Sunday, December 7, 2008

it is how you see it first

The calender shows me that now is Disember. How obvious. But looking out at the window and you see that the roof of the opposite hostel is not laden with snow, I say it is a bit strange. It should be like -20 now in Nizhny. However, I can still go out without my winter jacket, because the temperature was like, +3, +4. Well not so much a mystery even to 7 year old kid if u ask him/her whats happening actually. He will answer..


"global warming.."


Yes..nature is changing. And not them alone, its dwellers as well.


I'm not so updated much with the global issues, but I'm sure that the whole world watched Barrack Obama becoming the president of USA. Is it such a big deal? I'm not sure. But they say, that America once before, was in a racial conflict between the blacks and whites. And now we can see they are accepting each other to the extent of having Obama as their president. Is this not a quantum change? I think it is.


A big change such as that does not happen merely in days or weeks or couple of years. A change of norm or culture of a population does not simply occur spontaneously. It is to be initiated by the functional unit, the acinus of the society, the human. And how and what exactly the change in human can cause a 180 degree upon himself and upon a society? I may not know in so much detail, but I know some of its mechanism.


"Verily, Allah will not change the (good) condition of a people as long as they do not change their state (of goodness) themselves" [13:11]


What does it means in tha state of themself? Is it behaviour? Or attitude? Or wealth? Looking back at the sirah of our beloved prophet, and having to read one particular book which I'm sure most of you have heard of, I would like to share some thought regarding this topic.


******************* **********************


Paradigm


Human behaviour & attitude are unconsciously governed by the way they see things, their perspective, they paradigm. Example, it is impossible an adult or maybe a teenager to act proactive, to be independent and to judge wisely and rationally if one still think he is still a kid. If he sees himself as a kid, he would'nt bother to think about getting organized. All will be done for him by his mother or nanny.


As explained concisely by Steven Covey in his utterly famous book, paradigm/the way we see things/our perspective - is like a map of a certain territory, or place. A real particular place or territory, is the reality where it is undoubtedly objective, whilst the map of it may or may not be correct. Paradigm is subjective, where different person may have different views on certain things. We can say that different people may have different map for one particular place. Using the abovementioned example, paradigm/map is the way the adult see himself as a kid, and the reality/territory is the fact that he is an adult.


Subjective as it may seem to be, it is fundamental that our maps are matched with reality. What would happen if we are heading to a certain location in a particular city, but yet, provided with a map of different city? If we cruise along by referring to that map, we would never reach the destination even if we give all our effort and being so positive. The reality simply does not fit!


A piece of history


Looking back at the Sirah of our beloved prophet, we can see that only about 300 men & women embraced Islam until the end of the 13 years period of Makkah, and rightly before their hijrah to Madinah. Those 300 men & women, was the backbone that thrust Islam to an exponential growth for like a 100 years (till the death of the last companion). Those people were taught by the prophet for that 13 years, and what had the prophet emphasized on during those years?


Mostly on the aqidah, the ideology, & the iman. They were given first, the real map of the world (who created it and what for) and the map of human: where & what they come from, their purpose of existence, and their definite destination. All of those facts which are seen so simple, but, if they are really understood correctly, it would change our lives. What do we see in history when the period of Madinah starts? Quantum change, growth and progress.


Is it so simple and easy? Just change the paradigm?


Habit


Like mentioned above, our paradigm will govern the way we act. It will change our attitude, our behaviour and so on. However, the transition to a new person from the previous is not that simple and easy. Previously, we had the habits that may be, contradict to those later attitudes and behaviour, and to leave the old habit and start a better one is one heck of a job to do. Paradigm will trigger us to change ourselves to the necessary habit, but still, if we are so reluctantly to give real effort, it wouldn’t work either. We need to know the why to do it, we need to know the how to do it, and ultimately, we need to have the want to do it.


