Imam Arsalan bin Ya’qub al-Dimasyqi (470-550 H)

Oleh: Ustaz Raja Mukhlis (sumber)

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Beliau adalah Sheikh Abu al-Najm Arsalan bin Ya’qub bin ‘Abd al-Rahman bin Abdillah al-Ja’bari al-Dimasyqi. Beliau dilahirkan di kampung Ja’bar di persisiran pantai Furat, di Bandar Al-Riqqah Suriyyah, pada tahun 470 Hijriyyah. Beliau adalah antara para arifin yang terkenal. Nama “Arsalan” adalah dalam Turki yang bermaksud Singa. Beliau juga dikenali sebagai Sheikh Raslan Al-Turkumani.

Beliau hidup pada zaman Perang Salib. Ayah beliau sendiri adalah salah seorang tentera yang terlibat dalam peperangan dengan penjajah di Ja’bar. Kemudian, beliau pergi ke Damsyiq untuk meneruskan kehidupannya dan menyara keluarganya. Di awal usia Sheikh Arsalan, belau banyak beri’tikaf di sebuah masjid kecil di Damsyiq dan terlibat dengan aktiviti golongan sufi di sana. Beliau bersahabat dan mengambil tarbiah daripada Abu ‘Amir al-Mu’addib dan mengambil ilmu tasawuf daripada beliau. Kemudian, beliau mendiami zawiyyah (tempat ibadah) dalam beberapa waktu.

Perang Salib

Pada zaman itu, Syria terlibat dalam peperangan Salib. Tentera Salib sudah hampir ke pintu-pintu bandar Damsyiq pada ketika itu. Namun, Nuruddin al-Syahid sempat mengusir para tentera musuh daripada mencerobohi Damsyiq.

Ketika dalam suasana peperangan, Sheikh Arsalan berpindah daripada hidup di dalam masjid menuju ke perbatasan para mujahidin untuk mempertahankan negara daripada serangan para Tentera Salib pada ketika itu.

Kewafatan

Beliau seterusnya fokus dalam bidang pentarbiahan sehinggalah usia beliau mencapai 95 tahun. Pada tahun 550 Hijriyyah (1155 Masihi) (dalam riwayat lain 560 H/1164 M), beliau meninggal dunia, lalu disemadikan di tanah perkuburan yang terkenal yang dinamakan dengan nama beliau iaitu Turbah al-Sheikh Arsalan di Damsyiq.

Karya Tauhid Arsalan

Beliau mempunyai sebuah risalah yang sangat ringkas tetapi isi kandugannya sangat tinggi maknanya. Risalah Tauhid* tersebut disyarah oleh beberapa ulama’ besar seperti Sheikhul Islam al-Qadhi Zakaria al-Anshari al-Syafi’e, al-Allamah Shihab al-Din al-Thibi, Sheikh ‘Ala al-Din bin Shadafah dan Sheikh Abdul Ghani al-Nabulsi RA. Sheikh Arshad al-Banjari ada menterjemahkan syarah Sheikh Zakaria al-Anshari ke dalam bahasa Melayu (iaitu dalam kitab jawi) dengan beberapa catatan**.

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* Kitab ini di setengah pondok pesantren turut dikenali sebagai kitab Hikam Arsalan. 

** Judulnya "Fathur Rahman", telah ditransliterasikan kepada tulisan rumi dan diterbitkan oleh Jahabersa (lihat sini)

Syeikh Uthman dan Fodio: Interview with Dr. Abdullah Hakim Quick

By: Shireen Ahmed

http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Uthm_Fodio.html

Uthman ibn Fodio was one of the Foulani people, who were nomadic people who most likely originated from Senegal. They moved throughout west Africa, taking their cows to different pastures and using them for trading purposes sometimes. The Foulani people lived in a symbiotic relationship with the Hausa people, who were farmers and blacksmiths. Thus, the two groups traded their wares to survive. In the 18th century, the Foulanis developed a clerical group and this clerical group had a nomadic base while focusing on scholarship. The islamic body they formed, torodbe scholars (a Foulani word) continued to move throughout west Africa, and some of their scholars even went on to become leaders of the great jihad movements of the 18th century.

Syeikh Uthman dan Fodio

This was the actual movement that Sheikh Uthman ibn Fodio gained his knowledge, through the mulazama method. The society at this time was not doing very well. A series of corrupt kings had developed, and Islamic ideals were indistinguishable from local superstitions and practices. There was also a great deal of overburdening people with taxes, government corruption, dynastic rules, oppression, tribalism, and heavy oppression of women.

