Dakwah bukan tugas ustaz sahaja

Apabila disebut perkataan dakwah, yang terlintas di kotak pemikiran kita bagi perkataan ini adalah seorang yang mempunyai ilmu agama atau dipanggil ustaz memberikan ucapan atau memperkatakan serta mengajarkan kepada khalayaknya berkenaan dengan Islam. 

Bentuk gambaran yang tipikal ini serta sempitnya dimensi dakwah seperti yang digambarkan, membuatkan kerja dakwah seolah-olah hanya dimiliki oleh golongan yang mempunyai ilmu agama semata-mata. Golongan ini atau panggilan rasminya golongan agama atau ustaz adalah golongan yang selalu dibebankan dengan permasalahan dakwah dan penyebaran risalah dakwah ini.

Hakikatnya, pemikiran dan tanggapan yang sebegini amat jauh dan langsung tidak menepati roh dan semangat dakwah itu sendiri. Bebanan dan gerak kerja dakwah yang mulia ini sebenarnya merupakan tugas yang sepatutnya bukan sahaja dipikul oleh golongan ustaz bahkan terpikul di atas bahu kesemua umat Islam yang mensyahadahkan bahawa tiada tuhan yang disembah melainkan Allah dan Muhammad itu utusan Allah.

Tanggungjawab mempersembahkan ajaran Islam dalam apa jua bentuk dan memperkenalkan Islam dengan wajahnya yang tulen kepada manusia sejagat adalah tugas hakiki yang harus dilaksanakan dengan penuh kesungguhan oleh seluruh umat Islam.

Jika kita membuka dan menyorot isi kandungan al-Quran, terdapat banyak sekali nas yang menyentuh persoalan dakwah serta tanggungjawab umat Islam dalam menjayakannya.

Antaranya firman Allah yang mafhumnya, Dan hendaklah ada di antara kamu segolongan umat yang menyeru kepada kebaikan, menyuruh kepada yang makruf dan mencegah dari yang mungkar; merekalah orang-orang yang beruntung. (Ali-Imran: 104)

Daripada ayat ini, amat jelas kepada kita satu perintah Allah supaya umat Islam membentuk diri mereka dan menjadi umat atau kelompok manusia yang sentiasa menyeru kepada kebaikan iaitu Islam, menyuruh melakukan yang makruf dan mencegah dari berlakunya kemungkaran.

Inilah tiga unsur dan elemen penting terkandung dalam gerak kerja dakwah yang dijana dan dipaksikan kepada kekuatan keimanan kepada Allah s.w.t.

Tanpa paksi dan janaan iman, penghayatan terhadap dakwah akan menjadi rapuh dan luluh seperti rapuhnya iman dan luluhnya takwa kepada Allah s.w.t.

Satu persoalan penting yang patut ditanggap dengan teliti oleh umat Islam bahawa penghayatan terhadap dakwah Islamiah sebenarnya mempunyai hubungkait yang rapat dengan manifestasi kepada keunggulan Iman kepada Allah dan ketinggian kedudukannya di sisi Allah.

Dakwah yang dirintis oleh seorang Muslim bukan sahaja satu usaha untuk menyampaikan risalah Islam kepada khalayak bahkan merupakan satu terjemahan yang jelas terhadap ketinggian keimanan seseorang itu kepada Allah.

Persoalan inilah yang pernah dititipkan oleh Rasul pembawa risalah dalam sebuah hadisnya yang sahih lagi masyhur. Sabda Nabi s.a.w yang mafhumnya, Sesiapa di antara kamu yang melihat kemungkaran maka ubahlah ia dengan tangannya (kuasa yang ada pada seseorang) jika dia tidak mampu maka ubahlah ia dengan lidahmu, jika dia tidak mampu maka gunakanlah hatinya (dalam membenci dan tidak meredai berlakunya kemungkaran itu) dan yang demikian itu adalah selemah-lemah iman. (Riwayat Bukhari dan Muslim)

Hadis secara literalnya mengungkapkan persoalan tentang langkah-langkah yang patut diambil seorang muslim itu dalam usahanya mencegah kemungkaran. Tetapi di sebalik mafhumnya yang mendasar diungkapkan persoalan Iman yang mempunyai konotasi yang rapat dengan dakwah.

Kemampuan seseorang itu dalam mencegah kemungkaran - salah satu dari unsur penting dalam dakwah - diukur bersama dengan tahap keimanannya kepada Allah s.w.t.

