Sunday, March 18, 2012

Of Spiritual Winter, the coming of Spring, 'Mahabbah' and the Hereafter

At this juncture in my life, the feeling of 'mahabbah' is both overwhelming and fairly depressing for me.[ Arabic for 'love' for want of better words, in Malay, 'kecintaan', both 'love and kecintaaan oftentimes denote a sexual connotation. Mahabbah is not that kind of 'love'. Mahabbah for the Prophet for example .]
I see young people coming through my 'door' hanging on to dear life and out of 'political correctness'  I realise there is very little I can do to  uplift their  'spiritual winter'. Their physical hearts tottering on the verge of stopping. They seek my 'expertise'  for their physical hearts, but I know their inner hearts were in worse predicament. And most time I know they would not be hanging around for a long time. 'Mahabbah' and some degree of sadness.


I am sure all of you experience this kind of feeling at some time or other. A loss of a good friend of a different spiritual upbringing for example. For me this is happening with even more regularity, even with  mere acquientance, and lately ,even without 'loss' of  still living people I passed by in the lift, see in the clinic and meet at the market place etc and etc.


Mahabbah and some degree of sadness. Sadness in the realization that there is nothing I can do to change their ' perspective' and course.
'We are just like ships passing by in the night', even with our wives, sons and daughters and close relatives and friends !


Just yesterday a dear friend and colleague, a very senior consultant anaesthetist, excellent in his job, the very best in his field I would say. [ He gave 'gas' to a patient of mine with just a 15 % left ventricular ejection fraction who underwent a hip operation not once but twice and patient survive. The cardiologist nearly died twice of fright ! ]. A devout Hindu, he  just passed away, his whole body riddled with cancer. 


Oftentimes when I had bad 'cases' in the wee hours of the morning needing intubation and artificial ventilation, when the whole world are in deep slumber, Datuk Radha would answer his hand phone as if  'freshly awake'.
"....eeh by the way Datuk, when do you sleep ?"
"I will be there  for you in a jiffy Nik, I just finished prayer at the temple"
That was Datuk Radha, that I knew.


The week prior to his demise, he was in Sime Darby Medical Centre. Visiting him was difficult for me. Not visiting him was also difficult. The 'shahadah' was on my mind, and there dying in his bed, my friend, and I can't but looked and offer some nonsensical, meaningless niceties 
So much for 'politically correctness'.
Even if I do, decades of saying no to 'the Obvious' and His meseenger, to Him, to the Omnipotent and to His last messenger, may not change the final scenario.....................but how would I know?
I did not have the gall, the bullheadedness and the conviction to even try ! And how would I know ? 


I have 'mahabbah' for nice, excellent honest hardworking very spiritual  people like Datuk Radha.
I have 'mahabbah' also for honest non spiritual people around me.
I even have 'mahabbah' for the high brows people like the 'NFC lot' or the 'liberal lot'.....
That, in the current context of political correctness I have few option to reach them, is quite depressing  and sad for me.
Maniam, the news vendor; Richard Lim, my pious 'new born Christian' neighbour; that smiling young lady in the lift; a couple of big time CEO's. The list goes on and on, and at last almost all that 'rub' you in your everyday life.. Even a couple of'sultans' or two who seemed to be  somehow 'lost'. At this level, dangerous even just thinking about it. 
But why not for 'mahabbah', mashaallah.


I can imagine the Prophet's [ pbuh ]'mahabbah' for his uncle Abi Talib. His loss and ensuing 'depression must be a million times more. Abi Talib was his 'rock' during the early Mekkan days of Islam.
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The utube lecture down here is an excellent lecture, not exactly on the theme of 'mahabbah'  per se, by Shaykh Ninowy. But it touches it indirectly.
An excellent one.

Such mesmerizing lecture from this shaykh..........
I feel like crying.
Such passion and beauty.

'' When you do tawaf, you do not do it with your body, you do it with your hearts''
'' Some people come back with gifts that they bought from the bazaar, while some come back with gifts from the 'owner of the bazaar Himself !', "

Mashaallah ! In this time of gloom, I miss the Kaabah.




