madhhab'", ("ma'na qawl al-imam al-muttalib: itha sahha al-hadith fa huwa madhhabi"), by Shaykh ul-Islam, Imam Taqi ul-Deen al-Subki (Arabic)

7. "Fatwa Concerning the Obligation of Following Rightly Guided Scholars", by Shaykh Murabit al-Haajj and Shaykh Hamza Yusuf (Arabic/English)

Islam Di Brunei Bermula Pada Kurun Ketujuh

- URL asal

Susunan: ZUNAIDAH ZAINON
BRUNEI adalah sebuah negara tertua di antara kerajaan di kepulauan Tanah Melayu. Dalam catatan sejarah China, Brunei dikenali dengan nama Po-li, Po-lo, Poni atau Puni dan Bunlai manakala catatan Arab pula, Brunei terkenal dengan nama Dzabaj atau Randj.

Catatan tradisi lisan yang diperoleh dari Syair Awang Semaun yang menyatakan Brunei berasal dari perkataan baru ‘nah’ iaitu setelah rombongan klan atau suku Sakai yang dipimpin Pateh Berbai pergi ke Sungai Brunei mencari tempat untuk mendirikan negeri baru.

Replika stupa yang ditempatkan di Pusat Sejarah Brunei menjelaskan bahawa agama Hindu-Buddha pada suatu masa dahulu pernah menjadi anutan penduduk Brunei. Beberapa penemuan replika batu nisan P’u Kung Chih Mu, batu nisan Rokayah binti Sultan Abdul Majid ibni Hasan ibni Muhammad Shah Al-Sultan dan batu nisan Sayid Alwi Ba-Faqih (Mufaqih) pula menggambarkan tentang kedatangan agama Islam di Brunei.

Ia dipercayai dibawa oleh musafir, pedagang dan mubaligh-mubaligh Islam sehingga agama Islam itu berpengaruh dan mendapat tempat di kalangan penduduk tempatan dan keluarga kerajaan Brunei. Dakwah Islam dikatakan tersebar ke negara itu sekitar kurun ketujuh menerusi pedagang dan pendakwah Arab. Kedatangan Islam membolehkan rakyat Brunei menikmati sistem kehidupan lebih tersusun dan terhindar daripada adat bertentangan dengan akidah tauhid.

Awang Alak Betatar ialah Raja Brunei yang pertama memeluk Islam pada 1368 dengan gelaran Paduka Seri Sultan Muhammad Shah. Beliau terkenal sebagai pengasas kerajaan Islam di Brunei dan Borneo. Pedagang dari China yang pernah ke Brunei menggelar beliau sebagai Ma-HaMo-Sha. Beliau meninggal dunia pada 1402.

Dakwah
Beliau dipercayai mendalami Islam daripada Syarif Ali iaitu pendakwah yang berasal dari Taif yang dikatakan berasal dari keturunan Ahlul Bait yang bersambung dengan keluarga Rasulullah melalui cucu Baginda, Saidina Hassan.

Pendekatan dakwah Syarif Ali tidak sekadar menarik hati Awang Alak, malah dakwahnya menambat hati rakyat Brunei. Dengan kebaikan dan sumbangan besarnya dalam dakwah Islam di Brunei, beliau dikahwinkan dengan puteri Sultan Muhammad Shah. Selepas itu, beliau dilantik menjadi Sultan Brunei atas persetujuan pembesar dan rakyat tempatan.

Sebagai pemimpin dan ulama, Syarif Ali gigih mendaulatkan agama Islam antaranya membina masjid dan melaksanakan hukum Islam dalam pentadbiran negara. Selepas tujuh tahun memerintah Brunei, pada 1432, Syarif Ali meninggal dunia dan disemadikan di Makam Diraja Brunei.

Satu lagi catatan bersejarah yang membuktikan penyebaran Islam di Brunei adalah Batu Tarsilah. Catatan pada batu ini menggunakan bahasa Melayu dan huruf Arab. Dengan penemuan itu, ia mengukuhkan bukti kedatangan pedagang Arab ke Brunei dan sekitar Borneo untuk menyebarkan dakwah Islam.

Kegiatan membina masjid untuk dijadikan pusat kegiatan keagamaan dan penyebaran Islam sentiasa dititikberatkan oleh pemerintah Brunei. Terbaru adalah pembinaan Masjid Jamek Asr Hassanil Bolkiah yang kini menjadi mercu tanda dan keagungan dakwah Islam di Brunei.

Ia dirasmikan pada 14 Julai 1994 dan mampu menampung lebih 3,000 jemaah pada satu-satu masa. Masjid Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin yang terletak berhampiran Perkampungan Ayer di Sungai Kedayan, Brunei mula dibina pada 4 Februari 1954 atas hasrat dan cita-cita Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien.

Empat tahun kemudian iaitu pada tahun 1958, pembinaannya siap sepenuhnya. Dakwah Islam yang bertapak kukuh di Brunei turut mempengaruhi wilayah lain termasuk ke Sabah, Sarawak dan Kalimantan. Brunei Darussalam, negara yang mengamalkan sistem pemerintahan beraja banyak menyumbang kepada penyebaran dan pengukuhan Islam di wilayah Borneo, Indonesia.

In Saudi Arabia, a Resurgence of Sufism

- Original url

By Faiza Saleh Ambah

Special to The Washington Post
Tuesday, May 2, 2006; Page A13

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia -- A hush came over the crowd as the young man sitting cross-legged on the floor picked up the microphone and sang, a cappella, a poem about Islam's prophet Muhammad. His eyes shut tight, his head covered by an orange-and-white turban, he crooned with barely contained ardor of how the world rejoiced and lights filled the skies the day the prophet was born.

The men attending the mawlid -- a celebration of the birth and life of Muhammad -- sat on colorful rugs, rocking gently back and forth, while the women, on the upper floor watching via a large projection screen, passed around boxes of tissues and wiped tears from their eyes.

The centuries-old mawlid, a mainstay of the more spiritual and often mystic Sufi Islam, was until recently viewed as heretical and banned by Saudi Arabia's official religious establishment, the ultraconservative Wahhabis. But a new atmosphere of increased religious tolerance has spurred a resurgence of Sufism and brought the once-underground Sufis and their rituals out in the open.

Analysts and some Sufis partly credit reaction to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States for the atmosphere that has made the changes possible. When it was discovered that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi, the kingdom's strict Wahhabi doctrine -- which had banned all other sects and schools of thought -- came under intense scrutiny from inside and outside the country. The newfound tolerance Sufis have come to enjoy is perhaps one of the most concrete outcomes of that shift.

"This is one of the blessings of September 11. It put the brakes on the [Wahhabi] practice of takfir , excommunicating everyone who didn't exactly follow their creed," said Sayed Habib Adnan, a 33-year-old Sufi teacher. The government "realized that maybe enforcing one religious belief over all others was not such a good idea."

When Adnan moved to Saudi Arabia from his native Yemen four years ago, Sufi gatherings were often clandestine, sometimes held in orchards outside the city, or in basements and without microphones, for fear of drawing attention. "I couldn't wear this," he said, pointing to his turban. "Or this," he said, pulling at his white cotton overcoat. "Or I would be branded a Sufi. You couldn't even say the word 'Sufi.' It was something underground, dangerous, like talking about drugs."

Sufis here say they are not a separate sect or followers of a separate religion, but adherents to a way of life based on the Muslim concept of ihsan . Muhammad explained ihsan to the angel Gabriel as "worshiping God as if you see Him. Because if you don't see Him, He sees you." Another Sufi characteristic is a strong belief in the power of blessings from the prophet, his close relatives and his companions.

Sufism had previously been predominant in Hejaz, the western region of Saudi Arabia, which includes Muhammad's birthplace, Mecca; Medina, where he is buried; and the Red Sea port city of Jiddah. Muslims prayed often at shrines where the prophet's daughter Fatima, his wife Khadija and his companions were buried. Mawlids were public affairs with entire cities decked out in lights, and parades and festivities commemorating the prophet's birthday and his ascension to Jerusalem.

When the al-Saud family that would later come to rule Saudi Arabia took over Hejaz in the 1920s, the Wahhabis banned mawlids as a form of heresy and destroyed the historic shrines of Khadija, Fatima and the prophet's companions, fearing they would lead to idolatry and polytheism.

Wahhabis, crucial allies in the Saud conquest of the disparate regions that became Saudi Arabia in 1932, were awarded control of religious affairs.

Discrimination against Sufis, among others, intensified after armed Wahhabi extremists took over Mecca's Grand Mosque in 1979, demanding that a more puritanical form of Islam be applied in the country. Though the government quelled the uprising and executed its leaders, authorities were shaken by the incident, and lest other Wahhabis defy them, they allowed them more rein.

