Banyak perubahan di dunia dipelopori golongan muda antaranya
adalah Revolusi Perancis. Contoh di dalam dunia Islam adalah Hassan Al bana dan Muhammad Al Fateh
Sejarah telah membuktikan bahawa perubahan-perubahan besar yang berlaku di dunia ini dimulakan oleh golongan muda sekitar 20-an. Ramai islamis suka mengambil contoh dari sejarah Islam. Antara yang terkenal adalah Sultan Mahmud Al-Fateh yang membuka konstantinapole pada umur 21. Hassan Al-Banna juga memulakan gerakan ikhwan pada umur 20-an. Tetapi kita jangan lupa sunnah kebangkitan yang telah ditetapkan Allah teraplikasi juga kepada non-muslim selagi mereka ini Manusia. French Revolution contohnya menyaksikan kebangkitan yang dimulakan oleh golongan muda 20-an.
Benarkah Kita Pejuang?
Benarkah kita ini pejuang? Atau sekadar berangan menjadi pejuang?
Saya rasa ramai rakan-rakan yang islamik tahu akan hakikat bahawa dunia islam hari ini akan terus kerugian andai golongan muda terus tidur dalam buaian hedonisme. Cepat saja untuk kita yang islamik ini menunding jari menyalahkan kemunduran ummat kepada mereka yang tidak islamik. Tetapi kita lupa sebenarnya bahawa kita yang islamik ini juga mungkin tergolong dalam golongan yang merugikan masyarakat. Kenapa?
Sebab berjuangnya kita hanyalah meletakkan link-link berkaitan agama di Facebook. Berjuangnya kita hanya dengan mendendangkan lagu-lagu islamik. Berjuangnya kita hanya dengan memakai wallpaper islamik.
Hadirnya AUKU telah menyebabkan pelajar hari ini lupa akan tugas mereka sebagai pelajar selain belajar dan lulus exam; iaitu tugas untuk beraktivisme. Maka lahirlah golongan pelajar Islamik yang hanya melaungkan perjuangan tanpa mahu berjuang.
Inilah Zaman Keemasan Kita
Zaman keemasan kita adalah zaman belajar
Zaman belajar ini adalah zaman keemasan untuk melatih kita untuk berjuang. Kenapa demikian? Tak bolehkah kita berjuang selepas belajar sahaja? Habiskan satu persatu, kata orang tua.
Inilah jawapannya kenapa zaman belajar ini adalah zaman keemasan untuk pelajar:
1. Pelajar dipertanggungjawabkan dengan tiga tanggungjawab iaitu a) belajar b) lulus exam dan c) beraktivisme
2. Ramai yang lupa akan tanggungjawab ketiga iaitu beraktivisme. Pihak kerajaan telahpun mengecilkan skop aktivisme ini kepada aktviti kokurikulum wajib sekolah. Ini menyebabkan pelajar yang ke universiti lupa akan tanggungjawab mereka sebagai agen perubahan masyarakat.
3. Bagi yang menyangka dia akan beraktivisme hanya selepas belajar, mereka lupa bahawa selepas belajar mereka akan dibebani dengan pelbagai lagi tanggungjawab seperti: -Belajar (bagi yang sambung post-graduate) - tanggungjawab sebagai suami dan isteri - anak-anak - mertua - kerja
4. Andai kita pelajar tidak mula melatih diri untuk beraktivisme sewaktu belajar, kita tidak akan mampu untuk beraktivisme selepas belajar kerana aktivisme perlu kepada pengorbanan. Bersediakah kita untuk mengkompromi anak-anak, isteri, suami, wang gaji untuk dakwah andai masa belajar pun sukar untuk kita susun untuk dakwah?
Tunaikan tanggungjawab, kita pasti akan selamat
"Akhi, yang mana lagi penting, dakwah atau study?"
"Akhi, ana peninglah, study itu penting, tapi dakwah bukan prioriti kedua."
