THE ISLAMIC BREAKTHROUGH IN ESTHETICS

Published by Tajul Islam
Friday, 27 May 2011 18:18
Ismail Razi al-Faruqi

That nothing is rerum natura can serve as a vehicle for expressing the divine, does not by itself rule out the possibility of an object of nature serving as a vehicle for expressing that very truth itself, namely, that the divine is indeed infinite and inexpressible. It is one thing not to express the divine because it is inexpressible, and another to express the truth embodied in this preposition. Admittedly, the challenge to express sensorily the truth that God is sensorily inexpressible staggers the imagination of any artist. But it is not impossible. Indeed, it is here that the artistic genius of Islam scored its triumphal breakthrough. We have seen that stylization, which was known and practiced in the ancient Near East was pushed to a new level of perfection in the reaction to Hellenic naturalism imposed by Alexander and his successors. Under Islam, now confronting that same Hellenism in Christian disguise, the Semitic reaction was as strong in the field of esthetic endeavor as in that of theological endeavor.

Islam's vehement denial of the divinity of Christ is matched by its denial of naturalism in the esthetic representation of nature, by its encouragement of stylization. A stylized plant or flower is a caricature of the real object of nature, a not-nature. By drawing it, the author seems to say "No" to nature. May it not be a fitting instrument to express not-naturalness, i.e., the mere negation of naturalism? Given alone, however, the stylized plant or flower would express non-nature but in an individuated way which suggests that the death of nature in that object is itself individuated. By giving the denaturalized state of the natural object, it may even express a heightened naturalism, the very opposite of the Islamic purpose, as health is often represented through sickness and life through death. Something else therefore is needed to preserve the inexpressibility of the divine being if Islam was to succeed where Judaism had failed."

It is to this challenge that the Muslim artist now rose. His unique, creative and original solution was to represent the stylized plant or flower in indefinite repetition in order, as it were, to deny any and all individuation, and in consequence, to banish naturalism from consciousness once and for all. An identically repeated object of non-nature does express non-natureness. If the artist could, in addition, express esthetically by means of a repeated object of non-nature infinity and inexpressibility, then the result might well be tantamount to the witness, la ilaha illa Allah expressed verbally and discursively, for the inexpressibility and infinity which are the content of artistic representation would suggest themselves as qualities of non-nature. The Islamic soul therefore thought that there is a way for the visual arts to conform with the primal dictate of Semitic consciousness. But the major hurdle here is how can anything in rerum nature, however stylized, be the vehicle for expressing infinity or inexpressibility?

1. Arab Consciousness: Islam's Historical Substrate
To achieve a solution, Islamic consciousness fell back upon its own historical substrate, namely, Arab consciousness. This was the historical matter which the divine revelation informed and used as a Sitz-im-Leben for its occurrence, as a vehicle and carrier of divine truth. It was this consciousness, concretized in the person of Muhammad (SAAS), that
received the revelation and communicated it to mankind in space and time. It was the medium of prophecy. Its achievement in the art of language and letters was indeed a miracle before Islam, and this fact determined that the mode of the new revelation be that of the literary sublime, for it was ready for and capable of carrying it.

The first instrument of Arab consciousness and the embodiment of all its categories is the Arabic language. Essentially, Arabic is made up primarily of three consonant roots, each of which is susceptible of conjugation into over three hundred different forms by changing the vocalization, adding a prefix, suffix, or "middle-fix." Whichever conjugation is affected, all words which have the same conjugal form have the same modal meaning regardless of their roots. The meaning of the root remains; but attached to it is another, a modal meaning, given to it by the conjugation and remaining always and everywhere the same." The language then has a logical structure, at once clear, complete and comprehensible.

Once this structure is grasped, one is a master of the language, knowledge of the meaning of roots being then of secondary importance. The literary art consists in the construction of a system of concepts related to each other in such ways as to put into play the parallelisms and contrasts engendered by conjugation of the roots, while enabling the understanding to move through the web in continuous, unbroken line. An arabesque in which a thousand each of triangles, squares, circles, pentagons, hexagons and octagons are all painted with different colors and interlace with one another dazzles the eye, but not the mind. Recognizing each figure for what it is, the mind can move from one pentagon to another despite their color variance and cross the tableau from end to end, experiencing some delight at each stop with realization of the parallelism provided by the identical shapes, i.e., by the identical modalities of the various root-meanings, and of the contrast provided by the root-meanings themselves.
This constitutive character of the Arabic language is also constitutive of its poetry. Arabic poetry consists of autonomous, complete and independent verses, each of which is an identical realization of one and
the same metrical pattern. The poet is free to choose anyone of some thirty patterns known to the tradition. But once chosen, his whole poem must conform in each part to this pattern. To hear and enjoy Arabic poetry is to grasp this pattern and, as the poem is recited, to move with the metrical flow, to expect and to receive what the pattern has anticipated. Surely the words, concepts and percept-constructs are different in each verse. That is what provides the color variation. But the structural form is one throughout.

This basic geometry of the Arabic language and of Arabic poetry enabled Arab consciousness to achieve a grasp of infinity on two dimensions. The root words are many, indeed infinite, since any new combination of any three consonants could by convention be assigned any new meaning. Arab consciousness adopts foreign roots with impervious equanimity, relying upon its conjugation mill to Arabize them thoroughly. The infinity of their number is matched by an infinity of their conjugation. There are known patterns of conjugation; a limited number of roots have been conjugated and their conjugations known and used. But a dictionary of the Arabic language such as Webster or Oxford, wherein all the words can be gathered and listed, is categorically impossible. For not all the traditionally known roots have been conjugated; the root list is never closed; not all modalities of conjugation have been used; and the list of modalities is not closed. New modalities are not ruled out by tradition-consensus, but await the genius who can justify and use them to his advantage. The Arabic language, therefore, like the Arab stream of being, is a system bright at the center (because of tradition) and fuzzy at the edges which spread indefinitely in all directions."