Related articles in the blog :
Unto Him is the journeying,
http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/2011/02/unto-him-is-journeying.html
True Success in Life.....Shaykh Khalid Yasin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH_vHfggaqA&feature=related
Morning has broken
 http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/2011/12/morning-has-broken.html






Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Books : Purification of the Heart

Someone once asked A'isha, the Prophet's wife, about the most wondrous thing she observed about the Prophet [ pbuh ]. She said, " Everything about him was wondrous. But when the veiling of the night came, and when every lover went to his lover, he went to be with God. " The Prophet [ pbuh ] stood at night in prayer, remembering his Lord until his ankles swelled up and tears dripped from his beard. The Prophet [ pbuh ] said,

" Death is closer to any of you than the strap on your sandals. "

Somewhere on earth there is a door reserved for each soul, and one day each of us will walk through that door never to return to this life again. Where that door is and when we will walk through it are unknowns that we must live with. Upon death, suddenly all of this-  this whole world and all its charms and occupations-  will become as if it were all a dream :

And you will think that you tarried [ on earth ] only for a short while [ QURAN, 17 : 52 ]


Even those who are spiritually blind will see in the new world order of existence the ultimate truth about God and our purpose as His creation. And as we climb out of our graves for the mighty Gathering in the Hereafter, it would seem to us that we had stayed in our graves for only  a day or part of a day, as the Quran states.
When one is confronted with eternity, this world will seem like the most ephemeral of existences. This once overwhelmingly alluring life will be of no value to anyone.


It serve the soul to be actively aware that the door to death awaits each human  being and that it can open at any time. For this reason, the Imam says that we must keep the spectacle of death before our eyes and realize its proximity.




Excerpt from 'Purification of the Heart'
[ signs, symptoms, and cures of the spiritual disease of the heart ]
Translation and commentary of Imam al- Maulid's  MATHARAT al QULUB
by Hamza Yusuf Hanson


..........' a bloody good read', I must agree for most of us, heedless creatures, there is, creeping heedlessly on the face of this earth, rummaging  here and there,  pilling and hoarding unceasingly.


Related article in the blog:
Of Life, Dying, Death and Life after Death
http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/2011/09/f-dying-death-and-life-after-death.html 

Friday, March 2, 2012

Masihkah Mereka Pejuang Islam ? [ new paradigm in political islam ]

This article written by Dr Maza [ Mohd Asri Zainal Abidin, former mufti of Perlis ] epitomize the current dilemma facing Islamic groups the world over with respect to their world view, Islamism and Political Islam.
I suspect much of his  present worldview has been  changed  and shaped while engaging himself with the likes of  people like Tariq Ramadan in Oxford and TJ Winter of Cambridge University.


Islam is one thing in almost predominant Muslim majority countries like Syria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania and Afghanistan.Yet another, in  more 'plural' countries like Malaysia, where Muslims, though  still forming  the majority in term of numbers but not quite majority in term of spirit, given the onslaught of  early colonial influence and  forced influx of alien 'migrants' . In America and Europe where Muslims are distinct  small  yet ever growing minorities, it is yet another different 'animal'.


My private gut feeling  though is  that even in predominantly Muslim majority countries, 'we' are still in a 'nascent' and developing stage , more so because the political and financial elites that effectively rule them have  forcefully 'hijacked' Islam  and reintrepreted Islam in such a way that the Medinan state of the Rasullallah's time is currently unrecognisable.


When one put it that way, we must agree with Prof Tariq Ramadan of Oxford that, like the Muslims in Europe, even the born Muslims in Libya or Saudi or Tunisia  have to rediscover Islam and essentially start back from zero :
WE ARE STILL IN A STAGE OF DARUL DAKWAH.
Can forget about Darul Islam right now.....indices of Justice, Gender Equality, Fairness, and love  and care for fellow mankind [ welfare ] in Muslim countries are at all time low.





MASIHKAH MEREKA PEJUANG NEGARA ISLAM?
Prof Madya Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin
(sertai facebook DrMAZA.com dan twitter realDrMAZA)
Ramai yang menghantar mesej kepada saya meminta saya mengulas tentang kenyataan terbaru Tun Mahathir berhubung dengan hudud. Juga ada yang menyatakan saya ‘double-standard’ apabila tiba kepada Tun Mahathir saya selalu mengelakkan untuk mengulas disebabkan saya ada hubungan baik dengan beliau. 
Sebenarnya, ia disebabkan saya di UK dan baru sahaja tahu isu itu apabila dibangkit oleh rakan-rakan ‘tweet’ (not twit). Jika saya di Malaysia, mungkin saya akan hubungi Tun sendiri, tapi jarak jauh menghalang hasrat tersebut.
Asas hukum hudud disebut dalam al-Quran seperti hukum potong tangan pencuri dan sebat bagi yang menuduh orang lain berzina dan yang berzina. Kewujudan hukum tersebut dalam al-Quran memang qat’i iaitu pasti tanpa sebarang takwilan lagi, Ini disebut sebagai qat’iya thubut
Namun perbahasan ataupun pendetilan hukum tersebut seperti syarat-syarat hukum itu dilaksanakan, konteks perlaksanaan hukum dan segala pendetilan yang lain kebanyakannya adalah ijtihad ulama fekah. Kebanyakan ijtihad itu berasaskan kefahaman mereka terhadap nas-nas yang zanni(speculative text l zanniyyat dilalah) iaitu nas-nas al-Quran atau hadis yang mempunyai pelbagai penafsiran ataupun takwilan. Ijtihad itu terdedah kepada penilaian semula dengan menggunakan ijtihad yang lain. Berbeza pandangan dalam perkara ijtihad, bukan satu kesalahan akidah pun.