"..Beware, in the body, there is a piece of flesh. If it is sound, the whole body is sound. And if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt. And behold, it is the heart.." [HR Bukhari & Muslim]


Gravity pull


It is sunnatullah, our we may say, law of nature that we will reap what we have sewn, we'll get the crops of what we have laboriously planted, that a 1000 steps must be started with the first one. Those are realities. Another example again taken from the book (that book Is really enlightening!!), change of habit is like a gravity pull acting on a rocket that is taking off to the space. The affect of gravity at first is very huge and it requires tons of force by burning those fuels to overcome the gravity. As it goes up slowly and slowly, eventually the effect of the gravity will be lessen. And that is how habit changing is! Ofcourse the start is difficult, but it'll get easier and smoother. inshaAllah


********************** ******************


"O you who believe! Enter Silm(Islam) perfectly, and follow not the footsteps of Shaytan (Satan). Verily, he is to you a plain enemy" [2: 208]


In this verse, Allah is telling us to enter, to practise, to give commitment into Islam, wholeheartedly. 100%. Without dividing into parts, into sects, into some subsection, which to be believed or/and practised some of them and to leave the other. And we can see that, Allah is comparing entering al-Silm (safety/safeness) aka Islam, with following the steps of Shaytan. It is to be understood this way: its either submit 100% into Islam OR following Shaytan's step.


These days I (and also you I suppose) heard from somewhere these days, Islam liberal & Islam conservative,Islam feminism..Islam this Islam that. I don’t know any of such labeling of Islam. If I am to be said ignorance (for not considering such labels of Islam), I'll be happy to be that kind/part of ignorant, because I believe, and I'm dead sure that Islam is Islam, without any parting, as revealed in the Quran & Sunnah and as carried by those companions and those who followed their footsteps.


But what that has to do with the main topic?


Islam had once achieved greatness, and it happened to be so, due to the greatness of the muslims who completely submitted to it. The height of Islam today depends on the commitment of its followers. The history proved that Islam was the best way of life (not just religion). Islam is great itself as it were descended from The Creator and the only deen that He approved.


Is Islam is so like that of TERRORISM like they said?

Is Islam is so like that of CONSERVATIVE like they said?

Is Islam is so HALTING the progress of economy like they said?

Is Islam is so like NARROW with ONLY prayers, fasting, hajj, and hijab like they said?

Is Islam is so ONLY that to be practised in the compound of the masjid like they said?

Is Islam is so CRUEL to SIMPLY cut one hands and to SIMPLY stone to death a person, violating human rights like they said?

Is Islam is so all about wearing that white cloth and wearing the white pill-box hat like we think?

Is Islam is so ONLY about the commitment of old people who are and done with their carriers, coming closer to death like we seen?

Is islam is so LAME, that it is not suitable for the young who seemed need to have much enjoying to do like we think?


Is it so? Is this how you view Islam, your paradigm towards Islam? Well I'm not buying it. And I hope you will not as well. And if you're not sure, I'll be glad to discuss about it =)


WaAllahua'alam


"This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion" [QS 5:3]


"What are they asking about. About the great news. About which they are in disagreement. Nay, they will come to know! Nay, again, they will come to know!" [QS 78:1-5]


7 Disember - 9 Zulhijah

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

teringt physiology..=P
Sensory system has one part called the subjective part. This part forms our Perception. How the Perception is formed from the scentific point of view? Even scientist cannot explain this part. Subhanallah yg Memiliki Rahsia langit dan bumi.

Anonymous said...

tahun ni tak dapat buat snowman =(....good post indeed,jzkk

dr muthiah said...

you got golden hands with bright,enLIGHTened mind my brother!

i just like your piece. it touched my deep heart :)

Anonymous said...

update pun. finally! hehe.

Souhayla NourJannah said...

Enlightening for some, inspirational for others. For me, it got me thinking. :)

Syukri Shairi said...

Hehe. Salam, Li.

Mungkin nampaknya sesetengah benda yang aku tulis bercanggah dengan pendapat kau. Tapi tak mengapa, biar aku terangkan sikit. Ayat Surah Al-Baqarah yang menyuruh manusia 'memasuki Islam dengan sepenuhnya' amat popular, dan mesej dari Allah dalam ayat ini nampaknya simplistik dan mudah difahami -- namun apa yang terjadi adalah sebaliknya.

