By Hamza Yusuf On the news Everybody’s dog food Bang bang Shock dead Everybody’s gone mad… From “They Don’t Care About Us” by Michael Jackson As a little boy, Michael Jackson had an extraordinary charisma — as well as an absolute innocence — that was disarmingly charming. It captivated millions of Americans and eventually people around the world. As the years went by, his career took strange turns and he slowly turned white, transforming his face eerily into a pale and ghastly masque, perhaps to conceal the pain of alienation from his own self and family. He was also rumored to have unsavory predilections that would never have been suggested if one used the rigorous criteria of Islam before hurling an accusation. Despite the rumors, he appeared to have had a genuine concern for children, wanting to provide them with a world that was denied to him as a child due to the abuses he claimed to have suffered. I was very happy for him last year when he reportedly became a Muslim. He had apparently followed the footsteps of his dignified and intelligent brother, Jermaine, who converted to Islam 20 years ago and found peace. It seemed befitting that Michael sought refuge from a society that thrives on putting people on pedestals and then knocking them down. He was accused of many terrible things, but was guilty of perhaps being far too sensitive for an extremely cruel world. Such is the fate of many artistic people in our culture of nihilistic art, where the dominant outlet for their talents is in singing hollow pop songs or dancing half-naked in front of ogling onlookers who often leave them as quickly as they clung to them for the next latest sensation. In the manner of Elvis or the Beatles, Michael is unwittingly both a cause and a symptom of America’s national obsession with celebrity, currently on display in the American Idol mania. Celebrity trumps catastrophe every time. Far too few of us make any attempt to understand why jobs are drying up, why mortgages are collapsing, why we spend half-a-trillion dollars to service the interest on the national debt, why our government’s administration, despite being elected on an anti-war platform, is still committed to two unnecessary and unjust wars waged by the earlier administration, wars that continue to involve civilians casualties on an almost daily basis. Instead, we drown in trivia, especially trivia related to celebrity. And the response to Michael’s death is part of the trivial pursuits of American popular culture. The real news about death in America is that twenty Iraq and Afghan war veterans are committing suicide every day. But that does not make the front page nor is it discussed as seriously as the King of Pop’s cardiac arrest. Nevertheless, Michael’s very public death notice is a powerful reminder that no matter how famous or talented or wealthy one is, death comes knocking, sometimes sooner than later. Michael has now entered a world of extraordinary perception, a world that makes his “Thriller” video seem mundane. It is a world of angels and demons, and questions in the grave, a world where fame is based upon piety and charity. Given Michael’s reported conversion to Islam last year, Muslims count him as one of our own, and we pray that he can finally find the peace he never found in this world and that he is in a place, God willing, of mercy, forgiveness, and solace.
Compiled from the works of
Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah and Abu Hamid al-Ghazaali
Just as the heart may be described in terms of being alive or dead, it may also be regarded as belonging to one of three types; these are the healthy heart, the dead heart, and the sick heart.
The Healthy Heart
On the Day of Resurrection, only those who come to Allah with a healthy heart will be saved. Allah says:
“The day on which neither wealth nor sons will be of any use,
except for whoever brings to Allah a sound heart.”
(26:88-89)
In defining the healthy heart, the following has been said: “It is a heart cleansed from any passion that challenges what Allah commands, or disputes what He forbids. It is free from any impulses which contradict His good. As a result, it is safeguarded against the worship of anything other than Him, and seeks the judgment of no other except that of His Messenger (peace be upon him). Its services are exclusively reserved for Allah, willingly and lovingly, with total reliance, relating all matters to Him, in fear, hope, and sincere dedication. When it loves, its love is in the way of Allah. If it detests, it detests in the light of what He detests. When it gives, it gives for Allah. If it withholds , it withholds for Allah. Nevertheless, all this will not suffice for its salvation until it is free from following, or taking as its guide, anyone other that His Messenger (peace be upon him). A servant with a healthy heart must dedicate it to its journeys end and not base his actions and speech on those of any other person except Allahs Messenger (peace be upon him). He must not give any precedence to any other faith , words or deeds over those of Allah and His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Allah says:
“Oh you who believe, do not put yourselves above Allah and His Messenger,
but fear Allah, for Allah is Hearing, Knowing.” (49:1)
The Dead Heart
This is the opposite of the healthy heart. It does not know its Lord and does not worship Him as He commands, in the way which He likes, and with which He is pleased. It clings instead to its lust and desires, even if these are likely to incur Allahs displeasure and wrath. It worships things other than Allah, and its love and its hatreds, and its giving and its withholding, arise from its whims, which are of paramount importance to it and preferred above the pleasure of Allah. Its whims are its imam. Its lust is its guide. Its ignorance is its leader. Its crude impulses are its impetus. It is immersed in its concern with worldly objectives. It is drunk with its own fancies and its love for hasty, fleeting pleasures. It is called to Allah and the akhira from a distance but it does not respond to advice, and instead it follows any scheming, cunning shayton. Life angers and pleases it, and passion makes it deaf and blind (1) to anything except what is evil. To associate and keep company with the owner of such a heart is to temp illness: living with him is like taking poison, and befriending him means utter destruction.