Inilah yang biasa keluar dari minda kita apabila diajak untuk beraktivisme di jalan dakwah. Kekeliruan ini bertambah-tambah menyulitkan bagi pelajar perubatan di India yang cutinya amat sedikit, dan jadual pelajaran yang amat ketat. Program-program tarbiyyah dari sekecil-kecil usrah sehingga sebesar Winter Camp terpaksa disumbat pada hujung minggu sahaja, di tengah-tengah hambatan assignment, test, viva dan sebagainya. Amat mudah sekali untuk para dai'e samada jatuh futur atau jatuh gagal dalam pelajaran.
Amat sukar untuk 'balance' antara aktivisme, belajar dan lulus exam terutamanya di India yang mana perjalanan akademiknya tidak sama seperti Mesir, Australia, NZ dan Europe. Di sini tiada cuti tiga bulan, malah lebih teruk lagi cuti tidak selaras antara satu batch dan satu batch yang lain.
Inilah realitinya... tetapi bagaimanakah kita mampu mengimbangi keperluan dakwah dan keperluan pelajaran? Ayuh kita lihat semua ini sebagai satu tanggungjawab yang mesti dilaksanakan. Belajar, lulus exam dan dakwah itu tanggungjawab. Apabila kita berusaha untuk memenuhi tuntutan kesemua tanggungjawab ini, kita tidak akan ada masa lagi untuk bermain-main dengan video games, berpacaran, menonton Korea dan sebagainya.
Belajar untuk memenuhi tanggungjawab-tanggungjawab asas ini insyaAllah kita akan lebih lasak untuk memenuhi tanggungjawab sebagai seorang dewasa kelak tanpa meninggalkan tanggungjawab dakwah kepada masyarakat.
Akhir Kalam, kita penuhi hati kita dengan secebis ayat Al-Qur'an:
"Dan berjihadlah kamu pada jalan Allah denganjihadyang sebenar-benarnya. Dia telah memilih kamu dan Dia sekali-kali tidak menjadikan untuk kamu dalam agama suatu kesempitan. (Ikutilah) agama orang tuamu Ibrahim. Dia (Allah) telah menamai kamu sekalian orang-orang muslim dari dahulu, dan (begitu pula) dalam (Al Qur'an) ini, supaya Rasul itu menjadi saksi atas dirimu dan supaya kamu semua menjadi saksi atas segenap manusia, maka dirikanlah sembahyang, tunaikanlah zakat dan berpeganglah kamu pada tali Allah. Dia adalah Pelindungmu, maka Dialah sebaik-baik Pelindung dan sebaik-baik Penolong."
Bagaimanakah kita mahu membezakan samada kita memilih sesuatu jemaah berdasarkan kepada pendirian atau ketaksuban? Semestinya 'Taksub' itu membawa satu konotasi negatif. Tetapi apakah kriteria yang dapat membebaskan kita dari label 'Taksub'?
Pendirian itu dibuat berdasarkan kepada prinsip. Dan prinsip hanya lahir dari akal yang berfikir. Akal yang mampu menilai baik dan buruk, yang mampu melihat yang haq dan batil. Lebih baik dan pasti selamat andai akal itu dipandu wahyu.
Bagaimana pula dengan taksub? Ketaksuban lahir dari emosi dan sentimen. Emosi dan sentimen meluap-luap keluar menyebabkan seseorang itu menyokong membuta tuli tanpa melihat dengan akal baik dan buruk tindakannya.
Kita ambil contoh non-politik... yang mudah difahami oleh kita remaja 20-an... iaitu contoh kahwin.
Ramai yang ingin berkahwin... dan bagi mereka yang berhajat untuk berkahwin semasa belajar biasanya disoal oleh ibu-bapa akan rasional tindakan mereka itu.