Setelah saya tonton video Tun Mahathir tersebut, saya dapati ada kesilapan dalam menggunakan istilah. Tun Mahathir mungkin memahami hudud itu sebagai perbahasan fekah berkaitan hudud, maka beliau menyatakan hudud tiada dalam al-Quran. Namun dalam masa yang sama beliau menyebut hanya ada beberapa hukum yang disebut secara umum. Di sini kesilapan beliau dalam menggunakan perkataan hudud tiada dalam al-Quran, sedangkan asas hukum tersebut memang ada dalam al-Quran. Harap Tun Mahathir dapat membetulkan kenyataan tersebut. Namun kenyataan beliau bahawa yang penting hendaklah ditegakkan keadilan, memang sedang dipakai oleh ramai ‘islamist’ di masa kini.
Siapakah Islamist
Minggu ini saya memohon dari Prof Tariq Ramadan untuk mengikuti kelas beliau ‘Political Islam, Islamism and Modern Islamic Movements’. Beliau membahaskan perkembangan golongan Islamist di Turki hari ini. Beliau meminta para pelajarnya memberikan, apakah golongan Islamist di Turki itu masih layak digelar Islamist ataupun tidak? Pelbagai pandangan diberikan oleh para pelajarnya. Kesimpulan dibiarkan terbuka. Kelas bersambung minggu hadapan. Maka saya terfikir untuk menyentuh tajuk ini dalam tulisan kali ini.

Ya, memang satu perkembangan yang menarik apabila Islamist di Turki tidak lagi melaungkan slogan perlaksanaan undang-undang syariah seperti hudud. Bahkan mereka bersedia untuk bekerja dan membangunkan negara dalam kerangka sekular (secular framework). Mereka menegak nilai-nilai Islam seperti ketelusan, amanah, berdisiplin dan lain-lain. Mereka tidak mengubah perlembagaan, sebaliknya bekerja dan memberi nafas kepada Islam dalam kerangka yang ada, tanpa menzahirkan perjuangan menentang secularism
Isu hijab (tudung) di universiti di Turki yang tidak dibenar sebelum ini diatasi dengan perlantikan pentadbiran yang mempunyai lebih luas tentang undang-undang tersebut. Sehingga John L. Esposito dalam The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islamic World di bawah tajuk secularism menafsirkan perkembangan Islamist di Turki sebenarnya bukan pertarungan antara Islamism dan secularism, tetapi sebenarnya pertarungan dalam menafsirkan konsep secularism itu sendiri. Ia antara versi secular Anglo-American yang memberikan ruang kepada penglibatan agama dalam politik dibandingkan pemahaman French secularism yang bersifat keras terhadap agama dengan menganggap penglibatan agama akan mengancam social order. Maka, Esposito melihat Islamist di Turki itu berpihak kepada secularism versi Anglo-American.
Hari ini selepas ‘Arab Spring’, gerakan Islam di kebanyakan Negara Arab sudah mula bekerjasama dengan parti-parti lain yang tidak berasaskan Islam. Kerjasama itu sekaligus menjadikan mereka menggugurkan isu ‘Islamic State’ khususnya perlaksanaan hudud. Hal yang sama kita lihat di Malaysia. Ini menimbulkan perbahasan sarjana semasa di Barat dan Timur, apakah mereka itu masih dianggap sebagai Islamist atau mereka sebenarnya ‘post-Islamist’?
Pertamanya, istilah Islamist atau Islamism itu apakah maksudnya? Secara umum, perkataan islamist difahami di Barat khususnya kelompok yang memperjuangkan politik Islam. Mereka ini berhasrat menegakkan Negara Islam yang melaksanakan undang-undang Islam khususnya hudud. Jika maksud ini dipakai, maka kelihatannya kebanyakan gerakan Islam hari ini bukan lagi Islamist seperti yang difahami oleh Barat. 
Namun jika istilah Islamist diberikan kepada mereka yang cuba menjadi muslim yang baik dalam kehidupan harian, mengamalkan nilai-nilai Islam dalam kehidupan individunya seperti amanah dalam pentadbiran, maka mereka ini masih lagi islamist. Jika disoal secara lebih jelas, apakah mereka ini pejuang Negara Islam versi lama mereka ataupun Negara Islam versi hudud? Jawapannya, kelihatan pada kemungkinan dan realiti, mereka bukan lagi pejuang Negara Islam versi berkenaan.
Post-Islamism
Asef Bayat dalam tulisannya “The Coming of a Post-Islamist Society” menggunakan istilah post-islamism merujuk kepada golongan Islamist di Iran. Beliau menyifatkan golongan post-islamist ini ialah mereka yang cuba mengadunkan semula antara Islam dan realiti dunia masa kini khususnya yang membabitkan soal kebebasan hak individu, demokrasi dan kemodenan. Beliau menyebut: 

