Showing posts with label Islamic rulling.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Islamic rulling.. Show all posts

Friday, July 1, 2011

Hukum Ulama Membisu Dari Kemungkaran

Hukum Ulama Membisu Dari Kemungkaran

Persoalan : ".....saya tidak puas hati dengan sebahagian yang bergelar ulama dalam masyarakat kita. Ramai yang mendapat jawatan dan gaji yang besar, tapi membiarkan berbagai kemungkaran berlaku. Mereka tidak berani dengan pihak yang melantik dan bayar gaji mereka. Bagi saya, mereka tidak buat tugas. Mereka memilih-milih isu untuk bercakap. Maaf kalau saya kata jaga periuk nasi. Apakah kerana mereka ulama, mereka tetap tinggi di sisi Allah? Sedangkan Nabi bersabda: “Orang yang diam dari bercakap benar adalah syaitan bisu”. Harap Dr Asri dapat ulas."

Jawapan Dr MAZA:

Terima kasih atas soalan dan keprihatinan saudara terhadap barah yang menimpa umat Islam dalam masyarakat. Hakikatnya, bukan sahaja golongan ulama, tetapi setiap individu muslim wajib menegakkan kebenaran dan mencegah kemungkaran[berdasarkan kepada kemampuyan masing-masing ). Namun, bagi golongan ulama mereka mempunyai amanah yang lebih berat. Ini kerana ilmu yang ada pada mereka sepatutnya menjadikan mereka lebih ke hadapan dalam membela agama Allah.

Soalan saudara saya ulas seperti berikut:

1. Ungkapan “Orang yang diam dari bercakap benar adalah syaitan bisu” yang saudara sebut, bukanlah hadis yang sah. Walaupun ia terkenal, namun tiada riwayat yang sahih, ataupun daif dalam mana-mana kitab hadis yang meriwayatkannya. Maka, berhati-hati dalam menyandarkan sesuatu kepada Rasulullah S.A.W.

2. Allah Maha Adil. Islam tidak pernah menyatakan manusia dinilai berdasarkan gelaran mereka. Sebaliknya, berdasarkan tanggungjawab yang ditunaikan. Demikianlah juga para ulama. Bahkan Al-Quran tidak pernah menyamakan sesiapa pun dengan anjing melainkan ulama yang gilakan dunia sehingga membelakangkan ilmu agamanya. Firman Allah: (maksudnya)

“Dan bacakanlah kepada mereka (Wahai Muhammad), khabar berita seorang yang Kami beri kepadanya (pengetahuan mengenai) ayat-ayat Kami. Kemudian dia menjadikan dirinya terkeluar dari mematuhinya, lalu dia diikuti oleh syaitan, maka dia dari kalangan yang sesat. Dan kalau Kami kehendaki nescaya Kami angkat kedudukannya dengan (berpegang) ayat-ayat itu, tetapi dia bermati-mati cenderung kepada dunia dan menurut hawa nafsunya; maka bandingannya adalah seperti anjing, jika engkau menghalaunya, ia menghulurkan lidahnya, dan jika Engkau membiarkannya, ia juga menghulurkan lidahnya. Demikianlah bandingan orang-orang yang mendustakan ayat-ayat kami. Maka ceritakanlah kisah-kisah itu supaya mereka berfikir (Surah al-’Araf: 175-176).

Maka ulama tiada nilainya jika menyembunyikan kebenaran. Bahkan Allah samakan mereka dengan anjing!


3. Seseorang yang memenuhi poket dengan gaji yang besar tetapi menyembunyikan atau mendiamkan diri dari menegakkan kebenaran sedangkan dia mampu, itu adalah dosa yang amat besar.

Allah menyifatkan habuan dunia yang diperolehi itu sekadar memenuhi perut dengan neraka. Firman Allah: (maksudnya)

“Sesungguhnya orang-orang yang menyembunyikan apa-apa keterangan Kitab yang telah diturunkan oleh Allah, dan membeli dengannya harga yang sedikit, mereka itu tidak mengisi dalam perut mereka selain daripada api neraka, dan Allah tidak akan berkata-kata kepada mereka pada hari kiamat, dan ia tidak membersihkan mereka (dari dosa), dan mereka pula akan beroleh azab yang perit”. (Surah al-Baqarah: ayat 174).