Ketika ini, si teruna atau si gadis ini perlu menilai semula, adakah dia ingin berkahwin kerana tuntutan agama, tuntutan nabi, tuntutan dakwah etc? Atau hasratnya ingin berkahwin awal hanya kerana cintanya kepada kekasih yang disayangi? Tak tahan sangat nak kahwin orang kata.
Politik Malaysia banyak dicorak oleh nilai-nilai sentimen, bukannya prinsip
Mungkin kita boleh ambil sedikit contoh politikal...
Apabila kita menyokong sesebuah pertubuhan lalu berjuang bermati-matian di bawah panjinya, adakah sokongan kita itu berdasarkan prinsip dan pendirian atau ketaksuban?
Sudah semestinya sokongan dan perjuangan yang berdasarkan kepada pendirian itu lebih baik.
Jadi bagaimanakah caranya untuk kita jadi orang yang berprinsip?
Tidak ada cara lain... kita mesti berfikir, berfikir dan berfikir, dan tambah ilmu dengan membaca serta berguru. Melalui ilmu kita akan tahu yang haq dan yang batil dan dari situ kita akan dapat membina prinsip di dalam diri kita.
Bagaimana pula mereka yang menolak sebarang penglibatan di dalam Jemaah di atas alasan tidak mahu dilihat taksub? Bagi saya, tepuklah dada, tanyalah prinsip...
Mahathir's strategy to revive Malay's spirit from being 'layu' resulted in two extremes of political approaches:
1) those of UMNO & PERKASA type where their major struggle is for the Malay race... the natioanalistic approach. Malay nationalism is being put forward where Islam is seen as only the its complement.
2) Those of PAS type. Nowadays they are quite anti-nationalistic with the slogan PAS For All. With PAS, struggle for Malay supremacy is not that much needed. What important is Islam's supremacy thus rejecting any means of struggle for reviving the Malay's sad condition as explained by Mahathir.
Both approaches has one similar problem: they are mere slogans. UMNO shouts the slogans of Malays supremacy while PAS for being the very opposite opposition comes out with a slogan denying UMNO's solution stating that ISLAM is the Solution.
UMNO's and PERKASA's nationalistic approach deemed to be a failure as for over 5 decades it hasn't be able to solve the problems the Malays are facing. Clearly (for those who understand) Islam is the solution to the problems Malays are facing. It was clear to today's youth that UMNO's formula had failed.
However PAS slogan that reverberate the denial of any of racial intervention in Islamic struggle is a problem as well. It is simply an ignorance over the prophetic history. The Prophet Muhammad used the comfort of tribal protections as a strategy to spread the message of Tauheed. Remember how Abu Talib protects him? How Bani Hashim had suffered from the boycott alongside the Muslims? And not many knows that the Ansar tribe is Prophet Muhammad's family. Abdul Mutallib, the prophet grandfather was born in Yathrib, a descendant of them.
The problem lies in the SLOGAN. Slogan from PAS that yell the hatred over nationalistic approach had concealed the fact that racial or tribal intervention is a part of our Prophet's strategy. Thus the slogan "ISLAM IS THE SOLUTION" doesn't solve the problem as it is a mere slogan. It doesn't explain the strategy even; worse in our condition concealed the much needed strategy of reviving the Malays as the backbone of Islamic revival in Malaysia.
Enough with the slogans my fellow Muslims (Well... 90% of them are Malays anyway) in Malaysia. Slogans doesn't give the solutions. It just gives an ideology that makes us feels good but it doesn't show us clear solutions.
Speaking of solutions, we must come to an intermediate solution. A moderate solution which takes Islam as the main aim, having racial intervention as the strategy therefore not denying that we are born as Malays with our embedded cultures, at the same time not denying that we are also Muslims having Lailahaillallah as our main guide in life and as our aim of Jihad.
I involved a lot in tarbiyyah programmes. I even lead one usrah group over here. I myself have my own usrah that I attend. Simply put, my life is filled with learning the deen besides learning Medical subjects. It looks idealistic isn’t it? It looks like I’m such a good person. Yeah from outside, it looks like that. That’s how I present myself to the public. I am good at creating an image… but an image is an image. Putting it in physical term, an image is not ‘real’. So am I real?