Di tengah-tengah realiti masyarakat hari ini yang diselubungi dengan segala macam kefasadan dan kerosakan yang ditandai dengan terhakisnya penghayatan umat terhadap ajaran Islam. Lalu menumbuhkan dan menerbitkan barah keruntuhan moral dan akhlak walaupun di sebalik itu terlihat kilauan kemajuan dan ketamadunan yang mempesonakan.

Namun semua kemajuan ini adalah kosong semata-mata, tidak ada nilai yang boleh dibanggakan jika di celahannya tersusun seribu satu keruntuhan moral akhlak dan terhakisnya nilai kemanusiaan.

Hari demi hari, keadaan umat dilihat tidak menampakkan kemajuan dari segi penghayatan agamanya yang mengundang kekhuatiran dan kebimbangan kepada mereka yang sentiasa mengambil berat nasib umat ini.

Gejala-gejala yang entah dari mana datangnya menjadi amalan harian para remaja kita. Budaya hedonisme yang melampau seolah-olah umat ini tidak memikirkan kematian selepas kehidupannya.

Gaya hidup manusia yang mendaulatkan materialistik dan bertuhankan hawa nafsu semata-mata telah mencampak jauh prinsip ketauhidan kepada Tuhan yang satu. Apa yang paling membimbangkan rosaknya akidah umat yang membawa kepada kemurtadan yang merupakan jenayah yang paling besar terhadap agama.

Melihat kepada senarai yang panjang ini, membuatkan kita berfikir sendirian, apakah yang telah terjadi kepada umat ini? Di manakah pegangan agama mereka sehingga mereka terjerumus ke dalam kerosakan yang maha hebat ini dan banyak lagi persoalan-persoalan yang menuntut kita berfikir dan bermuhasabah kembali nasib yang menimpa umat di akhir zaman ini.

Kunci kepada segala permasalahan ini adalah kegagalan semua lapisan umat untuk menghayati ajaran Islam yang sebenar serta kecuaian umat dalam menggalas tugas sebagai daie ilallah penyeru kepada agama Allah.

Kegagalan institusi agama dalam melaksanakan tugasnya serta menyampaikan ajaran Islam yang tulen, kegagalan institusi keluarga dalam mendidik anak-anak dengan acuan Islam.

Kegagalan institusi masyarakat dalam membimbing masyarakat berpandukan ajaran Islam serta kecuaian pihak-pihak yang berwajib menyediakan persekitaran yang membenihkan rasa keimanan dan ketakwaan kepada Allah.

Maka kegagalan dan kecuaian yang berpunca dari kelesuan dalam menghayati dakwah inilah yang membawa kepada kesan negatif kepada umat keseluruhannya.

Oleh yang demikian setiap entiti masyarakat perlu bangkit dari kelesuan ini. Seterusnya menyusun usaha dalam menghayati dan melaksanakan tugas dakwah berpaksikan kepada kekuatan, kapasiti dan dimensi kemampuan masing-masing.

Apa yang penting, setiap muslim walau apa kedudukan dan gelarannya menjadikan dakwah sebagai agenda hidupnya yang paling penting.

Semangat dan roh dakwah seperti inilah yang telah menyerap dalam urat nadi dan hembusan nafas generasi awal Islam hasil didikan langsung yang diterima dari Rasulullah s.a.w. Mereka menjadi umat yang terbaik dalam sejarah umat manusia di atas keimanan yang teguh berserta ketinggian penghayatan mereka terhadap dakwah dan risalah nabawi.

Akhirnya marilah kita merenungi firman Allah yang bermaksud, Telah dilaknat orang-orang kafir dari bani Israil di atas lidah Daud dan Isa bin Maryam yang disebabkan mereka derhaka dan selalu melampaui batas. Mereka satu sama lain selalu tidak melarang tindakan mungkar yang mereka perbuat, sesungguhnya amat buruk apa yang selalu mereka perbuat. (Al-Maidah: 78-79)

Cukuplah ayat Allah ini menjadi satu ancaman kepada lantas mengingatkan kita akan peri pentingnya menjalankan usaha dakwah dan tidak mencuaikannya agar kita sentiasa berada di bawah rahmat Allah yang amat luas dan kita terhindar dari laknat Allah yang amat berat seksanya.

Dipetik daripada:Bahagian Dakwah Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (Jakim)

Imam Shafi`i (Intro - part I)

by Dr. G.F. Haddad

Muhammad ibn Idris ibn al-`Abbas, al-Imam al-Shafi`i, Abu `Abd Allah al-Shafi`i al-Hijazi al-Qurashi al-Hashimi al-Muttalibi (d. 204), the offspring of the House of the Prophet, the peerless one of the great mujtahid imams and jurisprudent par excellence, the scrupulously pious ascetic and Friend of Allah, he laid down the foundations of fiqh in his Risala, which he said he revised and re-read four hundred times, then said: "Only Allah’s Book is perfect and free from error."