Soon after, extremist clerics issued a religious edict, or fatwa, declaring Sufi's spiritual leader, Muhammad Alawi Maliki, a nonbeliever. He was removed from his teaching position, banned from giving lessons at the Grand Mosque, where both his father and grandfather had taught, and interrogated by the religious police and the Interior Ministry. After Maliki was later attacked by a throng of radicals incensed at his presence in the mosque, he could pray there only under armed guard.

Meanwhile, thousands of cassettes and booklets circulated calling Sufis "grave-lovers" and dangerous infidels who had to be stopped before they made a comeback. Their salons were raided, and those caught with Sufi literature were often arrested or jailed.

The tide finally turned in 2003, with the new atmosphere that took hold following the Sept. 11 attacks, when the future King Abdullah, then the crown prince, held a series of meetings to acknowledge the country's diverse sects and schools of thought. One of the guests was Sufi leader Maliki. When he died the following year, Abdullah and the powerful defense and interior ministers attended his funeral. The rehabilitation of his legacy was almost complete.

"We were then upgraded from infidels, to people who are ignorant and practicing their religion wrong," said Wasif Kabli, a 59-year-old businessman.

But many Sufis complain that despite outward appearances, Wahhabis continue to destroy shrines in and around their holy places, their salons continue to be raided and their literature is still banned.

Wahhabis and Sufis view Islam from opposite directions. To Wahhabis, who emerged from the kingdom's stark, harsh desert, a believer's relationship can be only directly with God. To them, Sufis' celebrations of the prophet's life smack of idolatry, and supplications to him, his relatives and companions appear to replace or bypass the link with God.

Sufis answer that the prophet celebrated his own birthday by fasting on Mondays, that he himself offered to intervene with God on behalf of Muslims and that he could often be found in the evenings at the grave sites of his wives and companions.

Last month, on the occasion of the prophet's birthday, a crowd of more than 1,000 gathered to celebrate at a private residence. Sufi books, cassettes and DVDs were selling out in one corner of the large garden where the event was held. Adnan, the Sufi teacher, was one of four speakers who addressed the crowd. He asked: Why are we Sufis always on the defensive? "Nobody asks [soccer] fans for religious proof that sanctifies their gatherings at the stadium because of their devotion to their team," he said. "How come we are always asked for an explanation of our devotion to our beloved prophet?"

Muhammad Jastaniya, a 20-year-old economics major and part of a new wave of young Saudis who have embraced Sufism, said what drew him was the focus on God.

On a recent moonlit evening, Jastaniya sipped sugary mint tea with his friends on rugs spread on the rooftop of a Zawiya, or lodge where Sufis go to meditate, chant or sit in on lessons. The words 'God' and 'Muhammad' were written in green neon lights, and Islam's 99 names for God were stenciled in black paint around the wall. "To be a Sufi is to clear your heart of everything but God," he explained. "The Islam we were taught here is like a body without a soul. Sufism is the soul. It's not an alternative religion -- it can contain all Muslims."

That thought seems to be taking hold, even in faraway corners.

Salman al-Odah, the country's most popular puritanical cleric, who was jailed in the 1990s for opposing the presence of U.S. troops in the kingdom, accepted an invitation to visit Sufi cleric Abdallah Fadaaq's mawlid and lesson last week. The scene at Fadaaq's house was an obvious sign of conciliation.

Al-Odah sat with his hands neatly folded in his lap, wearing a red-and-white checkered headdress and clear wraparound glasses and sporting the short scraggly beard that indicates a conservative. Fadaaq, who at 39 is emerging as the new symbol of Hejazi Sufism, wore the white turban, the white overcoat and shawl typical of Sufis, wooden prayer beads resting on his lap. "It's true that there are differences between the way people practice their faith in this country, and this is an indication that people are using their minds and thinking, which is a good thing," Fadaaq said. "But what we should concentrate on are the expanses that bring us together, like the prophet. We must take advantage of what we have in common."

Adolf Hitler tubuhkan divisyen tentera Islam

- Original url

Susunan: SITI AINIZA KAMSARI
Satu pendedahan yang agak menggemparkan muncul baru-baru ini apabila Institut Kajian Aero dan Angkasa Malaysia (IKAM) menemui fakta-fakta menarik di sebalik kajian IKAM terhadap data sejarah Operasi Divisyen Hanzar!

Pendedahan itu menimbulkan kekeliruan mengenai siapakah sebenarnya Adolf Hitler? Dalam banyak catatan sejarah, tidak ada yang positif bagi menggambarkan pemimpin Jerman semasa Perang Dunia Kedua ini. Bukan sahaja negatif malah namanya masih dicaci sehingga hari ini kerana tragedi holocaust. Jutaan orang Yahudi mati dipercayai kononnya angkara perintah Hitler.

Bagaimanapun, sesuatu yang menghairankan sebaliknya terjadi. Hitler didapati masih mempunyai nilai toleransi yang tinggi dengan membenarkan penubuhan beberapa divisyen tentera beragama Islam di dalam kem atau menjadi sebahagian daripada bala tentera nazi Jerman.

Menurut Jeneral Leon Degrelle, seorang komander divisyen Waften SS (askar rakyat) Jerman, ada tiga divisyen Waffen SS yang 90 peratus anggotanya beragama Islam. Jumlah anggota dalam ketiga-tiga divisyen ini pula berjumlah 60,000 orang.

Antara tiga divisyen tentera beragama Islam Waffen SS ini, divisyen tentera paling terkenal adalah Divisyen ke-13 Waffen SS Hanzar. Divisyen ini beroperasi di Balkan dengan 90 peratus anggotanya berbangsa Albania, Bosnia dan Croatia yang beragama Islam. Bakinya orang Croat beragama Kristian Katolik yang berjumlah 21,000 orang.

Operasi Divisyen Hanzar mendapat perhatian IKAM kerana ia sesuatu yang sangat unik dan menakjubkan. Operasi tentera udara sukarela Croatia berjaya menembak jatuh hampir 300 kapal terbang tentera udara Rusia (komunis) sedangkan kapal terbang mereka yang dimusnahkan tentera udara Rusia kurang daripada 10 pesawat ketika Perang Dunia Kedua tercetus di Balkan.

Hanzar adalah perkataan Arab, Bosnia dan Croatia yang bermaksud parang. Parang hanzar ini dipilih sebagai nama rasmi dan juga simbol bagi Divisyen ke-13 Waffen SS.

Pakaian rasmi Divisyen Hanzar pula sama seperti pakaian rasmi Waffen SS yang lain. Cuma bezanya, anggota tentera Divisyen Hanzar memakai tarbus. Dari segi persenjataan, anggota pasukan ini juga dilengkapkan dengan senjata seperti anggota Waffen SS lain. Namun IKAM mendapati apa yang lebih menarik ialah terdapat seorang tokoh Islam yang mampu menjalinkan hubungan baik dengan Hitler. Dia turut berperanan sebagai pemimpin Divisyen Hanzar. Beliau ialah Mufti Besar Baitulmaqdis, Haji Amin Al Husseini. Beliau ialah pemimpin yang berpengaruh di Wilayah Arab terutama di kalangan pemimpin Arab Palestin.

Sepanjang Perang Dunia Kedua itu, Amin Al Husseini menetap di Jerman bagi menentukan pembentukan koordinasi antara fahaman Nazi dan polisi Arab sehingga membawa kepada pembentukan Divisyen Hanzar pada Februari 1943.

Divisyen Hanzar dihantar mengikuti latihan ketenteraan di Perancis sebaik sahaja penubuhannya. Ia mula beroperasi di Balkan pada Februari 1944. Divisyen ini beroperasi dengan jayanya menentang gerila komunis Partisan pimpinan Josip Broz Tito dan juga tentera Rusia.

Walaupun jawatan Muftinya dilantik oleh kerajaan British yang ketika itu menjajah Palestin, namun Amin Al Husseini merupakan seorang yang sangat membela Islam. Beliau juga bertanggungjawab menyekat kemaraan dan kemasukan beramai-ramai Yahudi ke Eropah setelah kaum itu gagal di sekat memasuki wilayah Palestin.

Generasi sekarang hanya mengenali Hitler namun ketokohan Amin Husseini sebagai pejuang Islam pada Perang Dunia Kedua sangat jarang diketahui. Malah beliau seorang yang banyak berjasa menggerakkan kebangkitan orang Islam selepas kekalahan kerajaan Uthmaniah (Ottoman) di Palestin diikuti Mesir dan Iraq.

Malah beliau merupakan mentor perjuangan kepada pemimpin Pertubuhan Pembebasan Palestin (PLO), Allahyarham Yassier Arafat dan ketua pemimpin dan pejuang Islam yang lain.