I have to admit, not to everybody but myself… that what I projected was really an image. So am I being hypocrite? People say better not involve in tarbiyyah, dakwah etc if you are just a hypocrite. No… I wouldn’t say that I’m a hypocrite. And I am really not one… Na’uzubillah. So what happen actually?
There’s a simple mistake I did… the failure to put the knowledge into practice. What is Islam all about? What is Qur’an about? What is Sunnah about? These are all nothing but a deen… a way of life. So when I learn one ayat, I should put it into practice. But I did not. I treat the ayat as a mere source of speech so that my presentation in usrah can be more flowery and attractive. It’s a big mistake! I have fractionalized Islam making myself a partial Muslim! But my dear friends… putting Islam into practice is the real challenge. My failure might also be your failure, the failure to decipher the sea of knowledge in the Qur’an and Sunnah into real daily living.
So how do you know you are actually failing to decipher the knowledge into practive? Into reality of life?
Easy… these might be the indications:
1. You wake up late in the morning 2. You didn’t attend Fajr prayer 3. You didn’t Qur’an that much 4. You didn’t pray in Jamaah
Wait a minute… are all indications about ibadah? No… even more like these:
1. You didn’t keep your room 2. You didn’t finish your homework 3. You didn’t study regularly 4. You spend your time on movies 5. You SMS girls 6. You skip your cooking duty 7. You didn’t attend class
Well… I think I am not a real Muslim yet. If I am real, I’m not just projecting a Muslim image… you know like, beards, ketayap, or in my case usrah, daurah, posting hadith on facebook, posting Muslim news on facebook etc. Being real is to keep check on all the above daily matters. I might be criticizing myself but you… yes you, whoever reading this… you might be one as well.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ ادْخُلُواْ فِي السِّلْمِ كَآفَّةً وَلاَ تَتَّبِعُواْ خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo odkhuloo fee alssilmi kaffatan wala tattabiAAoo khutuwati alshshaytani innahu lakum AAaduwwun mubeenun 2:208 O ye who believe! Enter into Islam whole-heartedly; and follow not the footsteps of the evil one; for he is to you an avowed enemy
I’m dedicating this scrappy note to whomever turning 23 tonight
Here I am once again, coming onto the brink of transitional age. Hey, wait a minute! What’s that? Transitional Age? Like Descartes or Plato give this term or what? Naah.. I invented the term my own. It’s defined by me as a range of age where people are turning from childhood to teen, from teenage to adulthood, from adulthood to golden age, and from golden age to err.. death.
Yeah… I’m 23 now. Well, many would still consider this age as being youth. So youthful would normally means… ENJOY!! No responsibilities!!! No committed relationships!!! Or Study!!! Well… erm I guess I’m done with that phase already. I just got to move on, leave that pointless “youthful” life and start to find some clear, DESTINED directions. Actually I began to start leaving that phase over a year ago, when I began to see pointless shopping as pointless, or dating as not hype anymore, then having girlfriends as well (can’t find the vocab)… as pointless.. and now I think my transition into adulthood is almost complete.
Metamorphosis?
Wow… so easy to say that? Like I’m a metamorphosing butterfly? Well, I don’t actually and exactly and accurately saying that I’m nearing adulthood. I just felt that I’m nearing that phase. Everything around me is like ‘growing’:
1.Many of my friends already got married… many got engaged as well… sometimes I felt like err like I’ve been left behind..
2.Some already got a job… hey my younger sister had already been offered a job as a kuli architect in a Chinese firm.. I mean Malaysian Chinese firm.
3.My elder brother is heading towards marriage as well… good luck to you…
4.My classmates’ jokes are getting more unchildish… like: hey you gotta be quick getting married… ha ha ha ha (is that a joke… well, I’m quite a jokeless person at times)… or like: tickle tickle tickle tickle… Mus!! You better hurry up and tell her mom for her hand! I can’t stand you tickling me..