Aku tak pernah dengar mengenai 'Islam feminism', tapi sememangnya liberalisme dan konservatisme dalam hidup umat Islam hari ini memang ada. Tapi aku memakai terma-terma ini adalah sekadar deskripsi, bukannya klasifikasi yang membawa kepada pembahagian doktrin, i.e Ahli Sunnah wal Jamaah dan Syiah. Aku sedar dan aku pasti kau pun sedar yang kita memang tak mahu lagi perpecahan dalam Ummah kita hari ini, kerana cukuplah dengan perpecahan yang ada kerana kita masih terkial-kial lagi untuk bersatu meskipun terang-terang kita sudah terancam. Pada masa yang sama, tuduhan 'menokok tambah mazhab' ini mungkin boleh dituding kepada pemikir-pemikir Islam Hadhari, tapi tak perlulah kita melencong ke situ sekarang.

Islam sememangnya agama yang luas. Menyempitkan skopnya adalah sesuatu yang merugikan, dan itu bukan sesuatu yang aku sedang lakukan. Islam juga tidak 'lame' untuk muda-mudi -- jika ini yang kau sangka aku cuba sampaikan, sememangnya sangkaan kau meleset sama sekali. Bukankah Muhammad al-Fatih telah membuka Istanbul pada usianya 21? Bukankah ramai sekali cendikiawan Islam yang menghafal Al-Qur'an pada usianya hanya 9, 10 tahun? Ramai sekali di antara mereka sudah berjaya dalam bidang yang mereka ceburi ketika berusia awal 20-an, dan adakah mereka tidak menjadikan Islam sebagai paradigma hidup mereka?

Sebenarnya inilah yang aku cuba sampaikan. Jika kita menjengah realiti, Islam dan remaja arus perdana hari ini bukanlah berkawan baik. Institusi ulama dan cendikiawan agama sering mencemuh remaja tapi masa yang sama mereka mengharapkan remaja untuk berada di masjid bersama-sama mereka. Aku tak kata yang Islam dan golongan muda adalah tidak sesuai, tapi malangnya ada golongan yang telah menidaksesuaikan keadaan dan seterusnya menjauhkan lagi remaja dari agama mereka. Alangkah ruginya. Kadang-kadang kedua-dua golongan ini masing-masing taknak kalah. Golongan dewasa dan ulama merasakan merekalah yang betul dan berpetunjuk, manakala golongan muda dan remaja juga merasakan merekalah yang betul dan memberontak.

Jika ini situasinya, adakah patut kita persembahkan Islam sebagai sebuah institusi yang kerjanya melarang dan mengatakan tak boleh kepada itu ini? Bukankah sepatutnya kita perlihatkan Islam sebagai sebuah perspektif hidup yang lengkap -- seperti yang kau kata -- dan bukan sebagai agen pengharaman?

Solusi terhadap perkara ini nampaknya masih kabur. Dalam masa mereka berdoa supaya kita kembali ke jalan yang benar mereka tak sedar bahawa mereka sendiri mengamalkan hidup yang korup dan tidak betul. Di sinilah sesetengah golongan muda nampak ketidakbetulan pengamalan agama di kalangan orang dewasa. Soalan hampir retorik mula timbul: jika ya mereka mahu mengamalkan Islam sepenuhnya, kenapa kita masih lagi memakai undang-undang sekular? Asal rasuah berleluasa sangat? Kenapa sesetengah orang boleh above the law? Contohnya.

Mungkin soal peta dan paradigma yang kau bangkitkan boleh jadi penyelesaiannya. Tapi nampaknya pada ramai orang, ianya tidak. Siapa perlukan peta kalau semua yang mereka perlukan akan datang kepada mereka? Nah, golongan sombong inilah yang bermasalah. Mereka sangkakan solusi semuanya ada pada mereka. Malangnya sikap ini ada pada ramai sekali penggubal undang-undang dan golongan berkuasa yang sama sekali tidak kisah sama ada kuasa decision-making yang ada pada mereka akan memberi impak kepada golongan di bawah mereka atau tidak.

Tapi ini hanya berlaku di negara kita sahaja. Tidak tahulah pula di negara lain. Kita terlalu mengejar hakikat negara Islam sebenar sedangkan apa yang kita lakukan makin melangkau ke arah lain. Negara Islam yang sebenar mengamalkan rasisme kah? Itu salah satunya. Ada isu fundemental yang kita tidak cuba selesaikan, namun kita mencari pula isu baru untuk ditambah dan diperdebatkan: yoga, misalnya.