To return to poetry. The metric pattern of the verses being constitutive, it does not matter for the verses of a poem whether they are read in the order the poet had composed them or in any other order. Read forward or backward, the poem is just as sweet, for the poet has taken us through the pattern with every verse; and the repetition has delighted us by disciplining our intuitive faculty to expect and to realize what we expected in the variety of facts of meanings and percept-constructs. By definition therefore, no Arabic poem is finished, closed and in any sense completed so that no addition to or continuation of it could be affected or conceived. Indeed, the Arabic poem can be extended in both directions, at its beginning and at its end without the slightest offence to its esthetique, if not by any man on account of personal style, then surely by its own composer. Indeed, if we are good listeners, we would be supposed first to join the poet in his poetry-making as in a live performance and second, to continue his poem for our own benefit now that his recitation has wound us up in the momentum it generated and launched us into its own infinite poetical space. It is not an uncommon phenomenon in the Arab world for a poet, when attended by a good audience, to be "assisted" extemporarily by that audience in the recitation of his poetry which they have never heard before, or to be commented upon by addition to his poetry of more of the same."

2. The First Work of Art in Islam: Al Qur’an at Karim

It was this Arab consciousness which served as substrate and matrix of Islam. The Islamic revelation, al Quran al Karim, came as the chef d’oeuvre, the sublime fulfillment of all the ideals and norms of that consciousness at once.

If anything is art, the Quran certainly is. If the mind of the Muslim has been affected by anything, it was certainly affected by the Qur’Én. If this affecting was anywhere deep enough to become constitutive, it was so in esthetics. There is no Muslim whom the Qur’anic cadences, rhymes, and awjuh al balaghah (facets of eloquence) have not shaken to the very depth of his being; there is no Muslim whose norms and standards of beauty the Quran has not rekneaded and made in its own image.
This aspect of the Quran the Muslims have called its i‘jaz (power to incapacitate), its "placing the reader in front of a challenge to which he can rise, but which he can never meet:' In fact, the Quran itself defied its audience, the Arabs, with their highest literary excellence, to produce anything "like the Quran" (2:23), and chided them for their failure to do so (10:38; 11:13; 17:88). Some of the enemies of Islam among the Prophei's contemporaries rose to the task and were humiliated by the judgment of their opponents as well as by that of their own friends. Muhammad (SAAS) was called "a man possessed" (18:22) and the Qur’Én "a work of magic" (21:53; 25:4) precisely on account of its effect upon the consciousness of its hearers (69:38-52).

Everybody recognized that although the Qur’anic verses did not conform to any of the known patterns of poetry, they produce the same effect as poetry, indeed, to a superlative degree. Every verse is complete and perfect by itself. It often rhymes with the preceding verse or verses and contains one or more religious or moral meanings embedded in literary expressions or articulations of sublime beauty. So mighty is the momentum it generates that the recitation impels the audience irresistibly to move with it, to expect the next verse and to reach the most intense quiescence upon hearing it. Then the process starts again with the next one, two or group of three or more verses.

Did then the Muslim Arab come out of Arabia in the seventh century with any art? Did he contribute anything relevant to the subsequently developed arts of the conquered peoples? In ignorance or prejudice, and often in a pitiable combination of both, every Western historian of Islamic art has answered, "No." The grandfather of the discipline asserted: "The men who formed these armies [the first Arab armies of Islam] were mainly Bedouin, but even those who came from permanent settlements, such as Makkah and Madinah, knew nothing of the art of architecture." The younger generation repeat after him ad nauseam: "From its Arabian past, the new Muslim art could draw almost nothing."

How contradictory to their allegations is the truth! All the new Islamic arts obtained from the Arab past, all that is constitutive and important, namely their spirit, their principles and method, their purpose and the way to achieve that purpose. Surely, Islamic art needed materials and themes for its efforts in the visual fields, and it got these wherever it found them. But it is offensively superficial to point to this as "borrowing" in any discussion of the meaning and significance, history or theory of the art. An art is an art by virtue of its style, its content, its manner of rendering, not by the materiaux it uses which, in most part, are derived by geographic or social accident. Islamic art is a unity at all because of this foundation, through Islam, in Arab consciousness. It is the categories of Arab consciousness that determined the artistic productions of all Muslims."

B. ESTHETIC REALIZATION IN THE VISUAL ARTS

Western visual art has relied almost totally on human nature, whether expressed in the human figure, the landscape, the still life or even the abstract design or no-design. Islamic visual art was not interested in human nature, but in divine nature. Since its purpose was not to express new facets of human nature, it did not esthetically discuss the figure, i.e., it did not portray the infinitesimal shifts in human appearance expressive of human nature. Human character, the a priori idea of man analyzable into a million details revelatory of another depth or height in the human personality-all this was for the Muslim artist just beside-the- point. The divine is his first love and his last obsession. To stand in the presence of divinity is for him the hallmark of all existence and all nobility and beauty. For this end, Muslims surround themselves with every prop and stimulus inductive of an intuition of that Presence.