Now picture Uthman dan Fodio entering into this picture. He was around old 20 years old when he began to teach the people, and he did daw'a for 30 years. Allah gave him the ability to express himself well at an early age, and he would move through different areas of Hausaland teaching in a number of different areas. He focused on giving the masses of the people basic islamic education, and he was well-versed in classical Arabic, Hausa, Foulani language, and Tuwadic language, which made him more capable of speaking to masses of people in their own language.

He espoused many different new islamic concepts to the people, which he taught them. He focused on basic islamic education: learning fiqh, learning tawheed, also understanding the life of the Prophet (pbuh) and the basic rudiments for a sound Islamic education, following the Maliki school of thought. Then he worked on the scholars of the time themselves, striving against extremism within them (i.e. taking extreme positions on tawheed, which dealt with heavy philosophy that people were not emphasizing - eg. "where is Allah?" & anyone who couldn't answer was declared a kafir by this group) Uthman ibn Fodio wrote a book showing them how their extremism was wrong.

He also taught that all madhabs (schools of law), were correct so that people should respect them and the people within each school. He also tried to rectify the position of Islamic scholarship with sufism. Actually, he was also considered to be a leading part of the Qadarwi Sufi order. Yet, at the same time he made it clear that anybody who went into tasawaf should only go into it for knowledge of the heart. Any whirling around, musical playing, or extremism that was not withing Shari'a he was against. His followers practiced a sober, individual type of Sufism that was more into heavy reflection. Anyone wishing to study sufism more in depth was told to know their fiqh first, so that they would recognize any sufi practices that crossed the Shari'a border.

Another area Sheikh ibn Fodio was strongly vocal in was women's education. During his time, there were either two extremes: women were either walking around in nothing but a waist-cloth, or on the other extreme they were locked into their houses against their will. They were all generally ignorant of Islam. What the sheikh did was he brought the women out of their houses, and put them in one area and the men in another area and began to regularly lecture them. However, the extremists of the time strongly disapproved. "They said 'fitna, you are mixing men and women!'", Abdullah Hakim explains, and even went on to a modern example: "The Muslim Students' Association (MSA) brings a question to me every year, 'Brother Abdulla, can we have brothers and sisters in the same room?' Every year. Every time there is new leadership in MSA they are asking the same question." The Sheikh answered these extremists by saying that they were not educating the women before, they were simply using them like a dish..eating out of it and then throwing it away, having no further use for it. He went on to say that he had brought these women out of their houses and was educating them, and they were covering themselves up. Men and women were always kept in separate areas, and because we were talking about people with high morals coming together to learn and practice Islam - there was no fitna there. He even used examples from the early days of men and women in the Prophet's mosque. The way men dressed was also addressed by the Sheikh, as he encouraged them to wear turbans and long, loose clothing. Thus, all his followers were readily distinguishable.

Another aspect that he educated the men about was taharah. Surprisingly enough, this Sheikh went into intimate details on various subjects like this one. Apparently at the time, the men had a harmful practice for their method of purification which the Sheikh stopped. Another personal issue he addressed was the relationship within a marital relationship, and how to strengthen the bond between these two people. He took it to the point where he actually spoke to people about the sexual relationship between a man and his wife, which one would usually not expect from someone talking about fiqh. But these were realistic things that he was doing for society. As stated in Abdullah Hakim's thesis, it is clear that Uthman dan Fodio was not only the jihad leader, but that he also affected the social-intellectual situation in Hausaland, as he radically changed the society. Sheikh dan Fodio has written a book called Yahya al-Sunnah which talks about bringing the sunnah to life again by going into points like these.

Female circumcision was another major social issue the Sheikh delved into. This practice was in the Sudan, Somalia and was going across to his country and he stopped people from doing it. He brought the hadith of the Prophet showing that only a little bit was allowed to be removed from the tip of the clitoris, but was by no means necessary as it wasn't really part of Islam. His argument against it, once again went into graphic details of how if men allowed this to happen then a woman would not be able to achieve her climax in a physical relationship, which would then cause their relationship to deteriorate. To have a more fulfilling relationship, they should allow her to retain what Allah gave her. This obviously was a heavy argument for the Sheikh to be making, especially in the 18th century!

"Uthman ibn Fodio went into common events people faced, for instance how to set up masjids, sunnah ways of eating food, describing the benefits of cleaning up your plate, eating with your right hand, washing your hands..all these different social benefits." He went through the sunnah and explained why they would benefit and the reasons behind these practices. Uthman ibn Fodio also spent a great deal of time concentrating on cleaning of the heart. So a number of his texts deal with rea, showing off, jealousy, arrogance, anger, and other general diseases of the heart which are so rampant today in the muslim world. "Basically, I was concluding that he was more than just a scholar, that he was a social reformer in his time and he's still relevant up until now." stated Abdullah Hakim.