The Sick Heart
This is a heart with life in it as well as illness. The former sustains it at one moment, the latter at another, and it follows whichever one of the two manages to dominate it. It has love for Allah, faith in Him, sincerity towards Him, and reliance upon Him, and these are what give it life. It also has a craving for lust and pleasure, and prefers them and strives to experience them. It is full of self-admiration, which can lead to its own destruction. It listens to two callers: one calling it to Allah and His Prophet (peace be upon him) and the akhira; and the other calling it to the fleeting pleasures of this world. It responds to whichever one of the two happens to have most influence over it at the time. The first heart is alive, submitted to Allah, humble, sensitive, and aware; the second is brittle and dead; the third wavers between either its safety or its ruin.
FOOTNOTES
1. It has been related on the authority of Abud-Darda that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, “Your love for something that makes you blind and deaf.” Abu Dawud, Al-Adab, 14/38: Ahmad, Al-Musnad, 5/194. Classified as hasan.
it has been such a deafening silent in here. is it because there is nothing to say. or is it because many things should be left unsaid. things had happened to your own likings or even dislikes. because life is not about u and your preferences. it has always been about Him. always.
it is a scary thought just to live your life without knowing where you will end up. will u be granted with that precious husnul khatimaah. will I be granted that yaALLAH?
it is heartwrenching to live day by day with that desire to meet him only to realize you are just not good enough to meet him as yet. he just does not want to choose u. but just don’t prohibit me to meet him then, it would be too much for me to take.
a fren once shared this: do not seek him in him because u will never find anyone like him. he is one in a million.
at expectaction. you just could not measure up to that. how do you make them understand that?
…
By: Aaron Haroon Sellars
The capital of life
Is in every breathe
So take advantage
Before none is left
Don’t judge the truth
By what people do
First find the truth
And do what’s right for you
Lift your soul up high
From the fakeness on the ground
Search deep inside
And the Real will be found
Like a Butterfly
I want to Change!
Like a Butterfly
Fly out of Range!
You can’t see the sun
If you look it in the eye
You can’t live your life
If you never try
If you want to walk on water
You must take a step
But you won’t move a foot
With a faith that is inept
So if you want to move the mountains
You need a power not your own
You can move the mountains
When certainty is shown
Don’t you know that the graveyard
Is the richest place on earth?
Because of all the hopes and dreams
That lay beneath the dirt
Like a Butterfly
I want to Change!
Like a Butterfly
Fly out of Range!
So bless me like Muhammad!
Help me like Moses!
Save me like Jesus!
And all the Saints that know this!
Dengan Nama ALLAH Yang Maha Pengasih Lagi Maha Penyayang
Selawat dan Salam atas Nabi Junjungan, Rasulullah, ke atas Keluarga dan Sahabat-sahabatnya.
Sedikit Rumusan Tentang Pembentangan Kyai Muhaimin Abdul Basit, beliau merupakan salah seorang anak murud Habib Salim Asy-Syatiri, dengan mauduknya Ilmu, yang berlangsung di Wehdah pada 30hb Januari 2009.
1) APAKAH KEPENTINGAN MENUNTUT ILMU?
- Beliau telah menyimpulkan ilmu kepada dua perkataan: TAHU( (عرف & MEYAKINKAN( (أيقن .
- Kadangkala pula, ilmu itu disamakan dengan KERAGUAN (ظن).
2) BILAKAH DIWAJIBKAN KE ATAS KITA MENUNTUT ILMU?
- Beliau menyatakan wajib ke atas kita menuntut ilmu bila hendak berbicara.