First, since stylization produced a denaturalization of nature, the first Arab Muslims pushed that device to its conclusion. Further, stylization means the absence of variation, and of development from trunk to branch and leaf extremities as occurs in the vegetal kingdom. Trunk and branch became of the one thickness, one texture, and one share or shape throughout the drawing. Development was annulled also by the absence of variation. All the leaves and flowers in the same drawing were made alike. Finally, the deathblow to naturalism is repetition. By repeating the stalk, leaf and flower over and over again, and making them proceed one from another indefinitely in a manner impossible in nature, all idea of nature is banished. Repetition produces this effect so assuredly and unmistakably that it even tolerates its own enemy i.e., development provided what has developed within a portion of the work of art is repeated in the work of art as a whole. Thus, nature in annihilated from consciousness, and un-nature is presented. If stalk, leaf and flower still leave a vestige of nature in the consciousness of the beholder, then the line, straight, broken, circular, jetting or trajecting, in free-lance designs or geometrical figures, will do the job better, beyond all doubt. It may be combined with the stalk-leaf-flower material to tell the beholder still
more eloquently the "geometrizing;' un-naturalizing aspect intended. Finally, if repetition is subjected to symmetry, so that it extends equidistantly in all directions, then the work of art becomes in essence an infinite field-of-vision. By accident, only a part of this infinite field is arbitrarily singled out by the artist and framed by the physical extremities of the page, wall, panel or canvas. Where animal of human figures are used, as in the miniatures of Persia, un-nature is achieved by stylization of the animal, and by giving the human faces and bodies no individuation, no character and no personality. A man, like a flower, can represent un-nature, through stylization. But this is precisely the effacement of personality and character. That is why the greatest Persian miniatures always have a plurality of human figures indistinguishable from one another." Like the Arabic poem, the miniature is made of many parts, detached from one another and each constituting an autonomous center of its own. As the audience takes its delight in holding in consciousness the literary jewels set up in the patterned body of the verses, so the spectator contemplates the minor arabesques in the carpet, door, wall, horse saddle, man's turban or clothes, etc. within a given center in the miniature, bearing in mind that there are other centers ad infinitum to which he may move."

In all painting and decoration in Islamic art there is movement, indeed compelling movement from one unit in a design to another, and then from one design to another, indeed, from one whole field of vision to another as in the great portals, facades or walls, is beyond question. But there is no work of Islamic art where such movement is conclusive. It is of the essence that the vision of the spectator continue; that it seen the production of the continuation in the imagination; that the mind set itself in motion requesting to behold infinity. Mass, volume, space. enclosure, gracity, cohesion. tension-all these are facta of nature to do away with if an intuition of un-nature is to be gained. Only a design, a momentum generating pattern will surround the Muslim lover of beauty, bursting into infinite space in all directions. This puts him in the contemplative mood requisite for an intuition of the divine presence. Not only the design on the cover of a book, an illuminated page he is reading, the carpet under his feet, the ceiling, front, inside and outside walls of his house, but its floor plan as well, constitute such an arabesque where the garden, patio, vestibule, and every chamber is an autonomous center with its own arabesque generating its own momentum. But what is an arabesque? We have used the term above assuming the reader's knowledge of it. Rightly so! For the arabesque is immediately distinguishable from any other artistic form. It is ubiquitous in all Muslim constitutes the definitive characteristic or element in an Islamic art. It is rightly called "arabesque" because it is Arab as Arabic poetry and the Arabic Quran are Arab in their esthetique. Its presence transforms any milieu into something Islamic, and it is what gives unity to the arts of the most diverse peoples. It is readily recognizable, indeed unmistakable. Essentially, it is a design composed of many units or figures which join together and interlace in such way as to cause the spectator to move from one figure or unit to another in all directions, until the vision has crossed the work of art from physical end to end. The figure or unit is indeed complete and autonomous; but it is joined to the next figure or unit. The vision is compelled to move on, having followed the outline and perceived the design of the one figure, to seek those of the next. This constitutes its "rhythm." The movement can be dull the more detached the figures are from one another. It can be uninvolving as in the case of a simple weave of straight lines. However, the more closely related the figures are, thus compelling movement, punctuation and rhythm, and the more resistance to the movement is put up by the circuity and brokenness of the lines, the more power is the arabesque's momentum. The greater the momentum, the easier will the mind generate the "idea of reason" for the imagination's take-off beyond the physical boundary of the work of art, as it attempts to produce what the mind has demanded. It is necessary for this process to be repeated, and so there are many different arabesques in any work of art, each covering one structural part. The purpose is obvious: the launching of the imagination upon its doomed flight. It may come with the second, third, or tenth arabesque, if' not with the first.

Arabesques are floral or geometric, depending on whether they use al tawriq (the stalk-leaf-flower), or the geometric'rasm (figure) as artistic medium. The geometric figure can be khatt (linear)if it uses straight and broken lines, or rami (trajectory) if it uses multicentred curved ones. It may also combine all these together and be called then rakhwi. Arabesques are planar if they have two dimensions, as most decorative ones on walls, doors, ceilings, furniture, cloth and carpets, book covers and pages have. They can also be spatial, or three-dimensional, constructed with pillars and arches and the ribs of domes. This kind is the distinguished specialty of architecture in the Maghrib ami Andalusia, and has reached its highest exemplification in the great Mosque of Cordoba and al fIamrii' palace in Granada. In al Hamra, a whole dome is made of innumerable interlacing arches standing on visible columns, which only the most fervid imagination can see and trace in their course. There, the momentum is so mighty that it can propel and launch anybody willing to move with its rhythm to immediate intuition of infinity. The grand facade of a tremendous mosque, the portal in a large wall, the
panel in the portal, the knob on which vision happens to fall, the miniature on a page of a book, the design on a carpet, or one's own clothes, or belt, or buckle of a belt express to the Muslim: la ilaha illa Allah by causing him to perceive the infinity and inexpressibility of the transcendent realm of not-nature, of not-creation.

http://new.islamic-world.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=683:the-islamic-breakthrough-in-esthetics&catid=36:islamic-sosiology&Itemid=68

SCIENCE AND SCHOLARSHIP IN AL-ANDALUS

For Europe and Western civilization the contributions of Islamic Spain were of inestimable value. When the Muslims entered southern Spain - which they called al-Andalus - barbarians from the north had overrun much of Europe and the classical civilization of Greece and Rome had gone into eclipse. Islamic Spain then became a bridge by which the scientific, technological, and philosophical legacy of the 'Abbasid period, along with the achievements of al-Andalus itself, passed into Europe.