Gradually, the number of Sheikh Uthman ibn Fodio's follows grew, until he was at a point where whenever he travelled he took 1000 of his scholars with him. The kings became nervous because of the number of people he drew away from them. The Sheikh demanded that the laws be changed to become more islamic. Later he was attacked by order of the kings, and his group made hijrah, then made jihad and won despite their smaller numbers - thus establishing a khalifah. When the battle was won he stepped down from his Amir position, and went to a small village to teach until he died. This shows that the Sheikh wasn't into power, because he had just won the battle that would have given him ultimate control and yet he chose to step down.

His relevance up to today makes it conceivable for us to consider the types of lessons from him. "The issues he handled were actually very crucial to our own existence today." Abdullah Hakim pointed out. He went further to mention that many of his khutbahs that he gave at the Jami Mosque between 1985-1990, and many of the positions that he came to on various issues, were actually based on what he had discovered through reading the writings of the sheikh. "That is why the whole experience for me, has been more than an academic one. It has changed me as a person." He has even visited Nigeria and visited the sheikh's grave, and also visited his family. Even the fact that Sheikh Uthman don Fodio had special classes for women and children after Asr prayers, so that women would have a forum where she could ask for help from the Sheikh, inspired Abdullah Hakim "..that was one of the things that helped me even to develop this office here, ISSRA. There has to be a place where women can come and youth so they can express themselves. So that was one of the inspirations for me for some of the things we are doing here."

As students, we can all learn from Sheikh ibn Fodio's experiences. There are several points to note, for instance the importance of a sound islamic education (i.e. knowing the meaning of the Qur'an, basic fiqh, a broad-based education), avoiding extremism and having balance, believing in authentic traditions, and putting much less emphasize in culture and superstition - especially in unislamic concepts.

Sultan Muhammad Al Fateh , Sultan Soleh kekasih Allah

Oleh: Ustaz Fazilul Helmi
http://www.pondoktauhid.blogspot.com/2012/05/sultan-muhammad-al-fateh-sultan-soleh.html

Sabda Rasulullah SAW ketika menggali parit dalam peperangan Khandaq, "...Konstantinopel (kini Istanbul) akan jatuh ke tangan tentera Islam. Rajanya adalah sebaik-baik raja, tenteranya adalah sebaik-baik tentera..." (Hadis riwayat Imam Ahmad)

Umat Islam berlumba-lumba membebaskan Konstantinopel untuk mendapatkan penghormatan yang dijanjikan oleh Allah SWT dalam hadis tersebut. Walau bagaimanapun, kesemua kempen yang dilancarkan menemui kegagalan. Di antaranya, lima kempen di zaman Kerajaan Umaiyyah, satu kempen di zaman Kerajaan Abbasiyyah dan dua kempen di zaman Kerajaan Uthmaniyyah.

Dalam salah sebuah kempen semasa zaman Kerajaan Umaiyyah, seorang sahabat Nabi SAW iaitu Abu Ayyub Al-Ansary RA telah syahid dan dimakamkan di bawah dinding kubu Kota Constantinople di atas wasiatnya sendiri. Apabila ditanya kenapa beliau ingin dimakamkan di situ maka beliau menjawab, "Aku ingin mendengar derapan tapak kaki kuda sebaik-baik raja yang akan mengetuai sebaik-baik tentera semasa mereka membebaskan Konstantinopel". Begitulah teguhnya iman seorang sahabat besar Nabi SAW.

Hadis Nabi SAW ini direalisasikan hampir 800 tahun kemudiannya oleh Sultan Muhammad Al-Fateh, khalifah ke-7 Kerajaan Uthmaniyyah dengan 150,000 orang tenteranya.

Siapakah Sultan Muhammad Al-Fateh? Apakah kehebatan baginda dan tentera-tenteranya sehingga disebut "sebaik-baik raja" dan "sebaik-baik tentera" dalam hadis tersebut?

Biodata Ringkas

Baginda Sultan Muhammad Al-Fateh dilahirkan pada 29 Mac 1432 Masihi di Adrianapolis (sempadan Turki – Bulgaria). Walau bagaimanapun, sejarah hidup baginda sebenarnya telah bermula hampir 800 tahun sebelum kelahirannya kerana telah disebut sebagai "sebaik-baik raja" di dalam Hadis tadi. Baginda juga dikenali dengan gelaran Muhammad Al-Fateh kerana kejayaannya membebaskan Konstantinopel.