- Rasulullah alaihis solatu wassalam pernah bersabda: “ilmu itu imam, amal itu ikutan”.
- Dalam kitab Zubad ada tertulis satu syair yang berbunyi, “ setiap orang yang tahu tapi tidak beramal maka ilmunya ditolak”.
- Seseorang yang tahu sesuatu ilmu itu tapi tidak beramal samalah dia seperti seseorang yang tidak berilmu.
- Ilmu dan amal mempunyai nilai yang tinggi di sisi ALLAH.
- Ilmu itu ibarat peta. Seharusnya kita mempelajari peta tadi dan mengikuti jalannya yang lurus untuk sampai ke destinasi yang telah ditetapkan.
- Kita boleh mendapati jalan yang lurus di dunia mahupun di akhirat. Di dunia, hanya ahlul basoir (golongan yang mendapat petunjuk dengan pandangan mata kasar) yang akan mendapat jalan yang lurus. Di akhirat, ahlul basoir dan ahlul absor (golongan yang mendapat petunjuk dengan pandangan mata hati) yang akan mendapat jalan yang lurus. Ini disebabkan kedua golongan orang Islam dan kafir mengaku bahawa mereka berjalan atas landasan yang benar.
- Apabila Imam Ibnul Qayyum ditanya tentang siapakah yang akan berjalan di atas jalan yang lurus di akhirat? Beliau berkata: “ Jika seseorang itu tetap jalannya di dunia, (insyaALLAH) akan tetaplah jalannya di akhirat”.
- Daripada mafhum sebuah hadith: Sesiapa yang bertambah ilmunya tetapi sedikit sahaja amalnya, maka tidak akan bertambah melainkan lebih jauh dari ALLAH.
3) APAKAH SUMBER-SUMBER ILMU?
- Wahyu Ilahi; Ianya lebih tertumpu kepada perkara-perkara berkenaan agama (شرعي وسماعي)
- Ilmu Aqli; sumber ilmu ini adalah akal. Proses ini berlaku bila akal kita bertadabbur memikirkan maksud-maksud yang hendak disampaikan oleh ayat-ayat kauniyyah yang menceritakan tentang kejadian alam dan sebagainya sebagai contoh adalah ayat yang disebutkan dalam surah Al-Baqarah ayat 164:
إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلاَفِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَالْفُلْكِ الَّتِي تَجْرِي فِي الْبَحْرِ بِمَا يَنفَعُ النَّاسَ وَمَا أَنزَلَ اللّهُ مِنَ السَّمَاء مِن مَّاء فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الأرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ دَآبَّةٍ وَتَصْرِيفِ الرِّيَاحِ وَالسَّحَابِ الْمُسَخِّرِ بَيْنَ السَّمَاء وَالأَرْضِ لآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ
Apabila dikaji tentang ayat ini, banyak ilmu yang dapat dipelajari antaranya tentang peranan air dan bumi dan kajian tentang ilmu biologi.
- Semasa zaman Al-Abbasiyyah, ketika pemerintahan khalifah Ma’mun gerakan ilmu berlangsung dengan aktif sekali.
- Kalau manusia berasal daripada Abul Basyar Saydina Adam ‘alaihissalam, mengapakah terdapat pelbagai jenis bangsa daripada bapa dan ibu yang sama?
Ini disebabkan Saydina Adam ‘alaihissalam berasal daripada tanah dan tanah sendiri mempunyai warna yang berbeza-beza. Maka timbullah keturunan dari pelbagai bangsa. Dikatakan bangsa Cina berasal daripada keturunan YAFIS (anaknya yang terakhir). Dikatakan bangsa. Dikatakan bangsa Melayu berasal daripada keturunan nabi NUH ‘alaihissalam. Dikatakan bangsa Arab berasal daripada keturunan Sam. Manakala orang-orang Eropah dan India berasal daripada keturunan Ham.
- Di antara keduanya, mana yang lebih penting?
Kedua-duanya tidak dinafikan kepentigannya. Akan tetapi jika bertembung antara kedua-dua ilmu, maka ilmu syarak harus dituntut dulu.
- Di dalam surah Ali ‘Imran ayat 191 ada menyebut tentang kepentingan ilmu syar’ii kemudian ianya dikuatkan dengan seruan untuk berfikir:
الَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ اللّهَ قِيَامًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَىَ جُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَذا بَاطِلاً سُبْحَانَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ
- Berfikir untuk sejam itu lebih baik daripada beribadat selama 70 tahun.
