Twins of Faith 2012 >> 1% Now, 99% Later to Come by Sh Omar Suleiman

Tawassum, Tafakkur and Tadabbur

An article on Tawassum, Tafakkur and Tadabbur

We learn from the Quran that the universe has been fashioned by God in a way that it may become a source of spiritual inspiration for man. According to the Qur’an, it is the quality ofTawassum (15:75) that enables one to find inspiration in the universe. Tawassum is the ability to understand the signs of nature. That is, to observe the phenomena of the universe in order to draw lessons from them and receive spiritual nourishment from the physical events.

That is to say, a truly religious person is able to convert physical events into spiritual lessons. He derives spiritual nourishment from material things. The Quran has described how godly people continuously derive such sustenance from their environment, thus maintaining their intellectual and spiritual well-being. This is elaborated upon in the Quran as follows:

“In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the succession of night and day, there are signs for men of understanding; those that remember God when standing, sitting, and lying down, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth (saying): ‘Lord, You have not created these in vain. Glory be to You! Save us from the torment of the fire, Lord.” (3:191)

Meditation is essential for developing our spirituality. Meditation in Islam is a high kind of contemplation. It is not a state of silence, but a deep kind of thinking process. It takes us from the seen world to the unseen, from darkness to light, from chaos to conviction, from limitation to limitlessness, from word to meaning. It is like a door through which one enters another world. In short, from the human world we reach the divine world.

The concept of meditation in Islam is based on two things, at-tafakkur wat-tadabbur(remembrance of God, thought of God) (3:191, 4:82). Abu Darda was a senior companion of the Prophet. After his death a man came to his wife and asked her what was the most important form of worship performed by Abu Darda. She replied: He would spend the whole day thinking, thinking, and thinking. According to this, Islamic meditation is a thinking process rather than the cessation of intellectual activity. The Quran further tells us that this intellectual process has two different directions—al-anfus and al-afaq. Al-anfus literally means soul, that is, inner world; al-afaq literally means universe, that is, external world.

So when a believer sees the universe functioning in a perfect manner and he finds that all the events in this vast universe always proceed towards a meaningful result, he realizes that man’s life too must have a meaningful end. This makes him exclaim:

“O our Lord! You have not created all this without purpose. Glory be to you! Give us salvation in the life to come.” (3:191)

Thus the universe is a manifestation of God’s attributes. Hence, it is a source of spiritual nourishment for those who want to lead a divine life on earth. For them, the whole universe becomes an important means of reaching spiritual perfection. This spiritual development continues throughout their earthly life till a time comes when they attain that degree of spirituality, which the Quran calls the ‘Rabbani soul.’ It is, souls such as these, who, in the life Hereafter, will inhabit paradise. Our most compassionate Lord will say:

“Dwell in Paradise; you shall have no fear, nor shall you grieve.” (7:49)

There is nothing mysterious about spirituality in Islam. It is rather the direct result of the kind of intellectual development that takes place when a believer ponders over the Creator and His creation: he gains something in the process that may be termed spirituality. The source, therefore, of Islamic spirituality is observation and reflection, rather than any sort of mysterious exercises.

We learn from the Quran that in the very creation of the universe, the signs of God lie hidden all around us. One who has developed keen awareness, when he reflects upon the things of the world, is able to see the Creator in His creatures. The meaning of the creation of the Universe is laid bare before him. Ultimately, the universe becomes a permanent source of spiritual inspiration. He is continuously nourished by it during his worldly experience.

A believer is not supposed to shun his normal life in order to lead a life of observation and contemplation. Islam does not advocate withdrawing from the world. He has to live in this world and participate in its activities. What is desired from him is that while fulfilling all his duties, his heart should not be attached to worldly affairs. In this way he continues to gain spiritually.

Jom Layan Imam Muda 2

Ways To Increase Faith

Tahu, faham dan amal : Perawi n° 1 Imam Bukhari

Imam Bukhari, atau nama sebenarnya Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Ismail bin Ibrahim bin al-Mughirah bin Bardizbah al-Ju'fi al-Bukhari, 194-256 hijriah, adalah salah seorang ahli hadith yang terkenal, setanding dengan Imam Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmizi, An-Nasai dan Ibnu Majah. Imam Bukhari telah menghabiskan 16 tahun daripada hidupnya untuk mengumpulkan hadith sahih, mengembara di seluruh dunia termasuk Bashrah, Mesir, Mekkah, Madinah, Kuffah, Baghdad dan Asia Barat. 


Translation Sahih Bukhari dalam English :
Sahih Bukhari

Volume 003, Book 030, Hadith Number 091.
-----------------------------------------
Narrated By Anas : The Prophet said, "Medina is a sanctuary from that place to that. Its trees should not be cut and no heresy should be innovated nor any sin should be committed in it, and whoever innovates in it an heresy or commits sins (bad deeds), then he will incur the curse of Allah, the angels, and all the people." (See Hadith No. 409, Vol 9).

The Sunnah

The Sunnah, according to the scholars of hadeeth, is everything that has been related from the Messenger, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, of his statements, actions, tacit approvals, personality, physical description, or biography.  It does not matter whether the information being related refers to something before the beginning of his prophetic mission, or after it.

Explanation of this definition:

The statements of the Prophet include everything the Prophet said for various reasons on different occasions.  For example, he said:

“Verily deeds are but by intentions, and every person will have only what he intended.”

The actions of the Prophet include everything that the Prophet did that was related to us by his Companions.  This includes how he made ablutions, how he performed his prayers, and how he made the Hajj pilgrimage.