Walaupun ada laman web yang memburuk-burukkan nama Amin Al Husseini kerana dituduh terlibat dalam pembunuhan orang Kristian di Balkan namun paparan gambar sepanjang hayat beliau jelas menunjukkan tokoh ini mampu menerokai hubungan antarabangsa yang cukup luar biasa terutama berjaya menjalinkan satu hubungan dengan Hitler.

Presiden IKAM, Norul Ridzuan Zakaria berkata, adalah satu isu yang sangat menarik apabila Hitler memberikan persetujuan untuk menubuhkan Divisyen Hanzar dan toleransinya terhadap kegiatan anggota divisyen berkenaan yang majoritinya terdiri daripada orang Islam.

“Sebelum ini begitu banyak fakta menjelaskan bahawa Hitler adalah seorang diktator yang kejam dan tidak bertoleransi terhadap keagamaan, apatah lagi Islam,” katanya dalam satu rencana yang disiarkan dalam sebuah akhbar tempatan baru-baru ini.

Menurut Norul Ridzuan, setiap batalion atau rejimen dalam Divisyen Hanzar akan dilengkapi seorang imam dan seorang guru agama yang bertugas untuk memastikan setiap anggota divisyen ini terus mengekalkan cara hidup sebagai muslim.

“Di samping itu, divisyen ini kerap menerima kunjungan Mufti Baitulmaqdis Imam Amin Al-Husseini yang melengkapkan pengisian rohani anggota divisyen ini,” katanya.

Sebagaimana fakta sejarah merekodkan kekalahan tentera-tentera Nazi dalam Perang Dunia Kedua itu, begitu juga nasib yang diterima oleh tentera Divisyen Hanzar yang terpaksa menyerah diri pada Mei 1945 apabila pasukan tentera Jerman berundur dari Balkan. Lebih malang lagi kesemua mereka kemudian dibunuh oleh diktator Tito yang disokong oleh British dan Rusia.

Mungkin satu semakan semula sejarah Hitler perlu dibuat. Ini kerana hubungan baik Hitler dan Amin Al Husseini tentunya tidak terhad atas kepentingan politik dan mengembangkan pengaruh masing-masing. Pasti masih ada sesuatu yang telah disembunyikan daripada pengetahuan umum di sebalik Hitler yang sering diburukkan dengan holocaustnya itu. Benarkah beliau sekejam itu?

Persoalan ini ditimbulkan oleh Pesiden Iran, Ahmadinejad baru-baru ini mengenai sejauh mana kebenaran holocaust. Ujar pemimpin itu, jika benar ia wujud maka itu sepatutnya menjadi dosa orang Eropah.

“Tetapi mengapa rakyat Palestin dan umat Islam yang terpaksa menanggungnya. Namun, kita meyakini Barat sebenarnya telah berjaya diperalatkan oleh Yahudi untuk menghancurkan negara Islam demi kelangsungan rejim dan puak Israel,” katanya.

51,000 murid tidak tahu solat

DUNGUN 19 Mei - Lebih 51,000 atau kira-kira 34 peratus daripada 149,000 pelajar tahun dua hingga enam di negeri ini didapati tidak tahu jumlah rakaat setiap solat lima waktu.

Penolong Pegawai Pelajaran Daerah Dungun, Mohd. Nasir Harun berkata, angka itu berasaskan kepada kajian oleh Jabatan Pelajaran Negeri Terengganu baru-baru ini.

Sehubungan itu, menurut beliau, Pengarah Pelajaran Terengganu, Draman Muda meminta pejabat-pejabat pelajaran daerah untuk menyebarkan masalah itu kepada ibu bapa agar mereka sama-sama membetulkan keadaan.

``Menakutkan, tetapi inilah realiti yang perlu diakui. Selain tidak tahu rakaat setiap solat lima waktu, sebahagian besar murid sama ada tidak tahu langsung atau tergagap-gagap ketika diminta membaca ayat asas solat termasuk al-Fatihah.

``Tidak tahu bilangan rakaat dan tidak pandai baca al-Fatihah, maknanya tak tahu solat,'' katanya ketika berucap merasmikan Mesyuarat Agung Persatuan Ibu Bapa dan Guru (PIBG) Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Jerangau di sini, hari ini.

Turut hadir ialah Pengetua SMK Jerangau, Awang @ Mohamad Zaid Mat Zin dan Pengerusi PIBG SMK Jerangau, Mohammad Jusoh.

Menurut Mohd. Nasir, angka dan peratusan berkenaan mungkin jauh lebih besar jika kajian seumpama itu turut membabitkan pelajar tahun satu.

Bagaimanapun, katanya, kajian tersebut tidak melibatkan pelajar tahun satu kerana merasakan golongan berkenaan perlu diberi ruang untuk mempelajari perkara asas dalam ibadat itu.

``Jabatan Pelajaran menyasarkan kajian kepada murid tahun dua hingga enam kerana mereka sepatutnya sudah mampu dan sudah boleh menguasai perkara asas solat lima waktu.

``Siapa harus dipersalahkan sama ada ibu bapa, guru atau masyarakat. Bagi saya semua pihak perlu mengambil berat, namun ibu bapalah yang paling utama perlu memikul tanggung jawab itu.

``Jika anak tidak tahu bersolat, hal itu memberi gambaran bahawa ibu bapa atau penjaganya tidak memberi perhatian, malah berkemungkinan ibu bapa jarang bersolat di rumah,'' katanya.

Mohd. Nasir berkata, sebahagian besar masa pelajar ada bersama ibu bapa atau penjaga mereka di rumah dan mereka sepatutnya mengutamakan pengajaran solat kepada pelajar.

Yusuf Islam returns to recording

- Original url

Yusuf Islam will release an album of new songs this year, 28 years after he left the music industry. As folk musician Cat Stevens he had a string of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, including such contemporary classics as Moon Shadow and Morning Has Broken. He gave up music in 1979, two years after he converted to Islam and changed his name.

The new album, which has yet to be given a title, will be released by Polydor records in the autumn. The singer says he hopes the album will improve understanding between Islam and the West.

"It is important for me to be able to help bridge the cultural gaps others are sometimes frightened to cross."

Religious convictions
Islam has been a teacher and an advocate for his religion for many years, and founded a Muslim school in London in 1983. In 2004, he was refused entry to the US on "national security grounds". However the singer said he had "consistently denounced the acts of terrorists as being directly contradictory to the peaceful teachings of Islam".

At around the same time as he was refused entry to the US, Islam was presented with the Man for Peace award by a group of Nobel Peace Laureates.

New material
In recent years, the singer has returned to the recording studio. A re-recorded version of his song Peace Train was released in opposition to the Iraq War, and Islam duetted with Ronan Keating on a cover of Father and Son. He has also released several albums of religious music and spoken word on his Mountain of Light record label. The new album will feature completed versions of songs that Islam started more than twenty years ago.

They were recorded with the help of producer Rick Nowels, who is known for his work with Madonna, Stevie Nicks and Belinda Carlisle.

Tok Pulai Chondong ulama sufi berwibawa Kelantan

- URL Asal

Oleh: WAN MOHD. SHAGHIR ABDULLAH

DALAM buku saya yang berjudul Perkembangan Ilmu Tasawuf dan Tokoh-Tokohnya di Nusantara terbitan Al-Ikhlas, Surabaya, 1980, kisah Tok Pulai Chondong telah dibicarakan secara ringkas. Selain itu riwayat hidup Tok Pulai Chondong juga pernah dimuatkan dalam majalah Pengasuh terbitan Kota Bharu, Kelantan, bilangan 45 September 1979/ Syawal 1399. Selain kedua-dua riwayat tersebut terdapat beberapa penulisan oleh para pengkaji tentang ulama sufi yang berasal dari Pulai Chondong, Kelantan itu.

Penulisan yang paling lengkap dan terkini adalah yang diusahakan oleh Wan Kamal Mujani dan Zuharyati Yusof dalam kertas kerja berjudul ‘Tok Pulai Chondong: Riwayat Hidup dan Sumbangan dalam Pendidikan Islam di Kelantan’. Kertas kerja tersebut dibentang dalam Nadwah Ulama III pada 15 hingga 17 April 2006 di Kepala Batas, Pulau Pinang. Perlu juga saya sebutkan di sini bahawa nama sebenar Tok Pulai Chondong ialah Abdus Shamad. Terdapat sekurang-kurangnya dua ulama terkenal yang bernama demikian di Kelantan. Yang seorang lagi ialah Abdus Shamad yang digelar orang dengan nama ‘Tuan Tabal’.

Selain gelaran yang berbeza nama orang tua juga berbeza. Nama orang tua Tuan Tabal ialah Muhammad Salleh al-Kalantani. Beberapa orang yang bercerita tentang kedua-dua ulama tersebut tidak dapat membezakan antara keduaduanya.