Baginda menaiki takhta ketika berusia  19 tahun dan memerintah selama 30 tahun (1451 – 1481). Baginda merupakan seorang negarawan ulung dan panglima tentera agung yang memimpin sendiri 25 kempen ketenteraan. Baginda mangkat pada 3 Mei 1481 akibat sakit gout. Ada ahli sejarah berpendapat baginda mangkat diracun.

Pendidikan

Baginda menerima pendidikan yang menyeluruh dan bersepadu. Dalam bidang keagamaan, gurunya adalah Syeikh Shamsuddin Al-Wali dikatakan daripada keturunan Sayyidina Abu Bakar As-Siddiq RA. Dalam ilmu peperangan pula, baginda diajar tentang taktik peperangan,  memanah dan menunggang kuda oleh panglima-panglima tentera.

Dalam bidang akademik pula, baginda adalah seorang cendekiawan ulung di zamannya yang fasih bertutur dalam tujuh bahasa iaitu Bahasa Arab, Latin, Greek, Serbia, Turki, Parsi dan Hebrew. Dalam bidang ilmu pemerintahan pula, ayahandanya Sultan Murad II, dengan tujuan mendidik, semasa pergi bersuluk ke Pulau Magnesia, telah melantik baginda yang baru berusia 12 tahun memangku jawatan Khalifah. Dalam usia semuda ini baginda telah matang menangani tipu helah musuh.

Keperibadian

Baginda sentiasa bersifat tawaduk. Semasa membina Benteng Rumeli Hissari, baginda membuka baju dan serbannya, mengangkat batu dan pasir hingga ulama-ulama dan menteri-menteri terpaksa ikut sama bekerja. Baginda seorang yang sentiasa tenang, pendiam, berani, sabar, tegas dan kuat menyimpan rahsia pemerintahan. Baginda sangat cintakan ulamadan selalu berbincang dengan mereka mengenai permasalahan negara.

Persiapan Awal Membebaskan Konstantinopel

Selama 2 tahun selepas menaiki takhta, Baginda mengkaji pelan Kota Kostantinopel setiap malam bagi mengenal pasti titik kelemahannya. Baginda juga mengkaji sebab-sebab kegagalan kempen-kempen terdahulu serta berbincang dengan panglima-panglima perangnya tentang tentang strategi yang sesuai untuk digunakan.

Baginda mengarahkan dibina peralatan perang termoden seperti meriam besar yang boleh menembak bom seberat 300 kg sejauh 1 batu. Benteng Rumeli Hissari dibina di tebing sebelah Eropah, lebih kurang 5 batu dari Kota Constantinople di mana Selat Bosphorus adalah yang paling sempit. Ia dibina bertentangan dengan Benteng Anadolu Hisar di tebing sebelah Asia yang telah dibina oleh Sultan Bayazid Yildirim dahulu. Benteng ini mengawal rapi kapal-kapal yang melintasi Selat Bosphorus. Perjanjian damai dibuat dengan pihak Wallachia, Serbia dan Hungary untuk memencilkan Konstantinopel apabila diserang nanti.

Baginda membawa bersama para ulama dan pakar motivasi ke medan perang bagi membakar semangat jihad tenteranya. Sebaik sahaja menghampiri dinding kubu Kota Konstantinopel, baginda mengarahkan dilaungkan azan dan solat berjemaah. Tentera Byzantine gentar melihat 150,000 tentera Islam bersolat di belakang pemimpin mereka dengan laungan suara takbir memecah kesunyian alam.

Melancarkan Seragan ke atas Konstantinopel

Setelah segala persiapan lengkap diatur, baginda menghantar utusan kepada Raja Bizantin meminta beliau menyerah. Keengganan Raaja Bizantin menyerah mengakibatkan kota tersebut dikepung. Pada 19 April 1453, serangan dimulakan. Kota tersebut hujani peluru meriam selama 48 hari. Setengah dinding luarnya rosak tetapi dinding tengahnya masih teguh.

Menara Bergerak

Seterusnya Baginda mengarahkan penggunaan menara bergerak yang lebih tinggi dari dinding kubu Byzantine dan memuatkan ratusan tentera. Tentera Byzantin berjaya memusnahkan menara tersebut setelah ianya menembusi dinding tengah kubu mereka.

Bantuan Dari Pope Vatican

Pope di Rome menghantar bantuan 5 buah armada yang dipenuhi dengan senjata dan tentera. Perairan Teluk Golden Horn direntang dengan rantai besi untuk menghalang kemaraan armada Uthmaniyyah. Ini menaikkan semula semangat tentera Bizantin.