The tacit approvals of the Prophet includes everything that his Companions said or did that he either showed his favor towards or at least did not object to.  Anything that had the tacit approval of the Prophet is as valid as anything that he said or did himself.

An example of this is the approval that was given to the Companions when they used their discretion in deciding when to pray during the Battle of Bani Quraydhah.  God’s Messenger had said to them:

“None of you should perform your afternoon prayers until you arrive at Bani Quraydhah.”

The Companions did not arrive at Bani Quraydhah until after sunset.  Some of them took the Prophet’s words literally and postponed the afternoon prayer, saying: “We will not pray until we get there.”  Others understood that the Prophet was only indicating to them that they should hurry on their journey, so they stopped and prayed the afternoon prayer on time.

The Prophet learned about what the two groups had decided, but did not criticize either of them.

As for the Prophet’s personality, this would include the following statement of Aishah (may God be pleased with her):

“God’s Messenger was never indecent or vulgar, nor was he loud at the marketplace.  He would never respond to the abuse of others with abuses of his own.  Instead, he would be tolerant and forgiving.”

The physical description of the Prophet is found in statements like the one related by Anas (may God be pleased with him):

“God’s Messenger was neither overly tall nor was he short.  He was neither exceedingly white nor black.  His hair was neither excessively curly nor lank.”

The Relationship between the Sunnah and Revelation

The Sunnah is revelation from God to His Prophet.  God says in the Quran:

“…We have sent down to him the Book and the Wisdom…” (Quran 2:231)

The Wisdom refers to the Sunnah.  The great jurist al-Shafi’i said: “God mentions the Book, which is the Quran.  I have heard from people who I consider authorities on the Quran that the Wisdom is the Sunnah of God’s Messenger.”  God says:

Indeed, God conferred a great favor on the believers when He sent among them a Messenger from among themselves, reciting to them His signs and purifying them and instructing them in the Book and the Wisdom.

It is clear from the preceding verses that God revealed to His Prophet both the Quran and the Sunnah, and that He commanded him to convey both to the people.  The Prophetic hadeeth also attest to the fact that the Sunnah is revelation.  It is related from Mak’hool that God’s Messenger said:

“God gave me the Quran and what is like it from the Wisdom.”

Al-Miqdam b. Ma’dee Karab relates that God’s Messenger said:

“I have been given the Book and with it something like it.”

Hisan b. Atiyyah relates that Gabriel used to come the Prophet with the Sunnah just like he would come to him with the Quran.

An opinion from the Prophet was not merely his own thoughts or deliberations on a matter; it was what God revealed to him.  In this way, the Prophet was different from other people.  He was supported by revelation.  When he exercised his own reasoning and was correct, God would confirm it, and if he ever made a mistake in his thinking, God would correct it and guide him to the truth.

For this reason, it is related that the Caliph Umar said from the pulpit: “O people!  The opinions of God’s Messenger were correct only because God would reveal them to him.  As for our opinions, they are nothing but thoughts and conjecture.”

The revelation that the Prophet received was of two types:

A.    Informative revelation: God would inform him of something by means of revelation in one form or another as mentioned in the following Quranic verse:

“It is not for a human being that God should speak to him except as revelation or from behind a barrier, or by sending a Messenger who reveals by His leave whatever He wishes.  Verily, He is Exalted, All-Wise.” (Quran 42:51)

Aishah related that al-Harith b. Hisham asked the Prophet how revelation came to him, and the Prophet answered:

“Sometimes, the angel comes to me like the clanging of a bell, and this is the most difficult for me. It weighs upon me and I commit to memory what he says.  And sometimes the angel comes to me in the form of a man and speaks to me and I commit to memory what he says.”

Aishah said:

“I had seen him when the revelation came to him on an extremely cold day.  When it was over, his brow was full of perspiration.”

Sometimes, he would be asked about something, but he would remain silent until revelation came to him.  For example, the Meccan pagans asked him about the soul, but the Prophet remained silent until God revealed:

They ask you concerning the soul.  Say: ‘The soul is from the affairs of my Lord, and of knowledge you have but little’. (Quran 17:85)

He had also been asked about how inheritance was to be divided, but he did not answer until God revealed:

“God commands you regarding your children…” (Quran 4:11)

B.    Affirmative revelation: This is where the Prophet exercised his own judgment in a matter.  If his opinion was correct, revelation would come to him affirming it, and if it was incorrect, revelation would come to correct him, making it just like any other informative revelation.  The only difference here is that the revelation came as a result of an action that the Prophet first did on his own.

In such instances, the Prophet was left to use his own discretion in a matter.  If he chose what was right, then God would confirm his choice through revelation.  If he chose wrong, God would correct him to protect the integrity of the faith.  God would never allow His Messenger to convey an error to other people, because this would cause his followers to fall into error as well.  This would contravene the wisdom behind sending Messengers, which was that the people henceforth would have no argument against God.  In this way, the Messenger was protected from falling into error, for if he ever erred, revelation would come to correct him.

The Prophet’s Companions knew that the tacit approval of the Prophet was actually the approval of God, because if they ever did something contrary to Islam during the Prophet’s lifetime, revelation would come down condemning what they did.

Jabir said: “We used to practice coitus interruptus[1]  back when God’s Messenger was alive.”  Sufyan, one of the narrators of this hadeeth, commented: “If something like this was forbidden, the Quran would have prohibited it.”

Article from : http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/653/

USTAZ AZHAR - BUDAYA DAJAL [PART 3]