ASAL USUL
Rencana minggu ini tetap merujuk kepada tulisan saya dalam buku terbitan 1980 itu, sekali gus dilengkapi dengan petikan yang dibicarakan dalam kertas kerja Nadwah Ulama III yang disebut di atas.

Nama lengkap Tok Pulai Chondong ialah Haji Abdus Shamad bin Haji Abdullah bin Haji Hasyim, Pulai Chondong al-Kalantani (selanjutnya disingkatkan Tok Pulai Chondong saja). Lahir semasa pemerintah Long Yunus (1762-1794) iaitu pada tahun 1207 H/1792 M.

Beliau ialah saudara dua pupu Syeikh Daud bin Abdullah al-Fathani. Mengenai tulisan saya (pada tahun 1980) yang belum sempat saya bahas, tiba-tiba Wan Kamal Mujani dan Zuharyati Yusof memberikan maklumat yang lebih lengkap (pada tahun 2006) bahawa Haji Hasyim (datuknya) berasal daripada keturunan Sultan Ahmad Minangkabau, Sumatera, yang berhijrah ke Patani pada abad ke-18. Saya tidak bermaksud membantah tentang cerita ini, cuma saya masih meragukan perkataan ‘Sultan Ahmad Minangkabau’. Kemungkinan sebenarnya ialah Sutan Ahmad Minangkabau. Perkataan ‘Sultan’ dengan ‘Sutan’ mengandungi pengertian yang berbeza. Istilah ‘Sutan’ banyak digunakan pada pangkal nama orang-orang yang berasal dari Minangkabau walaupun mereka tidak memerintah dalam kerajaan.

Yang saya bicarakan pada perenggan ini adalah dipetik dan diringkaskan daripada tulisan Wan Kamal Mujani dan Zuharyati Yusof. “Setelah belajar di Patani beliau menjadi ulama, digelar orang ‘Tok Saraf’ kerana pakar dalam ilmu tersebut. Imam Hasyim mempunyai tiga anak iaitu Faqih Haji Abdullah, Faqih Ali dan Faqih Deramat. Faqih Haji Abdullah ialah ayah Tok Pulai Chondong. Akhirnya imam Hasyim, anaknya Faqih Haji Abdullah dan Wan Mek pindah ke Kelantan. Selepas imam Hasyim dan keluarganya sampai di Kelantan, mereka membuka perkampungan yang dinamakan Kampung Bukit.

“Imam Hasyim meninggal dunia di Kampung Bukit itu, selanjutnya anak beliau Faqih Haji Abdullah dilantik menjadi imam di situ. Faqih Haji Abdullah apabila meninggal dunia dikebumikan di Kampung Pisang, Perol, Kota Bharu....” Demikianlah diringkaskan daripada
kertas kerja Wan Kamal Mujani dan Zuharyati Yusof.

PENDIDIKAN
Tok Pulai Chondong setelah belajar daripada ayah dan datuknya sendiri menurut pengajian sistem tradisional Patani. Beliau juga pernah belajar di Pondok Pauh Bok, Patani daripada Syeikh Abdur Rahman bin Abdul Mubin al-Fathani. Selanjutnya pergi ke Mekah pada tahun 1223 H/1808 M. Di sana beliau belajar kepada Tuan Guru Haji Adam. Riwayat yang sahih ramai orang menceritakan bahawa Tok Pulai Chondong ialah murid Syeikh Daud bin Abdullah al-Fathani.

Baik masih berada di Pondok Pauh Bok, mahupun setelah di Mekah, beliau bersahabat dengan beberapa orang antaranya ialah Syeikh Wan Hasan bin Wan Ishaq al-Fathani (yang kemudian dikenali dengan nama Tuan Hasan Besut). Juga saudaranya Syeikh Wan Ali bin Wan Ishaq al-Fathani. Sewaktu belajar di Mekah, Tok Pulai Chondong juga bersahabat dengan Syeikh Abdul Malik bin Isa Terengganu, Syeikh Wan Musa dan ramai lagi.

Setelah menetap beberapa tahun di Mekah, Tok Pulai Chondong pulang ke Kelantan. Seterusnya Tok Pulai Chondong menyebarkan pengetahuannya dalam tiga cabang pengetahuan iaitu usuluddin, fiqh dan tasawuf. Tidak berapa lama di Kelantan Tok Pulai Chondong berangkat pula ke Mekah dalam tahun 1256 H/1840 M melanjutkan pelajarannya kerana dirasakan bahawa beliau masih perlu belajar lagi, bukan mengajar. Padahal dalam penilaian beberapa orang ulama, Tok Pulai Chondong yang dalam bidang tasawuf sebenarnya memang layak mengajar bukan belajar.

Wan Kamal Mujani dan Zuharyati Yusof menulis bahawa pada tahun tersebut Tok Pulai Chondong pergi ke Mesir menziarahi makam Imam Syafie bersama sahabatnya, Tuan Hasan Besut. Kisah ini merupakan maklumat baru, dan sekali gus menggambarkan persahabatan yang sangat rapat antara Tok Pulai Chondong dengan Tuan Hasan Besut yang terkenal itu.

Masih dalam konteks ini, Wan Kamal Mujani dan Zuharyati Yusof juga menulis, “ada pendapat lain yang menyatakan bahawa Tok Pulai Chondong telah pergi ke Mekah buat kali kedua pada tahun 1278 H/1861 M bersama anaknya Muhammad Arsyad yang berusia 13 tahun. Pada kali inilah beliau telah mengambil peluang menziarahi kubur Imam Syafie.”

AKTIVITI
Makin bertambah banyak pengetahuannya di bidang tasawuf makin bertambah kuatlah Tok Pulai Chondong beramal. Sebenarnya memang sejak kecil Tok Pulai Chondong ialah seorang yang memang mempunyai ciri-ciri khusus tentang amalan itu. Pada masa tuanya beliau terkenal sebagai seorang sufi yang warak, banyak membaca pelbagai wirid dan zikir. Zikir jihar dan zikir sirr semuanya beliau kerjakan dengan tekun sepanjang siang dan malam.

Doa yang paling sering diamalkannya ialah Hizb al-Bahri yang sanadnya bersambung dengan pengamalnya yang mula-mula iaitu Wali Allah Saiyidi Syeikh Abi Hasan asy-Syazili. Hizb al-Bahri telah beliau ijazahkan kepada beberapa muridnya di Mekah.

Antaranya ialah orang Arab bernama Syeikh Ahmad bin As'ad ad-Dihan. Syeikh Ahmad ad-Dihan mengijazahkan pula kepada Syeikh Wan Ali bin Abdur Rahman Kutan al-Kalantani. Syeikh Wan Ali bin Abdur Rahman Kutan al-Kalantani menulis doa tersebut dalam sebuah kitab yang diberi judul Lum'ah al-Aurad. Daripada sini ia tersebar dan banyaklah orang mengamalkan Hizb al-Bahri melalui penerimaan ijazah daripada seorang guru ke seorang guru hinggalah ke hari ini.

Aktiviti Tok Pulai Chondong yang diserlahkan oleh Wan Kamal Mujani dan Zuharyati Yusof dalam kertas kerjanya antara lain termasuk menjadi pelopor kepada pembangunan Kampung Pulai Chondong apabila beliau membuka penempatan baru yang tidak berjauhan dari Kampung Bukit, iaitu Kampung Bilal Talib.

Tok Pulai Chondong mendirikan sebuah surau yang akhirnya menjadi sebuah tempat pengajian sistem pondok. Mereka yang belajar ilmu di situ datang dari pelbagai pelosok nusantara seperti Kampar, Sumatera, Kemboja, Patani, Terengganu, negeri-negeri lain di Semenanjung Tanah Melayu sendiri dan lain-lain. Pondok Tok Pulai Chondong telah didirikan oleh Tok Pulai Chondong pada tahun 1820.

Berdasarkan tahun berdirinya pondok itu, maka para sejarawan Malaysia berkesimpulan bahawa Pondok Pulai Chondong merupakan pondok terawal di Kelantan.

Setelah Tok Pulai Chondong dilantik menjadi imam di Kampung Bukit dan berhasil membuka Kampung Bilal Talib, Tok Pulai Chondong membina pula masjid. Wan Kamal Mujani dan Zuharyati Yusof menulis bahawa “kebetulan di pinggir kampung tersebut terdapat sebuah pokok Pulai yang besar lagi condong maka Tok Pulai Chondong mengambil sempena keadaan pokok itu lalu menamakan perkampungan tersebut dan kawasan sekitarnya sebagai Kampung Pulai Chondong.

Walau bagaimanapun, masjid yang dibina tersebut telah terbakar pada 1820 M dan ia kemudian dipindahkan ke Kampung Surau iaitu tempat terletaknya masjid itu pada masa sekarang. Pada tahun 1856, masjid tersebut sekali lagi terbakar dan dengan kerjasama anak-anak mukim tempatan, Tok Pulai Chondong mendirikan sebuah masjid lain di tepi Sungai Pulai Chondong yang terletak tidak jauh dari tempat terbakarnya masjid tersebut.