He is the cousin of the Prophet - Allah’s blessings and peace upon him - descending from al-Muttalib who is the brother of Hashim, `Abd al-Muttalib’s father. Someone praised the Banu Hashim in front of the Prophet, whereby he interlaced the fingers of his two hands and said: "We and they are but one and the same thing." Al-Nawawi listed three peculiar merits of al-Shafi`i: his sharing the Prophet’s lineage at the level of their common ancestor `Abd Manaf; his birth in the Holy Land of Palestine and upbringing in Mecca; and his education at the hands of superlative scholars together with his own superlative intelligence and knowledge of the Arabic language. To this Ibn Hajar added two more: the hadith of the Prophet, "O Allah! Guide Quraysh, for the science of the scholar that comes from them will encompass the earth. O Allah! You have let the first of them taste bitterness, so let the latter of them taste reward." Another hadith of the Prophet says: "Truly, Allah shall send forth for this Community, at the onset of every hundred years, someone who will renew their Religion for them." The scholars agreed, among them Abu Qilaba (d. 276) and Imam Ahmad, that the first narration signified al-Shafi`i, and the second signified `Umar ibn `Abd al-`Aziz and then al-Shafi`i.

He was born in Ghazza or `Asqalan in 150, the year of Abu Hanifa’s death, and moved to Mecca at the age of two, following his father’s death, where he grew up. He was early a skillful archer, then he took to learning language and poetry until he gave himself to fiqh, beginning with hadith. He memorized the Qur’an at age seven, then Malik’s Muwatta’ at age ten, at which time his teacher would deputize him to teach in his absence. At age thirteen he went to see Malik, who was impressed by his memory and intelligence.

Malik ibn Anas and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani were among his most prominent teachers and he took position against both of them infiqh. Al-Shafi`i said: "From Muhammad ibn al-Hasan I wrote a camel-load." Al-Hakim narrated from `Abd Allah ibn `Abd al-Hakam: "Al-Shafi`i never ceased to speak according to Malik’s position and he would say: ‘We do not differ from him other than in the way of his companions,’ until some young men spoke unbecomingly at length behind his back, whereupon al-Shafi`i resolved to put his differences with Malik in writing. Otherwise, his whole life he would say, whenever asked something: ‘This is what the Teacher said’ - hâdha qawl al-ustadh - meaning Malik."

Like Abu Hanifa and al-Bukhari, he recited the entire Qur’an each day at prayer, and twice a day in the month of Ramadan.

Al-Muzani said: "I never saw one more handsome of face than al-Shafi`i. If he grasped his beard it would not exceed his fist." Ibn Rahuyah described him in Mecca as wearing bright white clothes with an intensely black beard. Al-Za`farani said that when he was in Baghdad in the year 195 he dyed his beard with henna.

Abu `Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam said: "If the intelligence of an entire nation was brought together he would have encompassed it." Similarly, al-Muzani said: "I have been looking into al-Shafi`i’s Risala for fifty years, and I do not recall a single time I looked at it without learning some new benefit."

Al-Sakhawi in the introduction to his al-Jawahir wa al-Durar and others narrate that someone criticized Ahmad ibn Hanbal for attending the fiqhsessions of al-Shafi`i and leaving the hadith sessions of Sufyan ibn `Uyayna. Ahmad replied: "Keep quiet! If you miss a hadith with a shorter chain you can find it elsewhere with a longer chain and it will not harm you. But if you do not have the reasoning of this man [al-Shafi`i], I fear you will never be able to find it elsewhere." Ahmad is also related by his students Abu Talib and Humayd ibn Zanjuyah to say: "I never saw anyone adhere more to hadith than al-Shafi`i. No-one preceded him in writing down the hadith in a book." The meaning of this is that al-Shafi`i possessed the understanding of hadith after which Ahmad sought, as evidenced by the latter’s statement: "How rare is fiqh among the scholars of hadith!" This is a reference to the hadith: "It may be one carries understanding (fiqh) without being a person of understanding (faqîh)." Sufyan himself would defer to al-Shafi`i in matters of tafsîr and fatwa. Yunus ibn Abi Ya`la said: "Whenever al-Shafi`i went into tafsîr, it was as if he had witnessed the revelation." Ahmad ibn Hanbal also said: "Not one of the scholars of hadith touched an inkwell nor a pen except he owed a huge debt to al-Shafi`i."