- Imam Malik pernah berkata: “Sesiapa yang bertasauf tetapi tidak bertafaqquh maka dia adalah zindiq. Sesiapa yang bertafaqquh tetapi tidak bertasauf dia telah fasiq. Sesiapa yang bertafaqquh dan bertasauf, dia telah sampai satu tahap yang benar (تحقق).
bersambung….
…A brother requested that I read this article because somehow it projected the same issue that arise in Singapore… Jazakallah kheiran….A HEART AND MIND OPENER
“Ustaz, can you recommend any ustaz who can attend similarly? Someone like you,” tanya seorang anak muda kepada saya.
“How you define ’someone like me’ tu?” saya bertanya.
“Well, someone with English proficiency and cool like you” ujar beliau.
Saya terdiam seketika.
Cuba mencari-cari reaksi yang betul terhadap permintaan tersebut.
DIALOG ORANG BUKIT
Dari semasa ke semasa, saya menerima jemputan daripada pelbagai pihak untuk hadir ke sesi dialog tertutup bersama sekumpulan anak muda yang mahu belajar tentang Islam. Keunikan program sebegini ialah pada corak pembawaannya yang mungkin sulit untuk digambarkan oleh mereka yang tidak pernah menemuinya.
Program berlangsung dengan Bahasa Inggeris sebagai pengantarnya.
Peserta yang hadir pula, amat kasual penampilan mereka. Ada sekumpulan kecil yang bertudung dan berselendang. Ada juga yang biasa-biasa sahaja. Pakaian santai di hujung minggu.
Biar pun coraknya begitu, suatu keistimewaan yang ada pada setiap mereka yang hadir ialah, keinginan yang tulen untuk belajar tentang Islam. Namun disebabkan oleh latar belakang kehidupan, mereka berasa kekok untuk belajar di saluran biasa. Kekok ke masjid, atau kekok untuk belajar dengan ‘orang masjid’, jika boleh dinyatakan sedemikian rupa.
Cabarannya bukan sahaja pada stail berpakaian. Ia hanya soal sampingan (pasti ada yang tidak menyetujuinya). Akan tetapi, cabaran terbesar yang ada pada mereka adalah stigma pemikiran, idea tentang kekolotan dan kebekuan pemikiran golongan agama yang merimaskan. Justeru mereka menjadi sangat choosy, tidak sewenang-wenangnya hadir ke majlis agama, kerana gangguan preconceive idea itu tadi.
MASYARAKAT PLURALISTIK
Apa sahaja komen anda mengenai situasi ini, anda terpaksa menerima hakikat bahawa sebuah negeri seperti Selangor, mempunyai penduduk yang tinggal di Sungai Gamut dan ada yang tinggal di Sierra Mas. Sebagai pendakwah, akses kepada jurang sosial antara penduduk seperti ini, mendedahkan saya kepada banyak isu yang mencabar minda.
“Well, to be honest with you guys, if English proficiency is considered, then the options are narrowed. How many ustaz or ustazah have or want to communicate in English? Me myself, I really want to find them before you do. Lots of invitation, but as difficult as they are rare,” saya membalas.
“How do you learn you English?” soal salah seorang mereka.
“No pain no gain. 5 years studying in sekolah agama. Many-many years studying in Jordan where 43 out of 46 subjects were in Arabic. When I went to Ireland, even though I had no problem in reading and understanding people… you know the Northern Irish accent, but I did have a serious problem in delivering my talk and conversation in English. What I did was only one… challenge yourself, bertanding dengan diri sendiri,” saya mengimbau kenangan lama.
Terkenang kembali rakan adik beradik seperti Bilal dan Abdul Rahman, yang tidak jemu-jemu membetulkan bahasa saya semasa saya bertugas sebagai Imam di Belfast. Mereka yang berbangsa Irish – Egyptian, suka menahan saya selepas khutbah Jumaat dan mengulas cara saya bercakap serta membetulkan penggunakan perkataan dan sebutan dari semasa ke semasa.
Kesannya besar.
Bahasa Inggeris saya tidaklah sampai menjadi bahasa Shakespeare. Tetapi cukup sekadar saya boleh mengungkapkan apa yang ingin saya sampaikan, dan orang faham apa yang saya perkatakan.