Masjid yang baru didirikan ini kemudiannya dilengkapkan dengan mimbar, gendang dan menara. Sehingga kini menara Masjid Pulai Chondong masih lagi merupakan objek kemegahan tempatan yang dibina oleh Tok Pulai Chondong pada 1856.

Tok Pulai Chondong juga dilantik oleh Sultan Muhammad II sebagai guru di istana untuk mengajar Raja Perempuan tentang agama Islam. Sumbangan Tok Pulai Chondong yang dapat dilihat selain mengasaskan institusi pendidikan dan pengembangan syiar Islam ialah beliau juga berjaya mengubah corak kehidupan masyarakat Kelantan ketika itu yang masih jahil sehingga menjadi masyarakat yang berilmu dan patuh terhadap perintah Allah dan Rasul-Nya.

KETURUNAN
Wan Kamal Mujani dan Zuharyati Yusof juga mendokumentasikan bahawa Tok Pulai Chondong mempunyai tiga orang adik-beradik. Mereka ialah Halimah, Abd. Rahman dan Tok Pulai Chondong sendiri. Halimah iaitu yang sulung kahwin dengan orang Kubang Kiat, Kota Bharu dan selepas itu menetap di Labok yang terletak kira-kira 7 kilometer dari Pulai Chondong.

Di antara tiga adik beradik itu hanya Tok Pulai Chondong yang mewarisi jejak langkah ayah dan datuknya sebagai ulama. Diriwayatkan bahawa Tok Pulai Chondong mempunyai empat orang isteri. Nama-nama mereka ialah Mek Mendusa, Bi'ah, Thamani dan Zaleha. Tok Pulai Chondong dikurniakan 16 anak. Empat daripadanya meninggal dunia ketika masih kecil manakala 12 anak

Tok Pulai Chondong terdiri daripada sembilan lelaki dan tiga perempuan iaitu:

1. Haji Abdul Hamid

2. Haji Abdul Syukur

3. Haji Abdul Aziz

4. Haji Umar

5. Haji Muhammad Said

6. Haji Taib

7. Hajah Siti Mariam

8. Haji Muhammad Arsyad

9. Haji Abdullah

10. Haji Muhammad

11. Hajah Zainab

12. Hajah Ummu Maimunah

Wan Kamal Mujani dan Zuharyati Yusof mencatatkan pula bahawa hasil perkahwinan Tok Pulai Chondong dengan Thamani memperoleh empat anak iaitu Haji Taib, Haji Abdul Syukur, Haji Muhammad Arsyad dan Haji Abdul Aziz. Anak-anak Tok Pulai Chondong yang lain tidak dapat diketahui daripada isteri-isteri beliau yang mana.

Membuat Kenduri Tahlil Arwah

- URL Asal

Soalan: Di tempat saya ada diamalkan tahlil arwah, dan mereka menamakannya dengan bilangan hari tertentu seperti tujuh atau empat puluh hari. Adakah pahalanya sampai kepada si mati tersebut?

– Nor Asiah Yusof, KUIS Selangor.

JAWAPAN: Mengikut pendapat imam Syafie sendiri, kenduri arwah tidak digalakkan. Ini kerana ditakuti salah faham yang akan ditimbulkan oleh mereka yang kurang mantap akidah atau ilmunya. Tetapi di kalangan ashab (kawan dan ulama di kalangan pengikut beliau) ramai yang mengatakan ia sunat, dan sampai pahalanya kepada mayat. Ini kerana hadis yang mengatakan terputus amalan anak Adam setelah meninggal itu, melainkan melalui tiga perkara. Antaranya anak yang soleh yang berdoa untuknya. Jadi kalau tahlil itu dengan permintaan anaknya, bererti amalan dan usahanya sendiri, termasuk dalam firman-Nya yang bermaksud: Dan bahawasanya seorang manusia tiada memperoleh selain apa yang diusahakannya (an-Najmi-39).

Begitu juga amalan orang lain yang diniatkan dan dihadiahkan kepadanya kerana ini bererti amalannya sendiri, sama ada dengan permintaan anaknya sendiri atau pemberian orang lain. Ini semua dikira amalan yang berpunca daripada usaha atau amalan si mati tersebut juga, seperti sabda Nabi s.a.w. yang bermaksud: Orang yang menunjuk kepada kebaikan itu adalah seperti orang yang mengerjakannya.

Begitu juga mereka yang meneroka satu perbuatan yang baik, maka baginya pahala amalannya sendiri dan pahala mereka yang mengikutinya hingga hari kiamat tidak berkurangan pahala mereka sedikit pun. (hadis Muslim).

Dan firman-Nya lagi yang bermaksud: Sesiapa yang mengerjakan suatu kebaikan, Kami tambah pada kebaikan tersebut. (Asyura-23).

Adapun pahala atau dosa yang berpunca daripadanya seperti anaknya sendiri dan amalan orang lain yang dihadiahkan kepadanya, atau disebabkan oleh anak atau keturunannya itu termasuk dalam amalan usahanya sendiri juga.

Kata ulama, segala pahala amalan anaknya akan sampai kepada bapanya tanpa perlukan niat, malah secara terus. Tetapi amalan keburukan orang lain tidak akan sampai melainkan ia berpunca daripadanya. Sabda Nabi, sesungguhnya bagi seseorang itu apa yang diniatkannya, sebab itu orang lain boleh berdoa atau bersembahyang untuk saudaranya yang sudah meninggal dunia kerana pahalanya akan sampai kepada si mati tersebut.

Firman Allah , dalam surah an-Najmi ayat 38- 39 itu telah diselaraskan oleh para ulama seperti huraian di atas, bukan seperti yang difahami oleh orang kita yang mengatakan tidak boleh sampai amalan orang lain kepada si mati.

Itu ialah amalan yang tidak ada kaitan atau sebarang sebab langsung daripadanya, tetapi kalau amalan itu ada juga usaha atau sebab daripadanya, pasti pahala amalan itu akan sampai dan dapat diterimanya di akhirat nanti. Jika tidak tentulah sia-sia amalan atau doa kita sebagai umat Islam kepada saudaranya umat Islam yang lain. Malah dalam solat kita diajar supaya memberi salam iaitu meminta keselamatan kepada semua kaum Muslimin hamba Allah yang soleh.

Dalam al-Quran juga Allah mengajar kita supaya berdoa dengan pelbagai doa seperti firman Allah yang bermaksud: Tuhan kami, ampunilah dosa kami dan bagi saudara kami yang telah mendahului kami dengan keimanan, dan janganlah jadikan dalam hati kami, rasa iri hati atau perasaan dendam kepada mereka yang beriman. (al-Hasyr: 10). Dan firman-Nya lagi yang bermaksud: Tuhan kami kurniakan kami dari kalangan isteri kami dan keturunan kami, mereka yang menjadi penyejuk pandangan, dan jadikanlah kami pemimpin bagi mereka yang bertakwa, (al-Furqan: 74).

Sebab itu para ashab Syafie memilih pendapat yang tidak dipilih oleh asy-Syafie sendiri, kerana dalil-dalilnya agak kuat dan jelas, iaitu pahala amalan orang lain boleh sampai dan dapat diterima oleh orang lain yang sudah meninggal sekalipun di akhirat kelak sampai seseorang itu ada yang akan menjadi muflis kerana pahala amalannya akan diberi kepada orang lain.

Adapun bilangan hari itu hanyalah semata-mata untuk memudahkan ingatan dan penjadualan sahaja, bukan kerana hari itu yang disuruh kita beramal untuk mengingati mayat keluarga tetapi disuruh setiap masa. Jangan pula ada orang kita yang sengaja tidak mahu faham, mereka mengatakan amalan baik itu bidaah, kerana ditentukan hari- harinya.

Di sini timbul punca perselisihan kita dengan mereka, malah mereka mengatakan sunat pada hari tersebut. Jika difahami betul-betul (sunat itu kerana hari tersebut) maka merekalah yang mengamalkan bidaah. Adapun bukan kerana hari tertentu sahaja kerana tidak ada sebarang nas atau dalilnya, malah suatu penjadualan amalan kebaikan itu sahaja, manakala amalan itu disunatkan kerana ada nas yang menyuruh melakukannya sama ada al-Quran atau hadis atau kias atau ijmak.

Sedangkan kalau ada jamuan pun, hendaklah diurus dan dibantu oleh orang lain sebagaimana yang disuruh oleh Rasulullah sendiri, bila kematian keluarganya Ja'afar. Bagi mereka yang selalu mempersendakan amalan kebaikan ini, kita kemukakan untuk mereka dua dalil di sini sudah cukup untuk mereka yang berfikir.