5.Discussions are getting more like adult: Err… Zul, you know anything about Bosnia? Yeah I know something.. its like bla.. and bla bla this bla that. Oh ok.. we gotta read more… history is important.
6.I Don’t need to mention facebook… discussions are so much into philosophy, history, religion, sociology, politics.. and so on.. [no time for gossip-like statuses]
7.Oh yeah My father… His first topic after a hello on the phone call will be: ANAS!!!! When are you getting married? Dhuhh.. well don’t worry Abah… I’m working for it.. I’m wooorking.. God knows Well what’s in store for me.
8.And… erm… things are coming up for me as well… that makes me really began to think like an adult… things like: marriage [I’m normal… normal dude got married], like money, like buying my first car, like buying properties, like when I’m having my first child… like my first child’s name [oops.. not to that extent yet]
Well… that’s just a scrappy recap of how things turning adult around me
Our first Year in Bangalore... things had changed a lot
Life as a da’ie
And yes… my life as a da’ie… Does the title da’ie makes me different? Or special? Or people say more holy? Naah.. it’s just the same, normal life actually, because Islam is normal.. it’s normal for God to expect us to do Amar Makruf nahi munkar, it’s normal for God to tell us to become a khalifah… being a khalifah? Is it like being a king or mullah or what? Naah.. you are just being yourself… like I’m becoming a doctor, and my duty as a doctor, putting it in the way God wants it to be… that’s a khalifah… It’s also normal for us to pray five times a day, putting more effort into augmenting our amal… because that’s what God told us to do… so it’s sooo normal and natural… so my life as a dai’e… nothing much different from your life whoever you are reading this… I go to work, I study, I’m buying cars, I’m buying house… so do you…
except, people see is as abnormal sometimes because they are not taking all these as normal… like really normal doctors don’t go anywhere giving religious talk… or like me giving talks at F15 on one fine Sunday morning in SEED programme. Well.. don’t freak out.. just see that as a part of my errr… fulfilling my obligations.
So at 23, my job as a dai’e doesn’t change the fact that I’m a human no less holy than anyone… just doing my normal part as a khalifah… like what God normally tell us…
Life as a dai'e... its normal
Be careful, don’t trip
Transitional ages are challenging periods. I remembered how challenging teenage was. At that time I began to discover something like sexuality, feelings, love, or things like hype stuff… you know, cigarette, having girlfriends and stuffs… those are challenging age… many got tripped and trapped down into the ravine of life after that.
Transitional age is challenging as there are lots of new changes around you that you need to be quick to acquaint yourself with. By acquainting yourself what I mean is that to understand the changes around you and use that changes for you to mature yourself.
Now that I’m in the transition age again, this time into adulthood. Things like marriage is of daily thoughts. So what you gonna do with that? Getting married? Some just don’t realized that they actually want to get married. So they opt for unlawful relationship instead. Many had gone into premarital sex as well. So to get a control over changes in yourself is to identify and understand its urge. From there we must find a way to get it the natural way… in this case, nikah is an urge… you gotta be there someday somehow… so just get there then.. work it up!!!
Again I’m stressing… transitional age is challenging. If you fail to understand its nature, you fall into the ravine of life. Some just give up life for this. So it’s a crucial time.
Transitional age is a crucial time... always be on guard
That’s it!!!
So that’s it… my scrappy note about ageing.
Usually I wrote serious things… like politics, or dakwah, or history, but this time around I’m just… errrr… scrapping.
So, if you don’t find any benefit just don’t bother.
I am currently having a motivational crisis. I bet everybody has that sometimes in their life. It's normal to have this ups and downs in life. Ever since I engaged myself with Islam in a more serious manner, I began to gauge my level of motivation based on the level of Iman (For us, normal Muslims unlike the prophets, Iman is yazid wa yankus... it has its ups and downs). There's a reason to why I use this gauge as the standard meter for motivational level. The question comes back to the purpose of life as defined by Islam.