“Another thing, when you say that you want an ustaz or ustazah who is cool, meaning that he or she is not judging you or the way you present yourself and so on, the options are getting smaller and smaller. If English was the issue, perhaps I can suggest you to find some scholars from UIAM but to find someone who also tolerate the so-called dressing code, I’m afraid that things are…. you know what I mean,” saya kehilangan ayat.
“What about you? Why can you but not the others?” tanya salah seorang mereka.
“I don’t know. Perhaps because of what I believe. I believe that dakwah has priority. The sincerity is more to be appreciated. If you are sincere in learning about Islam, then it is my responsibility to respond to that. About the dressing code and all, that is not the priority, at least today,” saya membuat penjelasan.
“Meaning that, sooner or later, you will talk about our dressing code?” soal beliau. Agak provokatif bunyinya.
“Well, I will make you talk to your ownselves about it. Changes should come fr0m within yourself. How we present ourselves is a reflection to our inner feeling and belief. My priority is to enhance the feeling and belief. Not the dressing,” saya menyambung lagi.
BEBAS BERTANYA
Diskusi bersama golongan Melayu Muslim elit ini sangat mencabar. Saya harus menyiapkan diri untuk apa sahaja bentuk soalan. Ada sesetengah soalan yang bunyinya sangat menakutkan bagi sesetengah kita, tetapi saya percaya bahawa membunuh soalan, akan mengheret ‘agama’ ke gelanggang kalah mati. Mereka bebas bertanya, cuma sedikit sebanyak, pertanyaan itu perlu dipandu agar jelas apa yang dimahukan.
Saya percaya kepada dialog dan dialektik seperti amalan Socrates!
Soalan yang salah, sulit untuk mencungkil jawapan yang betul. Maka ada kalanya, kita juga perlu membetulkan soalan sebelum menawarkan jawapan.
Selepas kami puas bersoal jawab, saya meminta izin untuk berkongsi sesuatu.
Saya akui, usaha untuk mencari ustaz dan ustazah yang berani mencabar diri bercakap di dalam Bahasa Inggeris sudah cukup menimbulkan kesulitan. Tetapi kesulitan sebenar yang dihadapi bukanlah semata-mata masalah bahasa. Ada ramai ustaz dan ustazah yang berkelulusan Masters dan PhD daripada negara seperti UK, USA dan Australia. Mustahil mereka ini tidak boleh berbahasa Inggeris.
Tetapi cabaran yang besar, terletak pada pemikiran.
PEMIKIRAN AGAMAWAN
Pemikiran golongan agama ini yang menjadi isu utamanya. Sikap yang terbit dari pemikiran tersebut menjadikan ramai di kalangan mereka yang gagal untuk memberi reaksi serta penyelesaian, menimbulkan banyak masalah. Sikap suka menghukum, gagal menilai di antara masalah yang kelihatan (presenting problem) berbanding masalah sebenar (real problem), kurang empati dalam berdakwah dan superiority attitude yang tidak seiring dengan kualiti dan pengaruh, hanya menambahkan kebencian ramai anggota masyarakat kepada golongan agama.
Kekhuatiran saya memuncak hingga terigau dengan bayangan bagaimana satu hari ini (mungkin sudah sampai harinya), golongan agama dipandang oleh masyarakat kita sebagaimana masyarakat Eropah memandang ahli gereja mereka. Golongan agama adalah blood clot yang menyumbat, tersumbat, dan tidak ada apa-apa peranan kecuali menyusahkan lagi merimaskan.
Tetapi, golongan ‘moden’ yang rimas dengan ustaz dan ustazah juga, tidak boleh meletakkan sepenuh ‘kesalahan’ ke atas golongan agama seperti ini.
Mengapa?
Diskusi saya dan anak muda pagi itu berterusan lagi…
SALAH SENDIRI
“All the so-called brainy children were sent to study medicine, engineering etc. In 1980’s and 1990’s, it was not a popular option for someone who has the qualification to study law and economy, choose Islamic Studies. Me myself, I suffered a lot from the perception of the people around me, guys! Oh, balik nanti jadi kadi ya, oh balik nanti jadi bilal ye! Those things killed me from inside. But I know what I want. I have no regret in letting go all other opportunities but Islamic Studies,” saya meneruskan cerita.
Bayangkan.