Satu, di dalam al-Quran di mana firman Allah yang bermaksud: Berlumba-lumbalah mengerjakan kebaikan, (al-Baqarah: 148). Satu lagi, hadis yang bermaksud: Janganlah engkau menghinakan sebarang perkara makruf (adat kebiasaan tempatan yang baik) suatu apa pun. (riwayat Muslim).

Hatta senyuman seseorang kepada saudaranya pun dikira amalan baik juga dan ada pahala tertentu di sisi Allah, kerana menggembirakan saudara Islam. Bagi mereka yang suka mencela kawannya yang beriman juga Allah berfirman bermaksud: Mereka yang mencela orang-orang yang beriman yang bersuka ria memberi sedekah dan bersusah-payah memberi sedekah dengan menjamu makan fakir miskin atau membaca al-Quran dan sebagainya sekadar kemampuan mereka, lalu mereka sengaja mencela dan mengejek mereka semua, Allah akan membalas ejekan mereka dan azab seksa yang pedih. (at-Taubah: 79)

Jika mereka tidak setuju dengan amalan atau adat kita sedangkan kita tahu Syeikh Muhammad Abdul Wahab, sendiri, tidak bersikap kasar atau bengis demikian rupa, tetapi pengikutnya yang lebih bengis dan garang dengan kaum Muslimin, yang tidak sama amalan dengan mereka, kita harap mereka boleh bermaafan dalam perkara kebaikan dan makruf yang diselisihi seperti pengikut syeikh yang lain, Mereka ramai di Malaysia dan Indonesia dan dapat bekerjasama dengan kita dalam apa-apa perkara. Wallahualam.

MOHD. YUSSOF ABAS

Toxic warnings for nano industry

- original url By Jonathan Fildes BBC News science and technology reporter

Carbon nanotubes are a basic building block of nanotechnology

Industry should disclose how it tests products containing nanoparticles, the Royal Society of the UK has said.

Public information is needed because of uncertainties over the safety of some products that contain particles engineered at small scales, it added.

A new inventory of consumer goods lists over 200 items that are already available and contain nanotechnology.

The European Nanotechnology Trade Alliance (Enta) responded saying there are already safety mechanisms in place.

"There are strict regulations to check that products are safe and suitable for the public to use and our members follow these," Del Stark, the Chief Executive of Enta told the BBC News website.

"The members of Enta are committed to developing new nanotechnologies in a safe and responsible manner and are working closely with the Government to ensure this."

Unanswered questions

In 2004 the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering published a report that urged tighter controls in Europe and the UK on some aspects of the industry.

In particular it highlighted the potential risk of "free" nanoparticles that can escape to the atmosphere and may have an effect on health.

Particles on this scale already exist in the air - produced by the burning of fossil fuels and by volcanic eruptions, for example; but scientists are now able to engineer materials at these tiny sizes to give them specific, useful properties.

Some studies show carbon nanotubes have a toxic effect

For example, "free" nanoparticles are used in cosmetics and in some food supplements.

"This is one particular area where there is some uncertainty about safety," said Professor Ann Dowling, chair of the report.

The Royal Society statement was made in the same week that a leading UK researcher also said there had been a failure to act on the recommendations of the Royal Society report.

Professor Anthony Seaton of the University of Aberdeen told a conference that specific questions raised in the report about nanoparticle toxicity and how to measure it in the workplace had still not been adequately answered.

"There is very little evidence that anyone has put any thought or money into answering these questions," he told the conference.

Carbon tubes

But Enta believes that the perception that industry is dragging its feet is wrong.

"I don't think that it is anything to do with industry not being interested or government not being interested," said Mr Stark.

Instead, Mr Stark believes that both are waiting for a new European law known as Reach (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals) to be passed.

Any single incident could jeopardise the whole future of the industry Dr Frederic Luizi, Nanocyl Q&A Reach legislation

The law has been described as the most important EU legislation for 20 years and puts the onus on business to show that the chemicals they use are safe.

It will also start to address the lack of standardised tests for assessing the toxicity of nanomaterials in some industries.

Currently standards vary depending on which industry regulations a product falls under or how the tests are done.

A recent paper in the journal Nano Letters reported that experiments done to assess the risk of inhaling carbon nantotubes, a common manufactured nanoparticle, sometimes showed strong toxic effects and sometimes did not depending on which methods were used.

"Once [Reach] has been agreed we will move forward," Mr Stark said.

Tighter controls

Professor Seaton made his remarks during the Nanoparticles for European Industry conference in London.

The event allows nanotechnology companies to showcase new ways of fabricating the tiny particles and to discuss how laboratory processes can be scaled up for manufacturing consumer products.

During his address he also warned that "very little" was still known about the health impacts of nanoparticles engineered at small scales and that industry should take his comments as a "warning shot". He said his concern covered lab workers as well as consumers.

How nanotechnology is building the future from the bottom up In pictures

Businesses countered his remarks by saying there are already strict safety regulations.

"It's not like nanotechnology is appearing totally out of the blue in a completely non-regulated framework," said Dr Paul Reip, interim spokesperson for the Nanotechnology Industry Association (NIA) and founder of Qinetiq Nanomaterials.

"We're concerned as anybody else about the safety of our colleagues, workers and the products that we sell," he said.

However some researchers are concerned that because nanotechnology is used in products from many different industries, including cosmetics, chemical and electronics, there is no coherent regulatory framework.

Others are worried that regulators are not able to assess the risk of nanoproducts properly as the properties of materials are known to change at the nanoscale.

To address some of these concerns, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), is in the process of extending their regulatory framework to take account of the unique properties of many nanomaterials.

It is talking to industry to find a way to set up a voluntary scheme for reporting test results.

Groups like Enta say this demonstrates the industry's commitment to transparency.

New vulnerability

The production of nanoparticles is just one branch of nanotechnology that involves the manipulation of molecules, and even atoms, to make new materials.

Manufactured nanoparticles are dust-like fragments with diameters of less than 100 nanometres (billionths of a metre) - one thousandth the width of a human hair.

Nanoparticles made from metals, alloys and ceramics are already used in many products, including sunscreens, paints and sticking plasters.

A new web inventory of consumer products lists 231 products that purport to contain nanotechnology, showing how the tiny science is increasingly becoming an everyday part of our lives.

Click here to see a nanotech future

Most nanotechnology poses no known risk to humans but some researchers question whether nanoparticles may be different, because they are known to be able to cross over into areas of the body that larger particulates, which humans are exposed to every day, cannot reach.

Like the Royal Society, Professor Seaton is concerned about the risk posed by inhaling the particles.

Big potential

In his speech, he drew a parallel with the history of asbestos and the disease asbestosis.

"It was known as a wonder material and it got into thousands and thousands of applications," he said. "Now, thousands and thousands of people are dying from it."

Any long-term damaging effects of nanoparticles are unknown.

Frederic Luizi, research and development director for carbon nanotube producer Nanocyl, rejected the notion that asbestos and the many varieties of nanoparticle were like for like.

"They are different and they should be considered differently," he said.

Many producers of nanoparticles encapsulate them in polymers or liquids to reduce the risk of inhalation during industrial processes, and most of those used in consumer products are incorporated into composite materials that prevent their escape.

Products like cosmetics are the exception.

However Dr Luizi argued that industry was actually taking a cautious approach. This was necessary, he said, because it had to anticipate the demands of the legislation like Reach and because it could not afford to gamble on a market that some analysts expect to be worth one trillion dollars by 2015.

"Any single incident could jeopardise the whole future of the industry," he said. "We just cannot take any risks."

SOME POTENTIAL USES OF NANOTECHNOLOGIES 1 - Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) for displays 2 - Photovoltaic film that converts light into electricity 3 - Scratch-proof coated windows that clean themselves with UV 4 - Fabrics coated to resist stains and control temperature 5 - Intelligent clothing measures pulse and respiration 6 - Bucky-tubeframe is light but very strong 7 - Hip-joint made from biocompatible materials 8 - Nano-particle paint to prevent corrosion 9 - Thermo-chromic glass to regulate light 10 - Magnetic layers for compact data memory 11 - Carbon nanotube fuel cells to power electronics and vehicles 12 - Nano-engineered cochlear implant

Money doesn't buy us health, study shows

- Original post is from World and Nation

Americans like to think their health care is the best in the world. But it isn’t, according to a study published in today’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. From diabetes to heart disease to cancer, middle-age white Americans are significantly less healthy than their British counterparts. U.S. rates of diabetes, for example, are twice as high as the British.

The big question is why, especially since Americans spend about $5,200 per person each year on health care — more than twice as much as the British.

“It leaves us with something of a mystery,’’ said Richard Suzman, director of the behavioral and social research program at the National Institute on Aging, which helped fund the study.