Mengenai sama ada memasuki Islam 100% atau mengikut Syaitan, aku percaya ini adalah paradigmanya, bukannya solusi yang mandatori. Jangan salah faham dulu. Dalam hidup yang sudah sedia ada banyak ketakutan Islam tidak harus tampil hasil ketakutan terhadapnya, sebaliknya Islam harus tampil penuh hikmah sebagai satu solusi kepada kehidupan manusia. Dalam erti kata lain, berjalan-jalan ke sana kemari sambil berkata 'Oi pengikut Setan, masuklah Islam sepenuhnya!' bukanlah cara dakwah yang terbaik. Tapi approach lain yang lebih berhikmah, peka dan intelektual harus diambil bagi mencapai sesuatu yang berkiblatkan paradigma itu.

Aku harap ini dapat jelaskan serba sedikit pendirian aku. Janganlah aku dilabel heretic pula. Aku menulis sesuatu dengan berhati-hati dan aku berharap kau juga begitu. Aku faham dengan niat kau untuk mengingatkan, namun percayalah semua ini sudah aku ambil kira. Manakan boleh kita ditch ad-Din kita yang serba lengkap ini untuk pendirian duniawi yang tak kekal. Jika aku membuat kau salah faham, maafkan kerana kesilapan aku datang dari diri sendiri juga. Aku hanya berfikir di luar lingkungan kotak.

Mengenai umat Islam hari ini tidak secemerlang dulu, entahlah. Jika Muhammad al-Fatih hidup hari ini tentunya dia sedih, melihat realiti sejak Khilafah yang didirikannya di Istanbul hari itu sejak tumbang, tidak bangkit-bangkit lagi.

Setakat ini, kita hanya boleh menunggu.

Ahmedkzaman said...

salam..
wah azli..dahsatnye post nta nih..

tp to syukri, sy xbrape stuju bout kita hanya menunggu shj utk Islam bangkit..
kn ade ayat quran tuh..
"Sesungguhnya Allah tidak akan merubah keadaan (nasib) suatu kaum sehingga mereka (telah lebih dulu) merubah keadaan yang ada pada diri mereka sendiri," (QS:13:11).

jd sy rase..kite kne brusaha..jgn duduk diam..

n 1 more..(no offense)

bout u saying "how come we want to preach someone to islam if we say hey satan followers..let's embrace Islam fully"
im not saying that thats wrong..but in dakwah.. there r many ways..
ade yg scr lmbut,ade yg bransur2, ade yg str8, but ade juga yg tegas/xbrlapik. mgkn certain orgg akn accept teguran in that way.besides, that's the way Allah used in Quran. rite?

besides, bknkah itu variasi dlm dakwah?
xsalah..sdgkan nabi sndr prnah brselisih fhm(nabi Harun n Nabi Musa)..inikan kita..

allahu a'lam..
(afuan azli, ana wat cam blog sndr plak)=P

Syukri Shairi said...

Ahmedkzaman, tak mengapa kalau saudara tak setuju. Saya maklum mengenai pelbagai cara Allah memberi peringatan kepada kita dalam Qur'an. Tapi menyentuh mengenai cara yang sentuh di atas, mungkin kesesuaiannya dengan golongan hari ini tidak seberapa. Cuma pendapat saya saja.

Sorry Li, aku pun dah terbuat mcm blog sendiri jugak ;)

Azli said...

to kd: indeed, all praises to Him
______________________

to nurul: waiyyaki, boleh aja bah, baru disember sekarang. januari masih boleh snow inshaAllah
_______________________

to drmuthiah: segala pujian2 kembali semula kepada Allah =) jzkk for droppin by.
_______________________

to leokid: maaf jika lama menunggu. tidak sehebat Ust Hasrizal kita. hehe.
_______________________

to zhenia: =)
_______________________

to syukri: Salam wrt =)

Some of ur phrases, and sounding quite defensive in justifying a couple of things, gave me the imppresion that you thought my post is specifically done due to the courtesy of only ur writings.