Jika Pengajian Islam menerima pelajar yang tidak berkualiti, bagaimanakah bentuk kepimpinan Islam yang bakal dihasilkan nanti? Andai badan-badan yang memperjuangkan idea-idea janggal dipimpin oleh golongan profesional yang mempunyai kelayakan pendidikan yang tinggi, siapa pula yang mewakili suara Islam? Golongan yang mengaji tahap maqbul diberi amanah membela agama, di hadapan golongan ‘intelektual’ berpendidikan paling tinggi. Golongan intelek pula terikat dengan seribu satu AKU JANJI. Maka yang mewakili suara Islam di peringkat akar umbi, disinggung dengan mudah oleh golongan bla bla bla yang berkelulusan tinggi itu.
Memang jadi fitnah kepada agama!
HANTAR ANAK SENDIRI
“So, you cannot complaint about the quality of the Islamic voice today, because Islam has become the victim of our own choice. We choose to let the brainy guys learn about machines, and we let the Islamic leadership inherited by the under-qualified students. Ini semua hasil kerja kita sendiri. We eat what we produce!”, saya sedikit kepanasan.
“So, if you believe that current ustaz and ustazah are hard to fit your expectation, then the best thing is to send your own children, your own brothers and sisters to learn Islamic Studies. Or even YOU! Let those English spoken Malay society from Damansara, Sierra Mas and Bukit Jelutong send their own people to learn about Islam. They will be the future ustaz and ustazah who can appreciate their own background. As for someone like me, believe me… it is a huge struggle for someone like me who came from a kampung, to understand people like you!” saya berterus terang.
Nasihat yang sama pernah saya berikan kepada komuniti Irish Muslim semasa di Belfast dahulu.
Mereka mengeluh tentang imam-imam berbangsa Arab dan Pakistan yang memimpin komuniti yang amat pluralistik dengan cara yang hanya sesuai dengan persekitaran Arab Saudi dan Pakistan. Jika mereka benar-benar mahukan seorang Imam yang faham akan kehendak dan keperluan persekitaran di Eropah, mereka harus sanggup melaburkan anak sendiri!
Hantar anak mereka belajar tentang Islam supaya 10 tahun akan datang, mereka ini akan memimpin masyarakat mereka sendiri.
BELAJAR DARI SEMUA
“And one more thing, if you are sincere with the intention to learn about Islam, you should also have the courage to learn not only from someone you like or you feel comfortable with, but also from someone from the opposite. When I was a student, I learnt a lot from my favourite scholars, but also from my worst nightmare kind of ulama. But it’s me the one who should decide what is suitable for my need,” saya mahu segera melangsaikan perbincangan.
“Remember what Confucius said: Learning without thinking is useless. Thinking without learning is dangerous. If you have many things in your mind, then make sure that you also have the courage to learn from you best ustaz and from the worst. Tak boleh manja-manja!” saya menamatkan diskusi.
Kepala saya sakit semasa pulang daripada pertemuan itu.
Namun saya amat menghargai peluang sebegitu kerana saya sendiri dapat belajar banyak daripadanya.
Wahai pendakwah, masyarakat sudah berubah, anda bila lagi?
ABU SAIF @ www.saifulislam.com
56000 Kuala Lumpur
Here are some lectures with regards to Muslimah issues, given by Syeikh Hamza Yusuf. May these lectures benefit us all biiznillah.
Part 1
Part2
Part3
Part4
Part5
Topics covered include education, the effects of colonialism on Muslim countries, Muslim daily life and the modern Muslim mentality, technology, the generation gap.
Conducted by Randa Hammadieh.
RANDA HAMMADIEH: In your travels in the Muslim world, what cultural practices did you notice that struck you as being different from those of the West?
HAMZA YUSUF: In the West, there is a strong separation between young and old. In Muslim tradition, on the other hand, youth continues until the age of 40. This is the idea of “shababiya.” In the Western civilization, the idea of adolescence is purely a social construct. The generation gap in the States isn’t necessarily universal to all cultures although the US is doing a good job of exporting their monoculture all over the world. This happens because people are being exposed to the television and movies of the dominant culture. So you will see US cultural phenomena now all over the world.
RH: What are your thoughts on Muslim youth and public education of today?