The study still found health gaps even after accounting for the most obvious factors, such as smoking and obesity. Great Britain also has universal health care, but that didn’t seem to make the difference either, said James P. Smith, a co-author of the study and senior economist at the RAND Corp.

Some 94 percent of Americans in the study had health insurance, and the health gap persisted at different income levels. Even the health of the wealthiest, best-educated Americans was so poor that their rates of diabetes and heart disease were similar to the poorest, least-educated Britons.

About 15 percent of Americans reported having heart disease, compared to less than 10 percent of Britons; 9.5 percent of Americans said they had cancer, compared to 5.5 percent in Britain; more than 42 percent in the United States said they have high blood pressure, compared to less than 34 percent in Britain.

The results “shocked and stunned’’ the researchers, who set out to study differences in health between education and income level, rather than compare overall health. “We didn’t go in anticipating there would be big health differences,’’ Smith said. “We said, 'This can’t be right.’ ”

Maybe Americans are just more likely to report their illnesses than the famously stoic, “stiff upper lip’’ Brits, researchers thought. But when they looked at data on concrete measures, such as blood tests, the differences remained.

Not everyone was surprised.

“Americans eat too much,’’ said Sacha Bradley, floor manager at the Horse & Jockey British Pub in South Pasadena. “Their portions are bigger than English restaurant food.’’

Bradley, 33, moved to the United States 10 years ago. Here, she says, buying fresh produce and healthy groceries seems more expensive, while fast food and heaping restaurant servings are more convenient.

Even though researchers found the gap persisted regardless of weight, England is, in fact, a leaner country than the United States. Some kind of link is plausible, scientists said. The study measured only people’s current weight, not their past history.

In Great Britain, people are becoming more overweight, but the trend lags behind the United States. In Britain, the obesity rate rose from 7 to 23 percent between 1980 and 2003. In the United States, it increased from 15 to 31 percent.

“It may really matter whether you’ve been obese for 20 years or five years,’’ Smith said.

The study shows the need to stress healthy lifestyles and choices to American children, said Thomas Mason, epidemiology professor at the University of South Florida.

“The message is very simple: Start early,’’ Mason said. “You don’t want to wait until a person is in their 50s or 60s to argue, 'It’s time to change your lifestyle.’ ”

The study compared people in two large national health surveys: 4,386 Americans ages 55 to 64 and 3,681 Britons. Because there are greater health disparities among minorities, the comparison included only non-Hispanic whites. Researchers also analyzed two other studies that measured cholesterol, blood pressure and other markers. Because Americans get more screenings for cancer, that might influence why that rate is higher, researchers said.

But they said that couldn’t fully account for the difference.

The results likely say more about lifestyles and preventive care than the quality of health care if you’re sick, Suzman said. “The U.S. does better than the U.K. for treating some diseases, such as breast cancer.’’

The study didn’t compare exercise levels, because that data wasn’t in the original surveys. Researchers and local expatriates alike pointed to activity as a key difference.

“We walk more,’’ said Clearwater resident Tania Reed, owner of Britan’s Yogurt in Tampa. “Americans always want to park in the closest spot. You don’t see as many people on bicycles.’’

“Down here, you basically can’t get around without a car,’’ Mason said. “It’s a very different environment.’’ Then there’s stress.

“Americans work much harder than the English do,’’ Smith said. “And they work harder longer.’’

Americans celebrate Starbucks and take their caffeine to go. The English take a break for tea.

“My brother always says, 'In America, you’re always going, going, going,’ ’’ Reed said. “There, in the afternoon, it’s like, 'It’s 3:30, time to put the kettle on.’ ’’

And that’s another possibility, she said.

“Maybe it’s the tea.”

Suami 33 Tahun, Isteri 104 Tahun

- URL asal



KUALA TERENGGANU: Perbezaan umur sebanyak 71 tahun tidak menghalang Muhamad Noor Che Musa, 33, dan Wook Kundor, 104, mendirikan rumah tangga kerana menganggapnya sebagai jodoh yang sudah ditentukan Ilahi walaupun agak pelik pada pandangan masyarakat.

Malah, Muhamad Noor yang masih bujang ketika menikahi Wook pada Februari lalu, berkata tiada apa yang menghairankan jika Allah memilih mereka sebagai suami isteri. Wook pernah berkahwin 20 kali sebelum bertemu jodoh dengan Muhamad Noor. Dia juga mengakui tidak malu memperkenalkan isterinya kepada sesiapa yang bertanya kerana niatnya mengambil Wook sebagai suri hidupnya dilakukan dengan ikhlas dan jujur walaupun usia mereka jauh berbeza.

“Bagi mereka yang tidak faham, mungkin nampak ganjil tetapi saya mendapat ketenangan hidup di sisi Wook sejak kami berkahwin dua bulan lalu.

“Sebelum ini, saya sering merantau sejak berhenti daripada perkhidmatan tentera pada 1998. Sejak itu, kehidupan saya agak tidak menentu. Bagaimanapun, saya mendapat kerja di kilang papan di Kuala Berang, setahun lalu.

“Saya menumpang di rumah sewa Wook ketika itu. Saya tidak bayar satu sen pun. Sepanjang mendiami rumah itu, saudara-maranya selalu datang tetapi dia tinggal keseorangan. Saya simpati...,” katanya kepada Harian Metro di sini, semalam.

Katanya, kisah percintaan mereka seperti diberikan petunjuk Allah kerana sebelum ini dia tidak pernah terfikir untuk berkahwin dengan Wook yang jauh lebih tua, tetapi itulah ketentuan jodoh.

“Pada awal perkenalan, saya hanya mahu mengambil tahu mengenai kehidupan Wook. Ia bermula daripada tegur-menegur. Saya kerap menyapa Wook ketika dia membersih halaman rumah.

“Begitu juga dengan Wook. Lama-kelamaan daripada simpati dan tegur-menegur, timbul pula rasa kasih dan saya berhasrat berkahwin dengannya supaya dapat jaga Wook.

“Saya tahu pandangan sinis masyarakat sejak dua bulan kebelakangan ini. Tapi saya mengahwini Wook bukan kerana harta. Dia tidak berharta,” katanya sambil memandang isterinya dengan penuh kasih sayang.

Wook hanya tersenyum dengan pengakuan suaminya itu sepanjang tembual wartawan Harian Metro dengan mereka, semalam. Muhamad Noor berkata, harta isterinya hanyalah ilmu agama kerana Wook yang pernah ke Makkah, mengajar kanak-kanak di kampung itu mengaji sejak berusia 15 tahun.

“Isteri saya masih mengajar muqaddam dan al-Quran kepada kanak-kanak di kampung ini. Saya pun tumpang mendapat ilmu itu dan turut membantunya mengajar mengaji,” katanya. Muhamad Noor berkata, dia turut mengajar isterinya huruf rumi apabila mempunyai masa terluang dan keadaan itu membuatkan mereka suami isteri terhibur.

Sementara itu, Wook yang tidak mempunyai anak walaupun sudah berkahwin 21 kali termasuk dengan Muhamad Noor berkata, jodoh, rezeki dan ajal maut adalah ketentuan Allah dan sebagai hamba-Nya, dia tidak pernah terlintas berkahwin lagi.

“Mudah-mudahan perkahwinan kali ini berkekalan dan direstui.

“Saya meminta orang ramai melihat perkahwinan kami secara baik kerana kami tidak melakukan sesuatu yang dilarang Allah,” katanya.

Ijtihad Mazhab Bersesuaian Amalan

- URL asal

Di hadapan kita ada 900 gram beras putih. Kita serahkan beras putih ini kepada orang Arab, orang India dan orang Melayu dan minta mereka mengolahnya. Maka salah satu natijahnya, kita akan lihat orang Arab akan mencampurkannya dengan beras pulut, santan, garam, kunyit, ketumbar, jintan, pala, merica, kayu manis, sirih, jahe, jeruk purut, dan pandan, maka jadilah ia nasi kabuli. Manakala orang India akan mencampurkannya dengan bawang besar, bawang putih, cili hijau, halia, ketumbar, jintan kasar, jintan halus, minyak sapi, kulit kayu manis, bunga cengkih, buah pelaga dan bunga lawang, tomato, daun pudina, serbuk badam, susu isian penuh krim, the koma2, dan air mawar, maka jadilah ia nasi beriani. Orang Melayu pula akan mencampurkannya dengan ikan talang, udang kering, bawang merah, daun mengkudu, daun selom, daun kesum, daun kunyit, daun kaduk, daun pegaga, daun ulam raja, daun sekentut, serai, kerisik, dan serbuk lada, maka jadilah ia nasi kerabu/ulam versi utara.