Al-Shafi`i was known for his peculiar strength in Arabic language, poetry, and philology. Bayhaqi narrated:

[From Ibn Hisham:] I was al-Shafi`i’s sitting-companion for a long time, and I never heard him use except a word which, carefully considered, one would not find (in its context) a better word in the entire Arabic language. . . . Al-Shafi`i’s discourse, in relation to language, is a proof in itself.

[From al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Za`farani:] A group of bedouins used to frequent al-Shafi`i’s gathering with us and sit in a corner. One day I asked their leader: "You are not interested in scholarship; why do you keep coming to sit with us?" They said: "We come to hear al-Shafi`i’s language."

Al-Shafi`i trod the path of the Salaf in avoiding any interpretation of the verses and narrations pertaining to the divine attributes. He practiced "relegation of the meaning" (tafwîd al-mi`na) to a higher source, as established in his saying: "I leave the meaning of the verses of the Attributes to Allah, and I leave the meaning of the hadiths of the attributes to Allah’s Messenger." At the same time, rare instances of interpretation are recorded from him. Thus al-Bayhaqi relates that al-Muzani reported from al-Shafi`i the following commentary on the verse: "To Allah belong the East and the West, and wheresoever you turn, there is Allah’s face (wajh)" (2:115): "It means – and Allah knows best – thither is the bearing (wajh) towards which Allah has directed you." Al-Hakkari (d. 486) related in his book `Aqida al-Shafi`i that the latter said: "We affirm those attributes, and we negate from them likeness between them and creation (al-tashbîh), just as He negated it from Himself when He said: ‘There is nothing whatsoever like unto Him’ (42:11)."

Al-Shafi`i’s hatred of dialectic theology (kalâm) was based on his extreme caution against errors which bear heavy consequences as they induce one into false beliefs. Among his sayings concerning this: "It is better for a scholar of knowledge to give a fatwa after which he is said to be wrong than to theologize and then be said to be a heretic (zindîq). I hate nothing more than theology and theologians." Dhahabi comments: "This indicates that Abu `Abd Allah’s position concerning error in the principles of the Religion (al-usûl) is that it is not the same as error in the course of scholarly exertion in the branches." The reason is that in belief and doctrine neither ijtihâd nor divergences are permitted. In this respect al-Shafi`i said: "It cannot be asked ‘Why?’ concerning the principles, nor ‘How?’" Yet al-Shafi`i did not completely close the door to the use of kalâm in defense of the Sunna, as shown below and in the notice on Ahmad ibn Hanbal.

Yunus ibn Abi Ya`la narrated that al-Shafi`i defined the "principles" as: "The Qur’an, the Sunna, analogy (al-qiyâs), and consensus (al-ijmâ`)"; he defined the latter to mean: "The adherence of the Congregation (jamâ`a) of the Muslims to the conclusions of a given ruling pertaining to what is permitted and what is forbidden after the passing of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him."

Al-Shafi`i did not close the door on the right use of kalâm as is clear from Ibn Abi Hatim’s narration from al-Rabi` of his words: "If I wished, I could produce a book against each one of those who deviated, but dialectic theology is none of my business, and I would not like to be attributed any part in it." Similar to it is his advice to his student al-Muzani: "Take proofs from creation about the Creator, and do not burden yourself with the knowledge of what your mind did not reach." Ibn Abi Hatim himself spoke similarly when he was told of Ibn Khuzayma’s unsuccessful attempt atkalâm: "It is preferable not to meddle with what we did not learn." Note that al-Shafi`i also spoke of his wish not to have a single letter out of all his works attributed to him, regardless of topic.

Al-Shafi`i’s attitude towards tasawwuf was as strict as with kalâm, and he both praised it and denigrated its abuse at the hands of its corrupters. In criticism of the latter he said: "No-one becomes a Sufi in the morning except he ends up a dolt by noon" while on the other hand he declared in his Diwan: "Be at the same time a faqîh and a Sufi." In Mecca al-Shafi`i was the student of Fudayl ibn `Iyad. Imam al-Nawawi in his Bustan al-`Arifin fi al-Zuhd wa al-Tasawwuf ("The Garden of the Gnostics in Asceticism and Tasawwuf") narrated from al-Shafi`i the saying: "Only the sincere one (al-mukhlis) can recognize self-display (al-riyâ’)." Al-Nawawi comments: "This means that it is impossible to know the reality of self-display and see its hidden shades except for one who resolutely seeks (arâda) sincerity. Such a one strives for a long time, searching, meditating, examining at length within himself until he knows, or knows something of what self-display is. This does not happen for everyone. Indeed, this happens only with special ones (al-khawâss). But for a given individual to claim that he knows what self-diplay is, this is real ignorance on his part."