HY: I think modern school is a negative experience. I believe you can learn more out of school than in it. There is now a universal education system, whether you are in an Arab country, China or somewhere else. This universal education is only going to vary according to the political atmosphere of the given country. For example, in Iraq, the indoctrination is probably more obvious whereas in the US it is just more subtle. School is an artificial construct to socialize individuals into a group identity. The whole idea of a “school of fish” is that everyone swims together whereas traditional Islamic education was completely individualized. What it did was give people all those tools (in the West called “liberal arts”) such as grammar, rhetoric, and logic, through which people could actually think and use their brains.
In public high schools, you are not given tools, you are given information and data. In fact, a metaphor that is used in education today is that you’re basically a hard drive that needs to be written with a given software. You will then fulfill whatever are the social needs of the society. Schooling today is designed only to matriculate people into the logic of the system itself. Then people end up in meaningless jobs doing meaningless work, and never really think about what type of society they’re contributing to.
RH: If there was one thing in your travels in the Muslim world that left a distinctive impression upon you, what would it be?
HY: What a horrific condition the Muslim countries are in! The Muslim world is now like a rape victim. Colonization was like the raping trauma, and the Muslim world has never been able to get up and go on with life of the Muslim world in its entirety by European powers, who for centuries were seen as backward and barbaric, has had really devastating effects.
Now in the Muslim world, Muslims seem to dress in pale imitation of Western people. Some look like caricatures of Western people. This is indicative of the state of some Muslims who aren’t very inspiring anymore. The whole world once looked up to the Muslims as models.
RH: What do you say to Muslims who seem to glorify the past when they were at their peak?
HY: This is all pathetic nostalgia for returning to the glory of the past and its romanticism. The past has nothing to do with us. That was them. We are a whole other people. It’s not our past, it was their present. Now it’s over. That’s why the Quran has this concept of letting go of your fathers, and not being proud of your fathers because they are not you! You have to create your own future. Don’t be like an old war veteran. However, it is important to have some historical continuity because the Qur’an says “Look at the people who went before” as the way of learning lessons.
One thing that is wrong with some modern Muslim mentality is the idea of “If we do what they did, we will be glorious.” Someone asked me, “How can we get an empire back?” There is this idea that Islam is all about glory. No! It’s like you exercise to maintain your health, but the exercise is not your goal. It’s just the means to achieve your goal. In the same way that if you seek the contentment of Allah, one of the side effects of that is that Allah elevates you and gives you “tamkeen,” but that is not the goal. It’s just a side effect.
Now you don’t hear people talk about Allah very much, just about Islam. The Quran says, “To your Lord is your goal.” The path of coming to know God results in victory because of your struggling for truth. One of the things about sincerely struggling for truth is that Allah gives you victory by the nature of the struggle. It follows that by the nature of the struggle itself, you gain worldly success. You see, worldly success has nothing to do with the intentions. Because if those are your intentions, then you will never gain worldly success. In fact, Allah will give the “kafiroon” success over you. If the people of truth are not seeking truth, but instead the benefits of truth (merely the side effects), then they will never achieve them.
RH: Then how should Muslims look at life?
HY: Life is mundane. Life is praying, getting up for Fajr and day-to-day chores. All this “glory” some aspire to is just an abstract in the mind. And the reality of it is even the kings of the past had to get up in the morning and go through daily routines. Life is by its nature perfunctory and Islam is just to harmonize it, put it into perspective, and make its goals dignified goals, instead of low, worldly goals.
RH: Now that you are residing in the US you must have had some exposure to the technological hegemony occurring. How do you view this in the light of Islam?
HY: Modern technology is just an example of when people’s goals are totally distorted. Modern technology arose out of very strong corporate interests in creating the massification of society where everybody needs a TV or a stereo. This doesn’t mean that Islam is against technology. Technology, by its nature, is everything that humans produce. And by our nature we do make things. Islamic technology would be very humane. To serve people as opposed to the opposite.
Muslims do not believe in progress. Progress is completely antithetical to the Islamic doctrine. Muslims believe that human society reached its pinnacle in Medina in the 7th century. This is the best society that has ever existed. The verse which says “Today We have completed your Religion…” made Umar (ra) weep because he realized that nothing is ever completed except that it begins to decrease.
If the goal of life is to establish Deen, then that is the highest progress that humans can achieve and therefore all this modern technological madness is an exteriorization of the human impulse to know. Because we have become such gross materialists, all of our intellectual and spiritual endeavors have been completely centered and focused on the outward, the “Dhahir” and the inside has been completely forgotten. Now there is even a massive interest in how we can preserve this life here, manifested by studies in cryonics, genetic engineering and cloning.