Di atas adalah bahan yang akan mengubah beras putih, dengan kaedah dan formula masing-masing, menjadi nasi kabuli, nasi beriani dan nasi kerabu oleh individu yang berkelayakan. Saya hanya menyenaraikan bahannya, tak kan pula saya yang menunjuk ajar cara membuatnya, Chef Wan tentu akan mentertawakan saya nanti.

Di kalangan ulama terkenal satu ungkapan yang menyatakan: "al-din nusiba lillahi ta'ala, wa al-millatu nusibat ila al-rasul, wa al-mazhabu nusiba ila al-mujtahid," seperti ditulis al-Jurjani (w. 816 H) dalam kitab mashurnya bertajuk al-Ta'rifat, hal. 92. Mafhumnya, agama adalah disandarkan kepada Allah Ta'ala dan 'millah' (ajaran agama) disandarkan kepada rasul manakala mazhab disandarkan kepada seorang mujtahid. Oleh itu, yang kita dengar adalah agama Allah, millah Ibrahim dan mazhab Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, dan Hambali.

Satu pertanyaan yang mungkin timbul adalah "mengapakah wujudnya empat mazhab dalam Islam selepas kewafatan Rasulullah yang dibawa oleh Imam Hanafi (w. 150H), Imam Malik (w. 179H), Imam Shafi'i (w. 204H) dan Imam Ahmad (w.241H) yang mempunyai pendapat berbeza. Sedangkan Islam itu satu dan empat sahabat iaitu Abu Bakar (w. 13 H), Umar (w. 24 H), Uthman (w. 36H) dan Ali (w. 41H) lebih rapat dengan baginda Rasulullah SAW tidak membawa mazhab masing-masing. Adakah empat mazhab di atas lebih berwibawa daripada empat sahabat Rasulullah?

Mazhab yang berasal daripada bahasa Arab 'za-ha-ba' (pergi) adalah kata benda yang menunjukkan tempat (ism al-makan) atau masa (ism al-zaman) dan sudah kita kenal berkurun lamanya sebagai "cabang ajaran Islam yang diikuti umat Islam." (Kamus Dewan, 811) Daripada definisi ini, kita pun sudah mafhum bahawa mazhab adalah satu cabang daripada satu pokok bernama Islam dan ia tidak lari daripada apa yang dikatakan al-Jurnani di atas dan juga kajian ulama ilmu keislaman.

Dalam kajian sejarah perundangan Islam, ada yang membahagikan sejarah perundangan Islam kepada beberapa fasa iaitu: fasa kenabian (12 SH-11H); fasa khulafa rashidin (11H-40H); fasa sahabat junior dan tabi'in kanan (41H-Permulaan Abad ke2H); fasa perkembangan perundangan Islam (Permulaan Abad ke2H-Permulaan Abad ke4H); fasa pensisteman perundangan Islam (Permulaan Abad ke4H-656H); fasa penerapan mazhab (656H-Akhir Abad ke12H); dan fasa kebangkitan perundangan Islam moden (awal Abad ke13H-hingga sekarang). (Rujuk al-Sadhili, Tarikh al-Tashr' al-Islami).

Di mana letak mazhab yang empat? Dia berada dalam dua fasa iaitu fasa sahabat junior dan tabi'in kanan (41H-Permulaan Abad ke2H) dan fasa perkembangan perundangan Islam (Permulaan Abad kedua hijrah-Permulaan Abad keempat hijrah). Ia bererti kemunculan mazhab berinstitusi adalah lebih daripada 200 tahun selepas kewafatan Rasulullah kerana sememangnya era berkenaan dikenali sebagai era perkembangan dan kemajuan pemikiran perundangan Islam.

Sebenarnya, mazhab daripada kalangan Sunni bukan hanya empat tetapi banyak lagi dan ada yang mengiranya sampai berpuluh-puluh mazhab termasuk selain dari yang empat disebut di atas adalah al-Hasan al-Basri (w. 110H), al-Awza'i (w. 157H), al-Thauri (w. 161H) dan al-Tabari (w. 311H))

Sekarang, mengapa empat mazhab saja (dalam konteks Sunni) yang wujud pada hari ini? Ke mana mazhab yang lainnya? Atau mengapa para sahabat tidak kita kenal mazhab mereka? Di sinilah letak perlu dan pentingnya penulisan sama ada oleh orang yang berkenaan mahupun pengikutnya.

Imam-imam mazhab yang empat memiliki persyaratan di atas mereka menulis dan ada juga pengikutnya yang melanjutkan penulisan sama ada menerusi ringkasan, syarahan, mahupun tambahan kepada yang sudah ada dan akhirnya ramai pengikutnya yang memformulasikan pendapat mereka sehingga sampai hari ini pendapat mereka masih wujud dan menyebar luas dalam ketamadunan manusia moden yang bukan saja terdiri daripada umat Islam.

Sahabat termasuk Khulafa al-Rashidin jika kita semak sejarah, mereka mana sempat nak menulis kerana mereka sama-sama sibuk dalam penyiaran dan pengukuhan agama Islam sehingga timur dan barat kala itu boleh dikuasai .Sahabat bak bintang di langit. Siapapun yang kita pilih pendapatnya maka kita akan selamat seperti sabda Junjungan kita. (Banyak hadis yang menceritakan keistimewaan para sahabat) Mereka adalah penerang mazhab dan penuntunnya di mana kita tidak boleh membandingkan kedua-duanya kerana syarat untuk membandingkannya tidak wujud. Bagaimana nak membandingkan penerang dan yang diterangi?

Perlu diingatkan di sini, pendiri mazhab tidak pernah berobsesi untuk menjadikan pendapat mereka dalam memahami Islam sebagai satu mazhab di kemudian hari. Mereka mentafsirkan dalil syarak untuk kepentingan mereka pada masa itu. Akan tetapi pengikut merekalah yang menyebarkan pendapat berkenaan.

Di sini kita boleh memberikan contoh bagaimana mazhab boleh kekal kerana ia direkodkan dalam karya-karya tulis. Kita ambil mazhab Shafi'i kerana ia menjadi pegangan kita bahkan rasmi di sesetengah negara.

Shafi'i (w.204H) menulis kitab al-Umm kemudian diringkaskan oleh al-Muzani (w. 264H) dan diformulasikan oleh al-Shirazi (w. 476H) dalam kitabnya al-Muhazzab. Kitab yang terakhir disebut ini dan kitab al-Ghazali (w. 505H) al-Wasit) adalah kitab asas penulisan mazhab Shafi'i. Kini banyak kitab rujukan mazhab Shafi'i yang bermula daripada penulis Abad ketujuh bahkan ia sekarang menjadi kandungan beberapa perundangan negara seperti undang-undang keluarga Islam.

Mazhab adalah hasil ijtihad para mujtahid yang diperakui kelayakan mereka untuk berijtihad. Dan ini adalah pemudah cara untuk memahami agama Islam itu sendiri. Ia mempunyai kaedah dan formula ijtihad masing-masing di mana ada di antaranya yang serasi dan ada juga yang tidak serasi; ada yang sama digunakan dan ada juga saling bertentangan. Semua ini menjadikan fikah Islam sebagai inti pembahasan mazhab hidup dan berkembang sesuai zaman, tempat dan keadaan. Jika kita boleh tamsilkan agama Islam bak beras putih yang memberikan kehidupan kepada manusia manakala mazhab adalah bak nasi kabuli, nasi beriani atau nasi kerabu. Islam hanya satu, sedangkan mazhab lebih dari satu dan ini adalah fakta sejarah yang sulit diganggu.

Dan akhirnya, seandainya pada satu majlis rasmi pihak penganjur sudah menyiapkan hidangan nasi kerabu kemudian ada yang membantah bahkan menyalahkan dan menginginkan dihidangkan nasi kabuli atau beriani, apa yang yang terjadi pada majlis itu? Kecoh, ribut, kacau bilau dan kucar kacirlah majlis, bukankah begitu? Begitu pula dengan pemilihan satu-satu mazhab dalam kehidupan bermasyarakat demi memudah cara pelaksanaan agama Islam!? Kerana Ihtiar al-hakim yaqta'u al-khilaf atau pilihan pemerintah adalah pemutus perbalahan seperti disebut dalam satu kaedah fikah. Ini pendapat saya. Wallahu a'lam!


INTI PATI:

Mazhab tidak pernah berobsesi untuk menjadikan pendapat mereka dalam memahami Islam sebagai satu mazhab pada kemudian hari

Mereka mentafsirkan dalil syarak untuk kepentingan mereka pada masa itu

Mazhab boleh kekal kerana ia direkodkan dalam karya tulis

Banyak kitab rujukan mazhab Shafi'i yang bermula daripada penulis Abad ketujuh, ia sekarang menjadi kandungan beberapa perundangan negara seperti undang-undang keluarga Islam

Mazhab adalah hasil ijtihad mujtahid yang diperakui kelayakan mereka untuk berijtihad