Al-Shafi`i deferred primacy in the foundations of fiqh to Imam Abu Hanifa with his famous statement: "People are all the children of Abu Hanifa infiqh." Ibn Hajar al-Haytami mentioned in the thirty-fifth chapter of his book on Imam Abu Hanifa entitled al-Khayrat al-Hisan: "When Imam al-Shafi`i was in Baghdad, he would visit the grave of Imam Abu Hanifa, greet him, and then ask Allah for the fulfillment of his need through his means."

Two schools of legal thought or madhahib are actually attributed to al-Shafi`i, englobing his writings and legal opinions (fatâwa). These two schools are known in the terminology of jurists as "The Old" (al-qadîm) and "The New" (al-jadîd), corresponding respectively to his stays in Iraq and Egypt. The most prominent transmitters of the New among al-Shafi`i’s students are al-Buwayti, al-Muzani, al-Rabi` al-Muradi, and al-Bulqini, in Kitab al-Umm ("The Motherbook"). The most prominent transmitters of the Old are Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Karabisi, al-Za`farani, and Abu Thawr, in Kitab al-Hujja ("Book of the Proof"). What is presently known as the Shafi`i position refers to the New except in approximately twenty-two questions, in which Shafi`i scholars and muftis have retained the positions of the Old.

Al-Subki related that the Shafi`i scholars considered al-Rabi`s narration from al-Shafi`i sounder from the viewpoint of transmission, while they considered al-Muzani’s sounder from the viewpoint of fiqh, although both were established hadith masters. Al-Shafi`i said to al-Rabi`: "How I love you!" and another time: "O Rabi`! If I could feed you the Science I would feed it to you." Al-Qaffal al-Shashi in his Fatawa relates that al-Rabi` was slow in his understanding, and that al-Shafi`i once repeated an explanation forty times for him in a gathering, yet he did not understand it then got up and left in embarrassment. Later, al-Shafi`i called him in private and resumed explaining it to him until he understood. This shows the accuracy of Ibn Rahuyah’s statement: "I consider the best part of me the time when I fully understand al-Shafi`i’s discourse."

Al-Shafi`i took the verse "Or if you have touched women" (4:43) literally, and considered that contact between the sexes, even accidental, nullified ablution. This is also the position of Ibn Mas`ud, Ibn `Umar, al-Sha`bi, al-Nakha`i, al-Zuhri, and al-Awza`i, which is confirmed by Ibn `Umar’s report: "Whoever kisses or touches his wife with his hand must renew his wudû’." It is authentic and related in numerous places including Malik's Muwatta’. Al-Shafi`i said: "Something similar has reached us from Ibn Mas`ud." They all read the above verse literally, without interpreting "touch" to mean "sexual intercourse" as do the Hanafis, or "touch with pleasure" as do the Malikis.

A major contribution of al-Shafi`i in the foundations of the Law was his division of innovation (al-bid`a) into good and bad on the basis of `Umar’s words about the tarâwih or congregational supererogatory night prayers in the month of Ramadan: "What a fine innovation this is!" Harmala narrated that al-Shafi`i concluded: "Therefore, whatever innovation conforms to the Sunna is approved (mahmûd), and whatever opposes it is abominable (madhmûm)." Agreement formed in the Four Schools around his division, as illustrated by the endorsement of some major later authorities in each school. Among the Hanafis: Ibn `Abidin, al-Turkumani, and al-Tahanawi; among the Malikis: al-Turtushi, Ibn al-Hajj, and al-Shatibi; consensus among the Shafi`is; and reluctant acceptance among later Hanbalis, who altered al-Shafi`i’s terminology to read "lexical innovation" (bid`a lughawiyya) and "legal innovation" (bid`a shar`iyya), respectively û although inaccurately û matching Shafi`i’s "approved" and "abominable".

Among al-Shafi`i’s other notable positions: Al-Muzani said: "I never saw any of the scholars make something obligatory on behalf of the Prophet as much as al-Shafi`i in his books, and this was due to his high remembrance of the Prophet. He said in the Old School: ‘Supplication ends with the invocation of blessings on the Prophet, and its end is but by means of it.’" Al-Karabisi said: "I heard al-Shafi`i say that he disliked for someone to say ‘the Messenger’ (al-Rasûl), but that he should say ‘Allah’s Messenger’ (Rasûl Allah) out of veneration (ta`zîm) for him."