4. Beberapa buku sejarah menyebut satu kisah yang menarik untuk direnungi. Pada zaman pemerintahan Khalifah Yazid bin ‘Abd al-Malik (meninggal 105H), gabenor Iraq ketika itu ialah ‘Umar bin Hubairah.

Gabenor tersebut telah memanggil dua orang tokoh ilmuwan besar umat ketika itu; ‘Amir al-Sya’bi dan al-Hasan al-Basri. Beliau bertanya mereka berdua mengenali arahan-arahan Khalifah Yazid bin ‘Abdul Malik yang datang kepadanya. Ada antaranya yang menyanggahi kebenaran.

Kata ‘Umar bin Hubairah: “Jika aku taatkan Khalifah, aku menderhakai Allah, jika aku mentaati Allah aku akan menderhakai Khalifah”. Apa pendapat kamu?”.

Jawab al-Sya’bi: “Engkau hanya menjalankan tugas, dosa ditanggung oleh Khalifah”.

Tanya ‘Umar bin Hubairah kepada al-Hasan al-Basri: “Apa pendapatmu pula?”.

Jawab al-Hasan: “Wahai Gabenor! Engkau telah pun mendengar pendapat al-Sya’bi tadi”.

Kata gabenor: “Aku mahu pendapatmu”.

Kata al-Hasan al-Basri:

“Wahai ‘Umar bin Hubairah, akan datang kepadamu malaikat Allah yang bengis lagi tidak menderhakai perintah Allah, dia akan mengeluarkan engkau dari istanamu yang luas ke kuburmu yang sempit. Jika engkau bertakwa kepada Allah, Dia boleh melindungimu daripada tindakan (Khalifah) Yazid bin ‘Abdul Malik, adapun Yazid bin ‘Abdul Malik tidak dapat melindungimu dari pada tindakan Allah. Tidak ada ketaatan kepada makhluk dalam menderhakai Pencipta (Allah). Wahai ‘Umar bin Hubairah! Engkau jika bersama Allah dalam ketaatan kepadaNya, Dia memeliharamu daripada bahaya Yazid bin ‘Abdul Malik. Namun jika engkau bersama Yazid dalam menderhakai Allah maka Dia serahkan engkau kepada Yazid “. Lalu menangislah ‘Umar bin Hubairah. Ditanya al-Hasan mengapakah beliau melakukan demikian? Jawabnya: “Kerana perjanjian yang Allah meterai untuk para ulama berkaitan ilmu mereka –seperti firman Allah dalam Surah Ali ‘Imran 187-: (maksudnya): Dan (ingatlah) ketika Allah mengambil perjanjian dari mereka yang telah diberikan Kitab (iaitu): “Demi sesungguhnya! hendaklah kamu menerangkan isi Kitab itu kepada umat manusia, dan jangan sekali-kali kamu menyembunyikannya”. (lihat: al-Mizzi, Tahzib al-Kamal, 6/113, Al-Zahabi, Tarikh al-Islam, 2/333, Ibn Manzur, Mukhtasar Tarikh Dimasyq, 6/97).

5. Masyarakat Islam hendaklah diberikan kesedaran bahawa tujuan pengajian agama bukan untuk mendapat habuan dunia tetapi untuk menegakkan ajaran Allah dan rasulNya. Jika pelajar agama atau ibubapa yang menghantar anak mempelajari agamadengan meletakkan dunia sebagai matlamat, maka ramailah ulama berkepentingan akan terus muncul dan rosaklah masyarakat.