Melancarkan Kapal Perang dari Puncak Gunung

Kegembiraan mereka tidak lama. Keesokan paginya, mereka dikejutkan dengan kehadiran 72 buah kapal perang Uthmaniyyah di perairan Teluk Golden Horn. Ini adalah hasil kebijaksanaan Baginda mengangkut kapal-kapal ke atas gunung dan kemudian diluncurkan semula ke perairan Teluk Golden Horn. Taktik ini diakui sebagai antara taktik peperangan(warfare strategy) yang terbaik di dunia oleh para sejarawan Barat sendiri. Kapal-kapal itu kemudiannya membedil dinding pertahanan belakang kota.

Kapal-kapal perang tentera Bizantin habis terbakar dek bedilan meriam Uthmaniyyah. Pertahanan Bizantin menjadi semakin lemah. Baginda mengambil kesempatan pada malamnya dengan memberikan semangat kepada tenteranya serta mengingatkan mereka kepada hadis Rasulullah SAW dan bersama-sama berdoa kepada Allah SWT.

Memanjat dan Melastik Dinding Kota

Keesokan paginya tentera Uthmaniyah cuba memanjat dinding dalam kubu dengan tangga dan cuba merobohkannya dengan lastik besar. Tentangan sengit pihak Bizantin menyebabkan ramai yang syahid. Baginda memerintahkan tenteranya berundur dan bedilan meriam diteruskan sehingga tengah hari.

Karisma Seorang Pemimpin

Pengepungan selama 53 hari tanpa sebarang tanda-tanda kejayaan  telah menimbulkan rasa bosan dan menghilangkan keyakinan tentera Baginda. Pada saat yang genting ini baginda berucap menaikkan semangat tenteranya, "Wahai tenteraku, aku bersedia untuk mati di jalan Allah. Sesiapa yang mahu syahid ikutlah aku".

Mendengarkan itu, Hasan Ulubate, salah seorang tentera baginda mengetuai sekumpulan kecil 30 tentera membuka dan melompat masuk ke dalam kubu musuh lantas memacak bendera Islam di situ. Mereka kesemuanya gugur syahid setelah dihujani anak panah musuh. Kemudian tentera-tentera Islam menyerbu bertali arus menembusi barisan pertahanan Bizantin sambil melaungkan kalimah Allahu Akbar.

Penawanan Constantinople

Pada 29 Mei 1453, Kota Konstantinopel jatuh ke tangan Islam. Baginda menukar namanya kepada Islambol (Islam keseluruhan) . Gereja Besar St. Sophies ditukar kepada Masjid Aya Sofiya. Baginda dengan tawaduknya melumurkan tanah ke dahinya lalu melakukan sujud syukur. Semenjak peristiwa inilah Baginda diberi gelaran "Al-Fateh" iaitu yang bermaksud "pembuka" atau "penakluk" lantaran kejayaannya membebaskan Konstantinopel.

Sebaik-baik Raja dan Sebaik-baik Tentera

Pada kali pertama solat Jumaat hendak didirikan, timbul pertanyaan siapa yang layak menjadi imam. Baginda memerintahkan kesemua tenteranya termasuk dirinya bangun lantas bertanya, "Siapa di antara kita sejak baligh hingga sekarang pernah meninggalkan solat fardhu walau sekali, sila duduk!" Tiada seorang pun yang duduk, kerana  tidak seorang pun di antara mereka pernah meninggalkan solat fardhu.

Baginda bertanya lagi, "Siapa di antara kita yang sejak baligh hingga kini pernah meninggalkan solat sunat rawatib, sila duduk!" Sebahagian daripada tenteranya duduk.

Kemudian baginda bertanya lagi, "Siapa di antara kamu sejak baligh hingga ke saat ini pernah meninggalkan solat tahajjud walaupun satu malam, sila duduk!" Kali ini semuanya duduk, kecuali Sultan Muhammad Al-Fateh sendiri. Baginda tidak pernah meninggalkan solat fardhu, solat sunat rawatib dan solat tahajjud sejak baligh. Baginda sebaik-baik raja yang telah diisyaratkan oleh Rasulullah SAW dalam hadisnya itu.

Dinihari kita cukup ketandusan pemimpin yang berjiwa rakyat serta berkarisma seperti Sultan Muhammad Al-Fateh untuk mengembalikan ketamadunan dan kegemilanagan ISLAM ini kembali. Ayuh, kita mulakan langkah menakluk diri seperti mana Sultan Muhammad Al-Fateh telah berusaha menakluk kota hebat Konstantinopel.