Among al-Shafi`i’s other sayings:

"The study of hadith is better than supererogatory prayer, and the pursuit of knowledge is better than supererogatory prayer." Ibn `Abd al-Barr in Kitab al-`Ilm listed the many hadiths of the Prophet on the superior merit of knowledge. However, al-Shafi`i by this saying meant the essence and purpose of knowledge, not knowledge for its own sake which leads to Satanic pride. The latter is widely available while true knowledge is the knowledge that leads to godwariness(taqwa). This is confirmed by al-Shafi`i’s saying: "Knowledge is what benefits. Knowledge is not what one has memorized." This is a corrective for those content to define knowledge as "the knowledge of the proof" (ma`rifa al-dalîl). "He gives wisdom to whomever He will, and whoever receives wisdom receives immense good."(2:269)

"You [the scholars of hadith] are the pharmacists but we [the jurists] are the physicians." This was explained by `Ali al-Qari in his book Mu`taqad Abi Hanifa al-Imam (p. 42): "The early scholars said: The hadith scholar without knowledge of fiqh is like a seller of drugs who is no physician: he has them but he does not know what to do with them; and the fiqh scholar without knowledge of hadith is like a physician without drugs: he knows what constitutes a remedy, but does not dispose of it."

"Malik was asked about kalâm and [the Science of] Oneness (tawhîd) and he said: ‘It is inconceivable that the Prophet should teach his Community hygiene and not teach them about Oneness! And Oneness is exactly what the Prophet said: ‘I was ordered to fight people until they say ‘There is no God but Allah.’ So, whatever makes blood and property untouchable û that is the reality of Oneness (haqîqa al-tawhîd).’" This is a proof from the Salaf against those who, in later times, innovated sub-divisions for tawhîd or legislated that their own understanding of Allah’s Attributes was a precondition for the declaration of Oneness. Al-Halimi said: "In this hadith there is explicit proof that that declaration (lâ ilâha illallâh) suffices to extirpate oneself from all the different kinds of disbelief in Allah Almighty."

"Satiation weighs down the body, hardens the heart, does away with sagacity, brings on sleep, and weakens one from worship." This is similar to the definition of tasawwuf as "hunger" (al-jû`) given by some of the early masters, who acquired hunger as a permanent attribute and were called "hungerers" (jû`iyyûn). A notable example is al-Qasim ibn `Uthman al-`Abdi al-Dimashqi al-Ju`i (d. 248), whom al-Dhahabi describes as "the Imam, the exemplar, the wali, themuhaddith, the shaykh of the Sufis and the friend of Ahmad ibn al-Hawari."

"I never swore by Allah - neither truthfully nor deceptively." This is similar to the saying of the Sufi master Sahl ibn `Abd Allah al-Tustari narrated by al-Dhahabi: "Among the manners of the truthful saints (al-siddîqîn) is that they never swear by Allah, nor commit backbiting, nor does backbiting take place around them, nor do they eat to satiation, if they promise they are true to their word, and they never speak in jest."

Al-Buwayti asked: "Should I pray behind the Rafidi?" Al-Shafi`i said: "Do not pray behind the Rafidi, nor behind theQadari, nor behind the Murji’." Al-Buwayti said: "Define them for us." He replied: "Whoever says ‘Belief consists only in speech’ is a Murji’, and whoever says ‘Abu Bakr and `Umar are not Imams’ is a Rafidi, and whoever attributes destiny to himself is a Qadari."

Abu Hatim narrated from Harmala that al-Shafi`i said: "The Caliphs (al-khulafâ’) are five: Abu Bakr, `Umar, `Uthman, `Ali, and `Umar ibn `Abd al-`Aziz." In his Diwan he named them "leaders of their people, by whose guidance one obtains guidance," and declaimed of the Family of the Prophet:

The Family of the Prophet are my intermediary to him! (wasîlatî)

Through them I hope to be given my record with the right hand.

and:

O Family of Allah’s Messenger! To love you is an obligation

Which Allah ordained and revealed in the Qur’an.

It is enough proof of your immense glory that

Whoever invokes not blessings upon you, his prayer is invalid.

Ibn Hajar said that the first to write a biography of al-Shafi`i was Dawud al-Zahiri (d. 275). Al-Nawawi in Tahdhib al-Asma’ wa al-Lughat(1:44) mentioned that the best biography of al-Shafi`i was al-Bayhaqi’s for its sound chains of transmission. Ibn Hajar summarized it and added to it al-Shafi`i’s Musnad in his Tawali al-Ta’sis fi Ma`ali Ibn Idris.

In the introduction of his compendium of Shafi`i fiqh entitled al-Majmu` al-Nawawi mentions that al-Shafi`i used a walking stick for which he was asked: "Why do you carry a stick when you are neither old nor ailing?" He replied: "To remember I am only a traveller in this world."