Justeru, Nabi s.a.w bersabda:

“Sesiapa yang mempelajari sesuatu ilmu yang sepatutnya dicari keredhaan Allah Azza wa Jalla dengannya, tetapi dia tidak mempelarinya kecuali untuk mendapatkan habuan dunia, maka dia tidak akan mendapat bau syurga pada hari kiamat. (Riwayat Abu Daud dan Ibn Majah. Al-Nawawi mensahihkannya dalam Riyadh al-Salihin).

6. Seorang tabi’in yang terkenal dengan soleh dan warak Salamah bin Dinar pernah berkata di hadapan Khalifah Sulaiman bin ‘Abdul Malik:

“Telah berlaku di mana para umarak (pemerintah) mencari ulama, lalu mengambil manfaat daripada mereka. Maka yang sedemikian kebaikan untuk kedua-dua pihak. Namun hari ini, ulama pula yang mencari umarak, lalu cenderung dan inginkan apa yang dimiliki oleh mereka. Lalu umarak menganggap: tentu apa yang ulama cari yang ada di tangan kita ini lebih baik daripada apa yang ada di tangan mereka”. (Ibn, ‘Asakir, Tarikh Dimasyq, 22/29).

Demikianlah, kita dapati sesetengah golongan agama boleh dijadikan dagangan politik. Puncanya, kerana menghina diri di hadapan orang berkuasa.

7. Dosa ulama yang menyembunyikan kebenaran, atau menyelewengkannya tidak dapat ditebus melainkan dengan menerangkan semula hakikat yang sebenar.

Firman Allah: (maksudnya):

“Sesungguhnya orang-orang yang menyembunyikan apa yang telah Kami turunkan dari keterangan-keterangan dan petunjuk hidayah, sesudah Kami menerangkannya kepada manusia dalam Kitab (yang diturunkan), mereka itu dilaknat oleh Allah dan dilaknat oleh sekalian makhluk. Kecuali orang-orang yang bertaubat, dan memperbaiki (penyelewengan mereka) serta menerangkan (apa yang mereka sembunyikan); maka orang-orang itu, Aku terima taubat mereka, dan Akulah Yang Maha Penerima taubat, lagi Maha Mengasihani. (Surah al-Baqarah: ayat 159-160).

Marilah kita pohon perlindungan dengan Allah dari membelakangi agamaNya.

** Disiarkan dalam Sinar Harian pada 28 Mei 2010

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Are Muslims commanded to fight until everyone submits to Islam?











A common hadith that critics often bring up is the following one:

Bukhari Volume 1, Book 2, Number 24:

Narrated Ibn 'Umar:

Allah's Apostle said: "I have been ordered (by Allah) to fight against the people until they testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Apostle, and offer the prayers perfectly and give the obligatory charity, so if they perform a that, then they save their lives an property from me except for Islamic laws and then their reckoning (accounts) will be done by Allah."

The critic will quote the following hadith and will happily proclaim ha! See! The prophet Muhammad was commanded to fight people until they converted to Islam, so Muslims must fight nonebelievers until they convert!

Sadly for the critics the world does not work in such a way, rather we thinking humans who have a mind will sit back and say, hey, wait a minute, this person is quoting one Islamic text on its own, surely we must look at the context, and draw our conclusion from there! Anyone who studies about the religion of Islam will know that Islam teaches that people are not compelled or forced to join Islam, rather Islam teaches religious freedom:

Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things. (2:256)

So if they dispute with thee, say:

"I have submitted My whole self to Allah and so have those who follow me." And say to the People of the Book and to those who are unlearned: "Do ye (also) submit yourselves?" If they do, they are in right guidance, but if they turn back, Thy duty is to convey the Message; and in Allah's sight are (all) His servants. (3:20)

And an entire chapter devoted to religious freedom:

Say: O ye that reject Faith! I worship not that which ye worship, Nor will ye worship that which I worship. And I will not worship that which ye have been wont to worship, Nor will ye worship that which I worship. To you be your Way, and to me mine. (Surah 109)

So it is quite clear that Islam teaches religious tolerance, nobody is compelled to follow Islam, they can keep their way and religion, and the same for the Muslims.