In the first century of Islamic rule in Spain the culture was largely derived from that of the flourishing civilization being developed by the 'Abbasids in Baghdad. But then, during the reign of 'Abd al-Rahman III (912-961), Islamic Spain began to make its own contributions.

'Abd al-Rahman III was passionately interested in both the religious and the secular sciences. He was also determined to show the world that his court at Cordoba equaled in greatness that of the caliphs at Baghdad. Sparing neither time nor expense, he imported books from Baghdad and actively recruited scholars by offering hand some inducements. Soon, as a result, scholars, poets, philosophers, historians, and musicians began to migrate to al-Andalus. Soon, too, an infrastructure of libraries, hospitals, research institutions, and centers of Islamic studies grew up, establishing the intellectual tradition and educational system which made Spain outstanding for the next four hundred years.

One of the earliest of the scholars drawn to al-Andalus was 'Abbas ibn Firnas, who came to Cordoba to teach music (then a branch of mathematical theory) and to acquaint the court of 'Abd al-Rahman with the recent developments in this field in Baghdad. Not a man to limit himself to a single field of study, however, Ibn Firnas soon began to investigate the mechanics of flight. He constructed a pair of wings out of feathers on a wooden frame and made the first attempt at flight, anticipating Leonardo da Vinci by some six hundred years. Later, having survived the experiment with a back injury, he also constructed a famous planetarium. Not only was it mechanized - the planets actually revolved - but it simulated such celestial phenomena as thunder and lightning.

As in the 'Abbasid centers of learning, Islamic Spain's interest in mathematics, astronomy, and medicine was always lively - partly because of their obvious utility. In the tenth century Cordoban mathematicians began to make their own original contributions. The first original mathematician and astronomer of al-Andalus was Maslamah al-Majriti, who died in 1008. He had been preceded by competent scientists - men like Ibn Abi 'Ubaydah of Valencia, a leading astronomer in the ninth century. But al-Majriti was in a class by himself. He wrote a number of works on mathematics and astronomy, studied and elaborated the Arabic translation of Ptolemy's Almagest, and enlarged and corrected the astronomical tables of the famous al-Khwarazmi. He also compiled conversion tables in which the dates of the Persian calendar were related to Hijrah dates, so that for the first time the events of Persia's past could be dated with precision.

Al-Zarqali, known to the West as Arzachel, was another leading mathematician and astronomer who flourished in Cordoba in the eleventh century. Combining theoretical knowledge with technical skill, he excelled at the construction of precision instruments for astronomical use and built a water clock capable of determining the hours of the day and night and indicating the days of the lunar months. He also contributed to the famous Toledan Tables, a highly accurate compilation of astronomical data. Arzachel was famous as well for his Book of Tables. Many "books of tables" had been compiled before then, but his is an almanac containing tables which allow one to find the days on which Coptic, Roman, lunar, and Persian months begin, other tables which give the position of planets at any given time, and still others facilitating the prediction of solar and lunar eclipses. He also compiled valuable tables of latitude and longitude.

Another important scholar was al-Bitruji, who developed a new theory of stellar movement, based on Aristotle's thinking, in his Book of Form, a work that was later popular in the West. The names of many stars are still those given them by Muslim astronomers, such as Altair (from al-tair, "the flier"), Deneb (from dhanab, "tail"), and Betelgeuse (from bayt al-jawza, "the house of the twins" or "Gemini"). Other terms still in use today such as zenith, nadir, and azimuth are also derived from Arabic and so reflect the work of the Muslim astronomers of al-Andalus and their impact on the West.

Scientists of Islamic Spain also contributed to medicine, the Muslim science par excellence. Interest in medicine goes back to the very earliest times (the Prophet himself stated that there was a remedy for every illness), '' and although the greatest Muslim physicians practiced in Baghdad, those in al-Andalus made important contributions too. Ibn al-Nafis, for example, discovered the pulmonary circulation of blood.

During the tenth century in particular, al-Andalus produced a large number of excellent physicians, some of whom studied Greek medical works translated at the famous House of Wisdom in Baghdad. Among them was Ibn Shuhayd, who in a fundamental work recommended drugs be used only if the patient did not respond to diet and urged that only simple drugs be employed in all cases but the most serious. Another important figure was Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi, the most famous surgeon of the Middle Ages. Known in the West as Abulcasis and Al-bucasis, he was the author of the Tasrif, a book that, translated into Latin, became the leading medical text European universities during the later Middle Ages. Its section on surgery contains illustrations of surgical instruments of elegant, functional design and great precision.

Other chapters describe amputations, ophthalmic and dental surgery, and the treatment of wounds and fractures. Ibn Zuhr, known as Avenzoar, was the first to describe pericardial abscesses and to recommend tracheotomy when necessary as well as being a skilled practical physician, and Ibn Rushd wrote an important book on medical theories and precepts. The last of the great Andalusian physicians, Ibn al-Khatib, also a noted historian, poet, and statesman, wrote an important book on the theory of contagion in which he said: "The fact infection becomes clear to the investigator, whereas he who is not in contact remains safe," and described how transmission is effected through garments, vessels, and earrings.