Main sources: al-Shafi`i, Diwan; Abu Nu`aym, Hilya al-Awliya’ 9:71-172 #442; al-Nawawi, Tahdhib al-Asma’ wa al-Lughat 1:44-67 #2; al-Dhahabi, Siyar A`lam al-Nubala’ 8:377-423 #1539, 10:79, 10:649; al-Subki, Tabaqat al-Shafi`iyya al-Kubra 2:133-134; Ibn Hajar, Tawali al-Ta’sis p. 3-157.

Source: http://www.sunnah.org/publication/khulafa_rashideen/shafii.htm

THE SUPREMACY OF KNOWLEDGE

Friday Khutbah delivered in IIUM Mosque on the 22nd Mei 2009

THE SUPREMACY OF KNOWLEDGE

By: Dr Mohd Farid Mohd Shahran

Having heard the few verses from Surah Al-Alaq which I have read, it is interesting to find out the reason why the very initial verse of the Quran revealed to prophet Muhammad s.a.w is in the form of command to read. Is it that reading will make us knowledgeable and well-informed persons. Or is it that the ability to read will enhance our state of living through the rise of literacy rate in our country which will add to the fulfillment of becoming a so called developed country.

Ironically, as far as religion is concerned, there were a lot of people, having read a lot of books, end up becoming an atheist and agnostic of God. We read for example the case of Bertrand Russell, in the case of Christian religion, a great modern philosopher and mathematical logician, who later on wrote his famous book, Why I Am not a Christian expounding his atheistic arguments. His debate with Prof. Coplestone, one of the famous writer of history of western philosophy who is also a priest, regarding the existence of God, is also well recorded. The same goes with the German famous 19th century philosopher Frederich Nietzche who has declared that God is dead in one of his book, Thus spoke Zarathustra.

Thus, it is clear in this case that the act of reading alone does not necessarily contribute to the salvation of man as far as religion is concerned. Even the Jews, according to some interpretations, were called Ahl-al-Kitab (the people of Book), not only because they were given Book of revelation by God but also because of their extreme obsession of reading the result of which led to their disobedient of God. The Qur’an regards them like the donkey that is carrying huge books yet did not understand and profit from it. (ka mathali al-himari yahmilu asfara)

Hence, when God enjoins reading through the word Iqra’ in the Quran, it is not merely because of the act of the reading alone, but more importantly, it refers to the true knowledge that we gain out of the act of reading. This is also the very reason why the verse in surah al-‘Alaq continues with the phrase bismirabbika ‘llazi khalaq to read in the name of your God who creates which means to read with the deep consciousness of the existence of God who have created us. Fakhr al-Din al-Razi in his Tafsir, Mafatih al-Ghayb when interpreting this verse, says that to read in the name of God is to make the readings and the action that follows totally for the sake of God.

At any rate, the more important message underlying this verse is the recognition and affirmation of Islam on the supremacy of knowledge. Hardly we could find a religion other than Islam, which have given great emphasis in seeking knowledge. Islam, through the saying of the Prophet has made it obligatory to all muslims. In the Quran, the word ‘ilm either in the form of ma’rifah or nakirah occurs nearly 800 times, the third most quoted terms after the word Allah and Rabb. In many other places in the Quran, the importance of knowledge has been emphasized by God through other relevant words and phrases such as afala ta’qilun (Have you not understand), afala yatadabbarun (Aren’t you reflecting), Afala yubsirun (Do not they see), la’allakum tatafakkarun (In order that you may think).

In contrast when God humiliate and condemn a person, the Quran uses the words which are opposite to knowledge such as jahilun (ignorant), ghafilun-179 (heedless, forgetful), safahan (folly or thoughtlessness) (6:140), zalimun (3:140)- which originally means those who are in the dark, without light (nur) and nur is metaphorically means knowledge. All these negative terms, in one way or another connote the meaning of man with the absence of true knowledge. It is also interesting to find out that in the Quran, the term ‘ilm when it occurs with the definite noun (alif and lam- ma’rifah), it always refer to the knowledge of God or the religious knowledge.

And just ponder how great is the impact of these verses to the heart of the early Muslims. The Quranic motivation of knowledge did not take more than 200 years to generate a tremendous force in the heart of the early generation of Muslim to seek and acquire all kinds of knowledge at that time. They explored every inch of the earth to quench their thirst and passion for knowledge driven by their strong realization the obligation to seek knowledge. Towards the peak of the Islamic civilization, the history records the shifting of the intellectual centre, the qiblah of knowledge from Constantinople in Rome to Baghdad in Iraq. From that point of time, the authority of knowledge was in the hand of Muslims. Islamic civilization has produced greatest minds the history has ever witnessed.