So in light of this ,one must therefore apply the Hadith to this context, one cannot simply ignore all these verses and then go on to conclude that Islam teaches forced conversion to Islam.


Now we move to the second part, and we go back to the Quran, because the above Hadith is very familiar to a Quranic passage, and the passage reads as follows:

And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah altogether and everywhere; but if they cease, verily Allah doth see all that they do. (8:39)

In the above passage Muslims are commanded to fight until there is no more oppression, till justice prevails, and when faith is for Allah. This is essentially the same message as the Hadith in a slight different wording, but the content is similar.

Now off course if we were as narrow minded as these critics are, then we too would have to conclude that 8:39 commands Muslims to fight until people have faith in Allah, meaning convert to Islam and submit to Allah. In fact the Islamophobic bigot Geert Wilders brought this verse up in his Fitna documentary!


If anyone studies the context of 8:39 one will know that this verse was aimed at the Pagans, not only was this verse revealed against the Pagans, but the very same Pagans the Muslims were at war with!

Basically this verse was revealed during a time of war between the Muslims and the Pagans, the very same Pagans who initiated the war as the verse itself mentions, the Muslims are to fight them until there is no more OPPRESSION, and these Pagans were oppressing the Muslims.


So how does this all relate to the hadith in question? The reason why it relates to the hadith is because the Quranic verse is very similar to what the prophet said, and when one analyzes the Quran one will find that when it gave this specific ruling, it was revealed during a time of war, and revealed against the Pagan combatants! Hence we must apply this same standard to the Hadith in question! After all, the best interpretation to the Quran and Hadith is the Quran and Hadith itself!


And finally, Ibn Taymiyyah, a major Islamic scholar had this to say about the hadith in question:

"It refers to fighting those who are waging war, whom Allah has permitted us to fight. It does not refer to those who have a covenant with us with whom Allah commands us to fulfill our covenant." [Majmû` al-Fatâwâ (19/20)]

Hence in conclusion when you put all of this together you will see that the critic has no case (as usual), that the hadith in no way helps their argument, and that it does not contradict the religious freedom and tolerance enjoined by Islam.

And Allah Knows Best!

by :Sami Zaatari , 12 December 2010

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Should We Literally Interpret Islam?


Question :(Hassan)
As-salamu `alaykum.
My question is regarding ‘literalist’ interpretations of Islam and the implications this has on our daily actions. To what extent are we supposed to follow the Sunnah and hadiths in our daily lives? Should we aim for total complete imitation, without any consideration over the context? Should we all just unquestionably follow popular ‘literal’ interpretations as a matter of blind faith, even if doing so conflicts with our reason? Please shed some light on where the balance, if any, should lie and why this is so
Jazakum Allah Khayran

Answer :(DR Wael shihab )

Wa `alaykum as-salamu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Brother, thank you for your important question, which shows how far you are concerned about correct adherence to Islam and dictates of Shari`ah.

Regarding your question, it should be clear that confinement to literal connotations alone of the Shari`ah texts—from the Qur’an or the Sunnah—without paying attention to the context, occasions of revelation of the Qur’anic verses, abrogation, scholars’ different interpretations, etc., may not be the right course and may lead to serious errors.

Responding to your question, Dr. Wael Shihab, PhD in Islamic Studies, Al-Azhar University, Ex-Head of the Fatwa Unit of IslamOnline.net (English website), and the Shari`ah Consultant of the (English) Shari`ah Dept. of Onislam.net website, stated,

Thank you, brother, for your scholarly and serious question.

In fact, a single fatwa is not sufficient to thoroughly discuss and critically study the points you raised in your question. However, I will state below some general principles that could briefly shed light on the significant points you raised:

First, it is not acceptable for laymen or learned persons who are not scholars of Shari`ah to interpret Islam in their own without referring to well-qualified scholars who possess the qualifications to offer ijtihad and interpret texts of Shari`ah. A Shari`ah scholar should be well-versed in the Shari`ah sciences such as Qur’an, Hadith, Tafsir, Usl Al-Fiqh, Arabic language, maqasid (objectives) of the Shari`ah, etc.