"..Mungkin nampaknya sesetengah benda yang aku tulis bercanggah dengan pendapat kau.."

"..Tapi aku memakai terma-terma ini adalah sekadar deskripsi, bukannya klasifikasi yang membawa kepada pembahagian doktrin.."

"..jika ini yang kau sangka aku cuba sampaikan, sememangnya sangkaan kau meleset sama sekali.."

"..Aku tak kata yang Islam dan golongan muda adalah tidak sesuai,
ku faham dengan niat kau untuk mengingatkan, namun percayalah semua ini sudah aku ambil kira.."

=) My dearest syukri, I've yet to see much of ur previous writings, especiallly those which kau assumed aku x setuju dengan penulisan kau. Therefore, I havent the slightest idea or intention of judging your writings , let alone writing out this post to counter ur thoughts . No. That is far from the intention of this post, n this blog. This post is not of the courtesy of anybody's writings in particular, nor to point out somebody specifically. Please, aku harap kau dapat baca sekali lagi and grasp the msg =)

But thank you though for sharing out some of ur thoughts! Really appreciate it. =)

And maybe to point out a couple of things:

Yes u're right, pemuda-pemudi dulu cemerlang kerana Islam mereka, dan ternyata Islam amat harmoni dengan mereka. Mereka yakin dengan Islam, dan mereka menjual kehidupan mereka kepada Islam untuk memperjuangkannya. Itu dahulu. Namun aku keliru dengan paradigma kita (pemuda generasi kini) terhadap Islam.

Justifikasi kau terhadap remaja arus perdana dan 'Islam' ialah satu hakikat yang tidak dinafikan kebenaranya. Terima kasih kerana mencelikkan kita semua ttg hakikat ini. However, the verdict about who should do this first, they should do that first, shall not to be written here. Its not about anyone else. If we keep pointing out others, problem would never be solved. Who is it all about. (back to the msg of the post).

About ayat surah al-baqarah, im not sure, but is that really the way(ur examplified exclamation) u heard or crossed ur mind when u read the post? Well, if u did, then its ur bad, because that is not the way I present this ayat. Huhu. N yes u're right, kena berhikmah. Maybe u can give an example of such =)

Lastly, kau sangat betul, umat Islam tidak secermerlang dahulu. Tp, kau kata: "tidak bangkit2 lagi.." dan "..setakat ini kita hanya boleh menunggu..". Apakah formula kebangkitan agaknya.? =)
_______________________________

to ahmed:takpe ahmed, asalkan bermanfaat. hehe

Ahmedkzaman said...

huhu..syukri..
alhamdulillah..
yg pntg semua org ade ksedaran ttg mmbangkitkan islam itu.
jgn tunggu semata2..

kalo menunggu semata2 adalah ibarat si ayah yg mnunggu rezeki dtg ke depan muka pintunya tetapi pd ms yg sama duduk baring2 n mmbazir wang simpanannya..

(harap buleh fhm analogi tu)

Syukri Shairi said...

hehe. salah aku jugaklah yang terasa lebih. tentang cara yang berhikmah tu aku rasa kau lagi tahu dan aku kena belajar lebih lagi. bagi aku dakwah untuk approach golongan kita tu ada, tapi bukan semua yang dengar mungkin sbb mereka melihat mesej yg disampaikan tak kena dgn cara mereka menceduk maklumat2 lain.

sekarang aku nak rasa malu sambil sepak2 batu sebab terasa lebih. haha

Azli said...

Hehe tape. Ala jangan la sampai sepak2 batu. (dalam bilik ada batu ke? =p ). Actually ur response very much enlightened me to some extent! Tq! Sebab aku rasa aku sendiri kurang memahami remaja (to be particular, remaja di malaysia around our age) itu sendiri. So let us keep on enlightening each other. huhu

About approach golonagn kita, mesti ada punya. And, since golonagan remaja itu lebih difahami oleh golongan remaja itu sendiri, aku rasa boleh jadi kitalah yang lebih tahu cara approach rakan2 kita kan? Tak semestinya hanya kena tunggu from ust, mufti sahaja (without denying n memandah rendah ilmu dan pengalaman mereka lah kan).