By quoting these historical facts, some of us might view that we are only evoking the rosy pictures of our past civilization, hence become too romantic with the tradition and our glorious history. Mind you that we Muslims can still reach at the same level of civilization of knowledge as in the past if we really understand the strong message of knowledge conveyed by the Qur’an especially through the verse Iqra’ that we have read. To most of us in this university who are dealing with knowledge either in teaching or learning it, if we are intimate with the biographies and great works by our scholars in the past, there is nothing that can stop us from being spirited and motivated through their great ideas. To get a glimpse of the passion of knowledge shown by our great scholars of the past, let me just read an example of the intellectual life of Ibn Sina, a great Muslim philosophers of the early 11th century, as he himself wrote in his auto biography. I quote:

“(When I was a teenager) I dedicated myself to learning and reading…During this time I did not sleep completely through a single night nor devote myself to anything else by day…and because of some problem which baffle me, not being able to solve the problem, I used to visit the mosque frequently and worship, praying humbly to All-Creating until he opened the mystery of it to me and made the difficult seem easy. At night I would return home, set out a lamp before me and devote myself to reading and writing. Whenever I feel sleepy and weak, I would turn aside to drink a cup of juice, so my strength would returned to me. Then I would return to reading. And fall asleep, I would see those very problems in my dream, and many questions become clear to me in my sleep. I continued in this until all the sciences were deeply rooted within me and I understood them as far as is humanly possible. Everything I knew at that time is just what I knew it know, I have not added anything to it to this day. So when I reached the age of 18, I was finished all the sciences available in this day.

Ibn Sina continued to say in other places,

“In my neighbourhood, there was a man named Abu Hassan, who asked me to compose a comprehensive work on these sciences. I wrote a compilation for him and give his name to it, including all sciences in it, except mathematical science. At that time I was only twenty one years old. Also in my neighbourhood, there was a man named Abu Bakar Al-Baraqi, a lawyer, he was a distinguished in jurisprudence, Quran commentary and ascetism. He then asked me to comment on these sciences, and so I wrote for him the commentary in about 20 volumes which later he only possess with his own and has not loaned it to others or to be copied.

This is a typical example of an intellectual life of our Muslim scholars which has ultimately formed our great civilization of knowledge in the past. We can continue to enumerate endless glorious stories of our scholars in the past but this is not the occasion to do so.

Why this great emphasis on knowledge in Islam? It is because knowledge in Islam is the way to seek the truth which is ultimately lead to knowledge of God. Truth in Islam is something real and attainable in contrast with the claims of many western philosophical movements under the name of relativism and skepticism are trying to expound the skeptical and sophistical idea that the ultimate knowledge cannot be attained. Everything that we know, according to them, is mere perspective and subjective experience. Contradicting them, Islam through the decisive proofs put forward by the Muslim theologians affirmed that in Islam the ultimate truth knowledge could be attained. As a matter of fact, the ultimate truth in Islam is knowledge of God (al-Haqq). The attainment of truth also means the attainment of the highest level of Iman which is also the sign of the true happiness in Islam. Al-Ghazzali, in kitab Ajaib al-Qalb states that:

“Knowledge is man’s goal and a special attribute for which he was created. (al- ‘ilm huwa maqsad al-insan wa khasiyatuhu allati li ajlihi khuliqa). Man is distinguished from animals by his knowledge of things as they are. The creator of things is God. Therefore, whoever does not know God, even though he knows everything, it is as if he knows nothing. Thus the best knowledge is the knowledge God, His qualities and His acts. In this knowledge lies man’s perfections (sa’adah) of his happiness.”

The above saying of al-Ghazali at least remind us that, not all knowledge will lead to the truth and more importantly, not all people can easily arrive at true knowledge. There are also, according to al-Ghazali, many obstacles in attaining the true knowledge. Five obstacles mentioned by al-Ghazzali which prevent someone from attaining true knowledge.

a. The imperfection of man’s nature, such as the imperfection of the child’s intellect.

b. When man submits to the lusts and desire which finally leads him to the evil deeds.

c. When man deviates from the direction of the truth which is to be sought by forgetting his true aim in life and is

preoccupied by the immediate worldly aims.

d. When men hold tight to an opinion which he adheres by means of taqlid which later on becomes a barrier between him and the truth

e. When man is ignorance of the direction in which the aim can be attained.

It is therefore very important for us as seekers of knowledge in this world to remove all these obstacles from our path in order for us to arrive at the true knowledge that will guide to the right path. May God open our heart and include us in those who will receive true knowledge from Him.

Wassalam

Source: https://www.facebook.com/notes/farid-shahran/the-supremacy-of-knowledge/102229033195493