Second, a good Muslim should refer only to trustworthy accredited Muslim scholars, who are known for their profound knowledge of Shari`ah and its sciences, for interpretation of Islam and its values. This way, he or she will learn the true teachings of Islam and avoid disturbance and confusion over Islam and its teachings.

Third, adopting the literalist approach alone in understanding Islam and its teachings may lead to grave errors and serious mistakes.

Texts of Shari`ah should be understood and interpreted while considering other essential factors such as the context, occasions of revelations of Qur’anic verses, objectives of shari`ah, scholars’ various interpretations, etc.

Fourth, it is also not acceptable to disregard the apparent meanings of the Shari`ah texts or violate them under the pretext of paying more attention to their deeper meanings. The most appropriate approach is, according to the majority of Shari`ah scholars, to reconcile these two approaches in a manner that neither the deeper meaning of the texts is excluded nor is the opposite [that is, the literal and apparent meaning] violated. In this way the Shari`ah runs according to one single coherent pattern free from any discrepancy or contradiction. (See Ash-Shatibi, Al-Muwafaqat, 2: pp. 332-338)


Fifth, not all actions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) are meant for legislation (tashri`). Though the mainstream of the Prophet’s actions and sayings are meant for legislation, some of his practices or sayings are not so.

For example, Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) took some measures as a political leader to secure the benefits of the Muslim community at his time.

So, it is the role of the scholars who have profound knowledge of Shari`ah to make a clear distinction between the Prophet’s actions and sayings which are meant for legislation and those that did not.

Prophet’s actions and sayings may include “legislation (tashri`), issuing edicts (fatwas), adjudication (qada’), political leadership of the state (imarah), guidance (hadi), conciliation (sulh), advice to those seeking his opinion (isharah), counseling (nasihah), spiritual uplifting of people (takmil an-nufus), teaching high and lofty truths (ta`lim al-haqa’iq al-`aliyah), disciplining (ta’dib) and non-instructive ordinary statements (tajarrud `an al-irshad). (See Ibn `Ashur, Treatise on Maqasid Al-Shari`ah, p. 32)


Sixth, the Prophet’s Companions, scholars from among the tabi`un (successors), the leading imams of the schools of fiqh—with the exception of ibn Hazm Az-Zahiri, and most of the reliable Shari`ah scholars thorough centuries have not confined themselves to literal meanings of the texts of shari`ah.


Imâm ash-Shâfi`î says, “Whoever observes the affairs of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), who are the model examples in ijtihad, will find that they did not confine themselves to texts and their specific indications to reach rulings, but they used to consider the general meanings [of texts] without restricting themselves to textual proofs.” (Al-Juwaynî, al-Burhan: p. 1117)


Under the title “Insufficiency of the Literal Methodology without Knowledge of Higher Objectives”, Ibn `Ashur affirms, “Some scholars fall into unending errors when they focus all their attention on words and confine the process of deriving the rules (ahkam) of the Shari`ah to squeezing the words so as to extract their meaning, believing this to be the proper and only course. They continue to examine words and analyze them, hoping to extract their core and essence. Thus, they neglect and fail to take stock of the context of the speech act, which consists of contextual evidences (qara’in), spBoldeech conventions (istilahat), and general context. It is obvious that the context of legislation (maqam at-tashri`) is so sensitive that taking these elements into consideration to comprehend the legislative purport of speech cannot be overemphasized.” (Ibn `Ashur, Maqasid Al-Shari`ah, p. 25)


Given the above, I stress that laymen should always refer to scholars who are known for their deep insight of Shari`ah and its objectives to understand and thereby apply the correct values of Islam. Scholars, moreover, should pay due attention to texts of Shari`ah as well as other necessary factors of understanding Islam such as the contextual proofs, deeper meanings of texts, objectives of the Shari`ah, etc.

May Allah Almighty protect and secure our young Muslims and guide them and us all to what is good in this world and in the Hereafter, amen!


Allah Almighty knows best.

-onIslam.net