Islamic Spain made contributions to medical ethics and hygiene as well. One of the most eminent theologians and jurists, Ibn Hazm, insisted that moral qualities were mandatory in a physician. A doctor, he wrote, should be kind, understanding, friendly, and able to endure insults and adverse criticism. Furthermore, he went on, a doctor should keep his hair and fingernails short, wear clean clothes, and behave with dignity.

As an outgrowth of medicine, Andalusian scientists also interested themselves in botany. Ibn al-Baytar, for example, the most famous Andalusian botanist, wrote a book called Simple Drugs and Food, an alphabetically arranged compendium of medicinal plants, most of which were native to Spain and North Africa, and which he had spent a lifetime gathering. In another treatise Ibn al-'Awwam lists hundreds of species of plants and gives precise instructions regarding their cultivation and use. He writes, for example, of how to graft trees, produce hybrids, stop blights and insect pests, and make perfume.

Another important field of study in al-Andalus was the study of geography. Partly out of economic and political considerations, but mostly out of an all-consuming curiosity about the world and its inhabitants, the scholars of Islamic Spain started with works from Baghdad and went on to add such contributions as a basic geography of al-Andalus by Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Razi and a description of the topography of North Africa by Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Warraq. Another contributor to geography was al-Bakri, an important minister at the court of Seville but also an accomplished linguist and litterateur. One of his two important geographical works is devoted to the geography of the Arabian Peninsula, with particular attention to the elucidation of its place-names. It is arranged alphabetically, and lists the names of villages, towns, wadis, and monuments which he culled from the hadith and from histories. The other was an encyclopedia of the entire world, arranged by country, with each entry preceded by a short historical introduction. It included descriptions of the people, customs, and climate of each country, the principal features, the major cities, and even anecdotes.

In the study of geography such figures as Ibn Jubayr, an Andalusian traveler, and the most famous traveler of all Ibn Battutah, also made important contributions. Born in North Africa, then in the cultural orbit of Islamic Spain, Ibn Battutah traveled extensively for twenty-eight years and produced a travel book that proved to be a rich source for both historians and geographers. It included invaluable information on people, places, navigation, caravan routes, roads, and inns. But the most famous geographer of the period was al-ldrisi, who studied in Cordoba. After traveling widely, al-ldrisi settled in Sicily and wrote a systematic geography of the world, usually known as the Book of Roger after his patron Roger II, the Norman King of Sicily. The information contained in the Book of Roger was also engraved on a silver planisphere, a disc-shaped map that was one of the wonders of the age.

Innumerable scholars in al-Andalus also devoted themselves to the study of history and linguistic sciences, the prime ''social sciences" cultivated by the Arabs, and brought them to a high level. Ibn al-Khatib, for example, who distinguished himself in almost all branches of learning, produced more than fifty works on travel, medicine, poetry, music, politics, and theology, as well as writing the finest history of Granada that has survived. The most original mind of the period, however, was undoubtedly Ibn Khaldun, the first historian to develop and explicate general laws governing the rise and decline of civilizations. In the Prolegomena, an introduction to a huge, seven volume universal history - an introduction longer than some of the volumes - Ibn Khaldun approached history as to a science and challenged the logic of many accepted historical accounts. In a sense, he was the first modern philosopher of history.


Photo: Al-Idrisi's planisphere is considered the first scientific map of the world.

Another great area of Andalusian intellectual activity was philosophy, where an attempt was made to deal with intellectual problems posed by the introduction of Greek philosophy into the context of Islam. One of the first to deal with this was Ibn Hazm, who as the author of more than four hundred books has been described as "one of the giants of the intellectual history of Islam." There were other philosophers too, such as Ibn Bajjah, known to the West as Avempace, who was also a physician and Ibn Tufayl, the author of Hayy ibn Yaqzan, the story of a child growing up in complete solitude on a desert island who, entirely by his own intellectual efforts, discovers for himself the highest physical and metaphysical realities. It was however, Averroes - Ibn Rushd - who earned the greatest reputation. He was an ardent Aristotelian and his works had a lasting effect, in their Latin translation, on the development of Western philosophy.

The list of Islamic Spain's contributions to the West, in fact, is almost endless. In addition to Islamic Spain's contributions in mathematics, economy, medicine, botany, geography, history, and philosophy, al-Andalus also developed and applied important technological innovations: the windmill and new techniques in the crafts of metalworking, weaving, and building.

http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/ihame/Ref4.htm

Tambah Rezeki Dengan Berkahwin

Islam sebagai satu jalan dan cara hidup komprehensif memberi penekanan penting meletakkan garis panduan serta piawaian tinggi yang terperinci bagi membimbing manusia ke arah keredaanNya.

Dalam Islam, perkahwinan dan hubungan suami isteri serta seisi keluarga adalah perkara mulia dipandang penting.

Allah SWT yang mencipta manusia dengan sebaik kejadian, meletakkan unsur syahwat dan menanam perasaan kasih sayang yang bergerak selari dengan perkembangan kemanusiaan itu sendiri.

Islam meraikan fitrah dan keperluan hidup manusia, contohnya keperluan ingin dikasihi, mempunyai pasangan hidup serta keluarga sebagai tempat menerima serta mencurahkan kasih sayang.

Oleh itu, semua orang yang berkemampuan dan cukup syarat dianjurkan berkahwin dan membina keluarga.