“Post- Islamism is expressed in the idea of fusion between Islam (as a personalized faith) and individual freedom and choice; and post-Islamism is associated with the values of democracy and aspects of modernity”
Mengapa ini berlaku? Kesemua ini berlaku disebabkan pengalaman yang dilalui oleh gerakan Islam menunjukkan kegagalan dalam banyak perkara untuk melaksanakan slogan-slogan yang dilaungkan sebelum ini. Realiti politik dunia menunjukkan banyak slogan mereka sebelum ini lebih berbentuk retorik yang tidak dapat dilaksanakan. Negara seperti yang mereka baca dalam kitab-kitab lama itu sudah tidak wujud. Sudah tiada lagi Negara Khalifah. Nation State ataupun negara bangsa hari ini mempunyai realiti yang berbeza. 
Globalisasi pula sedang menghakiskan ciri-ciri nation state yang ada. Hari ini perkaitan antara politik dan ekonomi amatlah jelas. Dunia terbuka era teknologi juga mengubah terlalu banyak perkara. Hal ini akan lebih jelas terasa apabila golongan Islamist itu sendiri mendapat kekuasaan seperti di Turki dan juga beberapa Negara Arab yang baru diperolehi.
Maka, selama ini mereka mungkin telah melihat nas-nas politik dalam Islam itu di luar dari konteks yang sepatutnya ataupun decontextualization of nas. Mereka mungkin hanya membaca nas tanpa melihat konteks dan realiti yang wujud dipersekitaran nas. Tidak mengkaji rentak ruang yang mana nas-nas itu beroperasi (tempo-spatial contexts). Sedangkan dalam memahami nas, persekitaran ekonomi dan politik (economic and political milieu) yang wujud semasa nas-nas politik Madinah itu lahir hendaklah diambil.
Nabi s.a.w mengambil kira persoalan persekitaran politik ataupun realiti yang ada dalam perlaksanaan pemerintahan. Justeru itu, baginda tidak mengarahkan Najasyi Raja Habsyah yang menganut Islam itu untuk memerintah sama seperti kerajaan Nabi s.a.w di Madinah. Najasyi atau Ashamah bin Abjar mengelapai kerajaan Kristian. Maka, realitinya berbeza. Nabi s.a.w tidak mempersalahkannya disebabkan ruang yang terhad yang dia ada. Tidak pula disuruh dia meninggalkan jawatannya. Sebaliknya memuji ketelusan yang digunakan dalam ruang yang ada. Bahkan apabila Najasyi meninggal, Nabi s.a.w menyebut: 

“Telah mati pada hari ini seorang lelaki soleh. Bangunlah dan bersolatlah ke atas saudara kamu Ashamah (nama Najasyi)”. (Riwayat al-Bukhari). 
Demikian juga Nabi Yusuf yang bergerak dalam ruangan politik yang ada di zaman baginda.
Gerakan Islam mula rasional dan akur bahawa mereka mesti memahami text dan context. Jika perubahan dalam pendekatan dan kefahaman mereka kini dianggap tidak Islamik oleh sesetengah pihak, maka itu satu penafsiran yang dangkal. Realitinya, dunia Islam berhajatkan kepada pemerintah yang cekap, amanah, adil serta berjaya menghidupkan kebahagiaan rakyat. Jika gerakan Islam berjaya melakukan hal itu, maka itu satu kejayaan.





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from Nadzru Azahari, Jakarta




.

Dear Nik Hawk,

Thanks indeed. This is the stuff that I love to read and share. Have lots more of this to share. It makes my day.
Not for me is ' mounafique et sa mounaficite', 'touwba nasouha and its of manual of practice', ' studies in islamisation of knowledge', ' practice and methods of imbibation of islamic values', ' alternative medicine of the Prophet', ' 30 best du'as for good health and wealth' and the like.


Wassalaam

Nadzru

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