Berhikmah in simple word means any means of approach yang sesuai dan boleh diterima oleh orang yg diapproach (n ofcoz tidak melanggar hukum). N I think u have far more creativity than I do. Maybe u kan be more berhikmah than me. Y not? =p

Nonetheless, mari bersama2 mengejar al-hikmah!

"Dia memberi hikmah kepada siapa yang Dia kehendaki. Barangsiapa diberi kebaikan yang banyak. Dan tidak ada yang dapat mengambil pelajran kecuali orang-orang yang mempunyai akal yang sihat." [2:269]

Anonymous said...

saya suka membaca entry awak ni..bagus..lalu terus membaca entry sebelumnya..bagus juga..
taniah!!teruskan! anda muda dan bagus..dan saya pasti akan menjadi pembaca setia blog anda..insyaallah..
smoga iklas dan dirahmati Allah hendaknya.

orangeforchange said...

Salam.
:)

First off, I am absolutely not thoroughly exposed to the full teaching of Islam, and I confess that bundle of Nafs that I am, I do not practice a hundred percent of what I am supposed to. So while I might seem pretentious in doing this, still, reading your post had, somehow by His Mercy, affected me.
Maybe some good will come out of it, by His Will through His Grace, and serve as a reminder to anyone who reads this, and to my cold heart.

I was taught that Islam comprised of Shari'a (the Law), Tariqa (the Way) and Haqiqa (the Reality).
Of Islam (associated with deeds and outer/physical practices?), Iman (about the heart and faith) and Ihsan (the Divine Presence/Divine Knowledge?). That there will be the the People Left, the People of the Right and the People Near to God (is it possible for us to be in this group?).
Ignorant as I am, I could very well be wrong about this, but we/I do try to learn more about this and hopefully, everybody can contribute.

I'd just begun to read Jami's Yusuf and Zulaikha again, and the author emphasizes very much on Love and Faith - they both go hand in hand as the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "None of you have faith until you have love for your brothers" - or something along that line, please correct and forgive me if I'm wrong.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, while adhering to the Shari'a, let's not forget about the Heart.
It needs Dhikr and Love to be alive, right?

Maybe this is where us youngsters are lost in - stuck between Love for the Creation, and Love for the Creator.

The Love for everything other than Him, it is said, is just a mirage; and to quote Jami, "you are nothing but a mirror in which Beauty (al-Jamal?) is reflected".
So.. maybe that leads to the Dhikr, each time you look at the people you love, you think of Him.
And the Love for His Face will surely bring us somewhere much better.
Wouldn't that make us happy?

But yeah, while our hearts should be with this Love (which comes from Him alone), the Shari'a cannot be left unheeded. That's where the nature of the Nafs kicks in; blinded by appearances, it tries to convince our hearts that this world/His Creations could fill the emptiness inside, while in truth it is not so.

I stumbled across this writing by Shaykh Moustafa al-Alawi who wrote that the Quran has both inner and outer meaning. He chooses those whom He wants to bestow His Mercy and His Grace with - different, right, Rahman and Rahim?
So while we can try to spread the message, by Him through His Love, it's still up to Him according to His Will to make the person/people at the other end to, say, change, or to listen. This could be a universally known fact, but might I say again that while we can (and should) do our best to remedy the situation, we/this world/life cannot be truly rid of the opposite of good/justice. After all, while it may seem that we have full reins of ourselves, it still is Him who is doing everything.
Alhamdulillah.

may He forgive me.
lotsa love!
(how does it go, "you are weak by yourself, but strong with your brothers and sisters"?)

orangeforchange said...

whoopsie!
para. 2 line 6: People *of the Left.


stghfrlh.

Azli said...

to annonymous:

salam wrt. terima kasih. tp sy minta maaf in advance dulu..post di sini amat rendah frequency nya =|

to orangeforachange:

salam wrt. tq for sharing ur thoughts! let us equip ourselves with a heart that longs for righteousness, and may He guide us all to the Sirat Al-Mustaqim

Anonymous said...

first time ak bkk blog kaw ney n bace btul2..
sgt mmbine!~jzkk
ps:post baru2 lg..hehe