Allah SWT berfirman yang bermaksud: "Dan di antara tanda yang membuktikan kekuasaan-Nya dan rahmat-Nya bahawa Dia menciptakan untuk kamu isteri-isteri daripada jenis kamu sendiri supaya kamu bersenang hati dan hidup mesra dengannya, dan dijadikan di antara kamu suami isteri perasaan kasih sayang dan belas kasihan." (Surah al-Rum, ayat 21)

Islam turut memberi panduan bagi golongan muda yang ingin berkahwin dengan niat menjaga diri daripada dosa dan maksiat, tetapi khuatir rezekinya sama ada mencukupi atau tidak untuk menanggung keluarga.

Dalam hal ini, sekiranya usaha mencari rezeki dijalankan dengan tersusun selepasnya, yakinlah bahawa rezeki akan dimudahkan melalui perkahwinan itu.

Ia dinyatakan dalam firman Allah yang bermaksud: "Dan kahwinilah orang yang sendirian di antara kamu, dan orang yang layak (berkahwin) daripada hamba yang lelaki dan perempuan. Jika mereka miskin, Allah akan mengkayakan mereka daripada rezeki-Nya. Dan Allah Maha Luas Pemberian-Nya dan Maha Mengetahui." (Surah al-Nur, ayat 32)

Namun begitu, sekiranya seseorang belum mempunyai kemampuan dan persediaan menempuh kehidupan berkeluarga, maka hendaklah berusaha menahan hawa nafsu dengan sebaiknya.

Panduan itu diberikan Rasulullah SAW dalam sabdanya yang bermaksud: "Wahai orang muda, sesiapa di antara kamu yang mampu berkahwin maka hendaklah dia berkahwin kerana ia (iaitu perkahwinan) dapat mengawal mata dan kemaluan. Barang siapa yang tidak mampu maka hendaklah dia berpuasa kerana ia (iaitu puasa) akan menjadi penjaga baginya." (Riwayat Bukhari dan Muslim)

Islam sebenarnya tidak menggalakkan umatnya mengambil sikap berkecuali dengan tidak mementingkan urusan perkahwinan. Rasulullah SAW pernah menggambarkan kegembiraan Baginda di akhirat dengan bilangan umatnya yang ramai hasil daripada perkahwinan berlangsung di kalangan umatnya.

Sabda Baginda SAW bermaksud: "Nabi SAW menyuruh kami supaya berkahwin dan melarang kami membujang. Larangan itu beliau tekankan dengan cukup keras dengan bersabda: "Nikahilah wanita yang subur dan penyayang, kerana aku berasa bangga melihat umatku yang ramai pada hari kiamat kelak." (Riwayat Ahmad)

Namun begitu, kita perlu melihat dengan lebih terperinci bahawa apa yang menjadi impian Rasulullah SAW adalah umatnya ramai, berkualiti, mempunyai jati diri Muslim sebenar.

Apakah yang dikatakan perkahwinan itu? Dr Wahbah al-Zuhayli dalam kitabnya al-Fiqh al-Islamiy meletakkan definisi perkahwinan atau al-nikah sebagai 'satu akad yang menghalalkan pergaulan di antara seorang lelaki dengan seorang perempuan bukan muhrim, menimbulkan hak dan kewajipan antara kedua-dua mereka.'

Menerusi definisi ini, beberapa perkara penting dapat dikeluarkan:

# Pertama, perkahwinan menyatukan antara dua insan yang saling menyintai dengan menggunakan akad ijab kabul yang sah dalam Islam. Ia berkait perjanjian dengan Allah untuk menjaga perkara yang digariskan antara mereka selepas akad dilaksankan. Justeru, perkahwinan mempunyai nilai keagamaan, ketundukan kepada Allah dan mematuhi peraturan yang Allah tetapkan untuk dijaga di sepanjang prkahwinan berlangsung.

# Kedua, adalah jelas bahawa perkahwinan hanya boleh berlaku di antara lelaki dan perempuan yang bukan muhrim. Dengan itu, Islam tidak membenarkan hubungan sesama muhrim walaupun mereka saling mencintai seperti anak dan bapa, adik beradik, anak saudara dengan bapa saudara dan sebagainya. Termasuklah hubungan muhrim yang terbina dari pertalian darah, susuan dan persemendaan.

# Ketiga, hanya selepas wujudnya akad perkahwinan, barulah wujud hak dan tanggungjawab yang perlu dipatuhi dan ditunaikan pasangan terbabit. Hak isteri adalah tanggungjawab suami untuk tunaikan dan hak suami menjadi tanggungjawab isteri untuk tunaikan. Hak anak yang lahir selepas ikatan itu menjadi tanggungjawab ayah dan ibu untuk tunaikan. Istilah tanggungjawab pula memberi konotasi yang besar, perkara yang ditanggung dan perlu ditunaikan dengan ikhlas, jika gagal maka ada pertanggungjawaban di hadapan Allah di akhirat kelak terhadap pengabaian dan kegagalan itu. Itulah elemen keagamaan dan ketundukan kepada Allah di dalam perkahwinan.

# Keempat, definisi itu juga menjelaskan bahawa pasangan yang belum berkahwin, sama ada yang sedang bercinta atau bertunang, belum wujud sebarang hak dan tanggungjawab antara mereka. Hubungan mereka belum dihalalkan agama dan mereka tidak boleh bebas bergaul, berpegangan tangan, berpelukan apatah lagi melakukan hubungan kelamin kerana Islam tidak mengiktiraf mereka sebagai pasangan yang sah. Inilah yang paling ketara antara perkahwinan di sisi pandangan barat dan Islam. Bagi golongan barat, apabila pasangan saling cinta mencintai, maka hubungan kelamin adalah suatu yang lumrah. Agama tidak mempunyai peranan dalam pembawaan dan keputusan dibuat. Kerana itu, melakukan hubungan kelamin, mempunyai anak sebelum berkahwin adalah perkara bukan mengaibkan atau pelik dalam masyarakat mereka. Islam tidak membenarkan kita menyerupai dan mengambil langkah seperti mereka.