RH: So would you say human beings tend to serve modern technology rather than it serving us?
HY: Yes. Modern technology dehumanizes by its nature, because it is based on massification (a computer in every home). Everyone is reduced to sitting around looking at blinking cathode rays on a screen. There is no human exchange anymore; people just send e-mail. People get nervous if you start talking like this because most Muslims are really embarrassed by the simplicity of the Prophet’s (pbuh) life. Many don’t want to admit that he lived in a house devoid of furniture; that he sewed his own shoes and collected firewood. The Prophet (pbuh) wasn’t interested in improving that aspect of his life.
Improving ones standard of living has become an idol whereas I think Islam lowers your standard of living. You become content with less. When the Prophet’s (pbuh) wife put a cushion in his bed he got upset. He consciously lowered his standard of living.
The truth is the whole world can’t support a bunch of consumers. Western technology is based on the exploitation of the other 90 percent of the world. All our wonderful technological achievements are based on the rest of the world living in abject poverty. Through enjoying the fruits of Western technology, we are in fact participating in the destruction of indigenous cultures all over the world and the impoverishment of those people.
RH: What are your thoughts on the teenage phenomenon and its significance today?
HY: It’s an artificial construct intended to sell rap, $100 basketball shoes and $80 jeans. It’s an invention of consumer society that doesn’t exist in traditional Islamic or Western cultures. People should be done with school by the time they’re 15. In traditional European societies, those who studied had their bachelors by the age of 14 and were teaching at 18 at Cambridge and Oxford. This is documented. Spending 12 years in school is an artificial construct designed to occupy time-space in which the society really doesn’t have the ability to allow these people to enter the workforce because it is saturated.
Teenage phenomenon destroys human society. Historically, agrarian-based societies (which the majority of Muslim countries are) view community as absolutely essential for survival, whereas in industrial societies community is a luxury.
A sickness of some Muslims today is that they’ve gotten into the whole age issue. Much like racism and sexism, it’s identifying people with quantitative measurements. We don’t know how old many of the sahabi were. It wasn’t an obsession. In fact, the Prophet (pbuh) tried to break the jahali concept by putting Osama ibn Zaid as the head of an army when he was only 17. Age in Islam is about having gray hair and not having gray hair.
If you don’t have gray hair you’re called a “shabaab” and you’re supposed to respect people with gray hair. If you have gray hair you’re called “sheikh” and you’re supposed to have mercy and compassion on those who don’t have gray hairs. That is a much healthier way of looking at it. In Islamic knowledge, we knew Ibn Malik was considered a sheikh which literally means “old man” when he was 17 years old. Islam doesn’t box you into a category. Age is about where you are spiritually, not where you are numerically.
I think that 40 year olds should sit with 18 year olds, and in a spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood, learn from each other. The sahabi had 15 year olds in their Prophet’s majlis with 60 year olds. Muslim schools were never segregated by age. “Allah created everything and He guided it in its own specific way and manner.”
We are an Ummah of labeling and labels are from Western society. In labels, everything has a name and nothing has a meaning.
RH: Given all your experiences, travels, and years, what do you know for sure about the world?
HY: Well, that there is a lot of truth to Sayidinna Ali saying that “Youth is a type of madness and old age is a type of wisdom.” I think that a crisis of the Muslim world is that we have an incredibly young society and thare by and large ignorant, having lost their historical link, and so there hasn’t been a lot of guidance from the older generation.
Many Muslim youth are confused, but as this generation of Muslims reach maturity, an interesting scenario is going to occur. As the young people in the Islamic movement in the U.S. and Canada move into their forties, there is going to be much growth and guidance for the younger people, inshallah.
We are in a really bad time, but we should see it as a temporal kind of condition. This is not the way it has always been, nor is it the way it will always be, inshallah. I know we just have to be careful as a community in the steps we take. We have to deliberate more than necessary than if we had strong guidance. We are now living in a very exciting time, a time for much potential growth, and I believe that Muslims in Canada and the US will certainly rise to the occasion, inshallah.
This interview with Imam Hamza Yusuf was conducted in Calgary, Alberta during Islamic Awareness Week organized by the Muslim Students’ Association (MSA) of the University of Calgary. The interviewer was Sr. Randa Hammadieh. It was compiled by Sr. Randa and Br. Ibrahim Danial.
Syeikh Hamza Yusuf