So what is motivation? Being motivated means you have a driving force. You don't simply suddenly jump up and do work hardly without anything drives you. There must be a force. That force is actually a purpose that you are trying to achieve. Along with that purpose there must be some reward that boost our motivation. So 'purpose' is the driving force and 'reward' is the fuel to keep us going. In this article, I am to argue what is that 'driving factor'? What is the best driving factor? What is the best reward to die for?
Let's try to define 'driving factor' first.
Everything began with the nature of human being which is submission. Undoubtedly one of human's many natural trait is to bow or submit (I'll explain this further). And God has taught human, through His prophets that human should only bow to Him. This is where the shahadah comes into light:
"There is no god but God, Muhammad is His Messenger"
Meaning there is no other submission other than to God, and Muhammad had laid down a practical way of life that we should submit to.
Why did I say, its human nature to bow to something?
We begin with the aborigines. We often heard of animism, the religion where human submit to the nature. A traditional tribe without any knowledge whatsoever are compelled to worship stones, trees, or big animals so that they can get protection, mercy, rewards etc. Everything is done to please the one being submit to.
Let's fast forward to the modern day. Now we can see liberals and atheist everywhere. These people they don't submit to God as the conservatives does (no matter what religion they are). One appropriate description is they wanted to be called as free man, not submitting their will to anything. But are they really free? Often we saw how modern man works hard for the money, to meet up the bills, mortgages, car loans etc. They work for the money and to money they bow to. Some bow to women, doing every thing they could to please them and finally get laid. So does women, dressing the best they could, so that they could get some temporary sexual gratification.
So what I'm trying to say here, submission, in whatever form, to whomever, to whatever is the source of 'driving factor' for human. To submit your will to something is to follow what that something tells you to do. If you submit to money, you'll do what the money tells you to do... which is work work and work.
Of course, human don't simply submit to something if that something cannot give reward to him. Reward for a male submitting to women is sexual gratification. We don't call them 'women slave' for nothing.
Submission gives purpose to human life, and the promised reward fuel their motivation to achieve what the submission tells you to achieve.
In Islam, we were taught that we are only to submit to God alone. Submitting to God means, placing all of our wills or 'driving factor' to Him. Let Him tell us what to strive for, what to achieve, instead of having money, women or status to tell us all these things.
But where is the greatness of having God as the source of driving factor? Let's begin with a statement from the Qur'an:
For me this is a simplification of concluding that the best 'driving factor' is God alone as He promised greatness, glory and power to those who submit to Him.
Let's ponder what Umar Al-khattab has to tell about izzah:
“Kita adalah kaum yang dimuliakan dengan Islam, jika kita cari selainnya maka Allah akan hinakan kita”.
Islam, the way of life that bring human to submit to God's will through the teaching of prophet Muhammad had taught us that living purpose hence driving factor for life is to do what God tells us to do.
And [tell them that] I have not created the invisible beings and men to any end other than that they may [know and] worship Me. (QS 51:56)
So what is the reward that we are achieving by submitting to this prescribed purpose of life? It's heaven!!! It's simply heaven. Over there you can get all what you desire, endlessly.
However, this best 'driving factor' to live with, is the hardest to obtain. Why? Because it is based on Iman or belief to what is 'ghaib', the unseen, the imperceptible. A Muslim who live by Islamic principle they will undoubtedly take up belief to Allah as the source of motivation. That is why I say, the best tool to gauge motivation is Iman. But those who live with this 'driving factor' will become the noblest of all human being. Because they will own properties there in Heaven, besides having to obtain noble character in this world as what Allah told and what the prophet taught are nothing but noble deeds and noble achievements.
So, God is the best source of motivation, however it's the hardest to obtain but the noblest you'll become.