# Kelima, akad perkahwinan adalah ikatan murni antara lelaki dan perempuan untuk hidup bersama dalam sebuah rumah tangga. Nilai keagamaan sangat jelas dizahirkan di mana tertolaklah perkahwinan sama jantina, lelaki dengan lelaki, perempuan dengan perempuan. Barat menerima perkembangan yang berlaku di mana lelaki boleh berkahwin dengan lelaki dan wanita berkahwin dengan wanita. Ia kerana perkahwinan bagi mereka adalah titik akhir penzahiran kecintaan antara dua insan. Tidak ada hubung kait dengan elemen keagamaan. Sedangkan Islam sama sekali tidak mengiktiraf hubungan gay atau lesbian. Bahkan Islam tidak mengiktiraf perkahwinan mana-mana pihak yang membuat pembedahan tukar jantina. Islam tidak mengiktiraf perkahwinan lelaki menjadi perempuan dan perempuan menjadi lelaki.

# Keenam, perkahwinan adalah ikatan suci yang bukan saja menggabungkan dua insan, tetapi dua keluarga dan keturunan. Maka silaturahim antara manusia akan berkembang dan kehidupan lebih berseri.

- Artikel iluvislam.com

http://www.iluvislam.com/keluarga/perkahwinan/2442-tambah-rezeki-dengan-berkahwin.html

Membina Kemahiran Berfikir

Berfikir tidak saja suatu kegiatan akal tetapi ia boleh dibentuk sebagai suatu kemahiran. Kemahiran berfikir tidak datang begitu saja tetapi memerlukan latihan dan juga persiapan.

Berfikir sekadar berfikir melihat sesuatu seadanya tidak mendatangkan apa-apa kemahiran. Tetapi sesuatu itu apabila ditanggapi berasaskan perspektif tertentu maka kemahiran mula terbentuk.

Melihat silih gantian siang dan malam, hujan dan panas, angin dan ribut seadanya tidak membimbing seseorang kepada kemahiran berfikir.

Tetapi apabila seseorang mula bertanya hikmah di sebalik hal-hal tersebut, kemahiran berfikir mula wujud. Mengagumi sumber-sumber alam yang banyak, keindahan pemandangan, debur ombak dan kicau burung boleh menjadi fenomena biasa. Ia akan menjadi suatu kemahiran apabila seseorang mula mengkaji secara tafakur dan tadabbur hikmah di sebalik kejadian tersebut. Ia mendorong tidak saja melihat sesuatu itu sebagai fenomena biasa tetapi ada rahsia yang boleh dikongsi tidak saja untuk manfaat kehidupan tetapi ada manafaat yang lebih tinggi dan murni.

Berfikir secara tafakur dan tadabbur tidak saja melihat sesuatu secara zahiri atau gambaran luaran seadanya tetapi ia membimbing manusia bertanya di sebalik adanya sesuatu, tentu adanya proses penciptaan. Sesuatu itu tidak dicipta atau dijadikan atau wujud dengan begitu saja tetapi tentu bersebab. Walau pun keupayaan berfikir tidak mungkin mampu menjawab semua perkara tetapi ada pedoman asas yang membolehkan seseorang menghubungkan faktor kewujudan dengan faktor penciptaan dan faktor penciptaan sebagai sumber hikmah.

Oleh itu sebagai pemikir yang Islami, proses berfikir harus ditautkan dengan asas tauhid. Faktor tauhid menghubungkan kejadian sebagai ciptaan Allah. Sesuatu tidak terjadi tanpa hikmah tetapi sesuatu terjadi dan dicipta mempunyai maksud tertentu. Maksud itu boleh dikaji oleh akal manusia dalam batasan yang termampu. Dalam batas yang termampu manusia boleh sampai kepada suatu titik tentang keperkasaan dan kebesaran Allah s.w.t..

Apabila al-Quran dalam surah al-Alaq menyebutkan tentang kejadian manusia dari sebutir nutfah, ayat terawal dari Allah itu sudah membuka ruang fikir manusia tentang sains embriologi atau kejadian manusia. Apabila surah al- Mukminun: 12-14 mengisahkan bagaimana Allah menciptakan manusia dari pati yang berasal dari tanah, meletakkan air benih 'pada tempat penetapan yang teguh kukuh', kemudian menjadi sebuku darah beku, kemudian menjadi seketul daging, kemudian beberapa tulang, kemudian dibalut dengan daging-daging dan menjadi manusia yang sempurna.

Hikmah yang terungkap dari al-Quran ini mendorong pemikir mengembangkan pemikirannya dengan mengambil perspektif sains sebagai asas. Perspektif sains mendapati ungkapan al-Quran itu tidak bercanggah dengan kaedah dan dapatan sains moden.

Al-Quran, dalam Surah al-Mukminun ayat 18, menyebutkan tentang bagaimana Allah s.w.t. menurunkan hujan dengan sukatan yang tertentu serta ditempatkan air hujan itu tersimpan di bumi dan sesungguhnya Allah Maha Berkuasa melenyapkannya. Ayat ini memberi perspektif berfikir mengenai matematik, geologi dan juga memahami kekuasaan Allah. Ayat ini kalau dikembangkan dalam pemikiran secara tafakur dan tadabbur, ia mampu membimbing seseorang kepada pemikiran sains yang Qurani.

Oleh itu kemahiran berfikir secara Islami tidak saja memanfaatkan potensi akliah dan indrawiah sebagai sumber mendapatkan ilmu dan maklumat yang berbagai tetapi apabila asas maklumat, ilmu itu dilihat menerusi jendela tafakur dan tadabbur, ia mampu membimbing pemikiran manusia di tahap tinggi. Pemikiran tahap tinggi inilah yang sering menghubungkan kemahiran berfikir tidak secara lepas bebas tetapi kemahiran berfikir yang ditautkan dengan memahami dan menginsafi tanda-tanda kebesaran dan keperkasaan Allah.

Bezanya orang-orang Islam dengan orang-orang bukan Islam dalam membangun tradisi pemikiran ialah kemahiran berfikir, baik ia bersifat rasional, logik, reflektif, kreatif, lateral, kritikal atau saintifik tidak saja berkembang dalam potensi akal dan inderawi seadanya menerusi proses pemerhatian dan pengamatan serta uji kaji bagi melahirkan hipotesis, teori dan andaian tentang sesuatu tetapi ia dipandu oleh sumber naqliah atau wahyu sebagai pedoman memahami perkara yang nyata dan juga perkara yang ghaib.

Para remaja Islam perlu memahami asas kemahiran berfikir yang sifatnya integratif. Tidak mungkin remaja Islam mampu berfikir di tahap tinggi tanpa memahami al-Quran sebagai sumber dan sunah Nabi sebagai manifestasi amal Islami. Pra syarat untuk mengembangkan kemahiran berfikir walau dalam apa bentuk pun bermula dengan penguasaan ilmu.

Dengan mendalami ilmu tafsir dan ilmu-ilmu yang berkaitan dengannya para remaja boleh membina kemahiran berfikir yang tidak saja mengambil pendekatan akliah dan inderawiah sebagai asas tetapi boleh dilanjutkan lebih jauh lagi supaya asas naqliah dapat dijadikan pedoman dalam membina kemahiran berfikir dalam perspektif yang berbagai.

Alam dan kehidupan, peristiwa dan kejadian adalah sumber-sumber yang amat relevan dalam mengembangkan kemahiran berfikir. Kemahiran berfikir akan subur kerana sentuhan pemikiran tidak saja kepada asas yang tersurat tetapi menjurus kepada hal-hal yang tersirat. Asas berfikir tidak saja melihat kepada fenomena sesuatu yang nyata tetapi juga merasakan nikmat iman mengenai sesuatu yang ghaib. Darinya mendekatkan pemikir kepada Pencipta dan Pengurus alam ini dan darinya lahir jiwa-jiwa yang muttaqin.

Asas berfikir tidak saja menanggapi sesuatu secara zahiri tetapi faktor batini juga diambil kira. Darinya lahir jiwa ihsan yang merasakan kemurnian makna kehidupan yang membolehkan remaja hidup secara sejahtera dan menginsafi bahawa remaja dijadikan oleh-Nya sebagai hamba dan khalifah untuk melaksanakan misi ibadullah dan ibadur rahman.

Jiwa iqra' yang menjadi asas kepada ditanzilkan al-Quran harus mendorong remaja tidak saja berfikir dalam perspektif yang dangkal. Berfikir secara zahiri yang tidak ditautkan dengan faktor batini menjadikan hasil pemikiran hambar. Jiwa iqra' harus memandu remaja melihat sesuatu dari jendela yang zahiri dan batini serta mendorong perspektif pemikiran didukung oleh nilai dan etika dan menyebabkan remaja merasai bahawa memahami faktor zahiri saja tidak cukup untuk mencari makna diri, kehidupan dan alam.

Berpandukan sumber nilai yang sifatnya Qurani, ia bakal memberikan kemahiran berfikir yang Islami dan remaja bakal menjadi pemikir yang tidak saja mampu menukil ilmu dan maklumat hasil adanya proses berfikir tetapi ilmu dan maklumat itu sifatnya mempedoman remaja ke arah jalan berfikir yang lebih fitrah

-Artikel Iluvislam.com

Saatnya Untuk Menikah

"Apabila datang kepadamu seorang laki-laki datang untuk meminang yang engkau redha terhadap agama dan akhlaqnya maka nikahkanlah dia. Bila tidak engkau lakukan maka akan terjadi fitnah di muka bumi dan akan timbul kerusakan yang merata di muka bumi." - HR Tarmidzi dan Ahmad

Saya tidak tahu apakah ini merupakan Hukum Sejarah yang digariskan allah

Ketika orang mempersulit apa yang dimudahkan Allah, mereka akhirnya benar-benar mendapati keadaan yang sulit dan nyaris tak menemukan jalan keluarnya.

Mereka menunda-nunda pernikahan tanpa ada alasan Syar'ie dan akhirnya mereka benar-benar takut melangkah di saat hati sudah sangat menginginkannya.

Atau ada yang sudah benar-benar gelisah tak kunjung ada yang mahu serius.

Lingkaran Ketakutan Berlanjutan

Bila di usia dua puluh tahunan mereka menunda pernikahan karena takut dengan ekonominya yang belum mapan, di usia menjelang tiga puluh hingga tiga puluh lima berubah lagi masalahnya.

Laki-laki mengalami Sindrom Kemapanan (meski wanita juga banyak yang demikian, terutama mendekati usia 30).

Mereka (laki-laki) menginginkan pendamping dengan kriteria yang sulit dipenuhi.

Seperti Hukum Kategori, semakin banyak kriteria semakin sedikit yang masuk kategori.

Begitu pula Kriteria Tentang Jodoh, ketika menetapkan kriteria yang terlalu banyak maka akhirnya tidak ada yang sesuai dengan keinginan kita.

Sementara wanita yang sudah berusia sekitar 35 tahun, masalahnya bukan kriteria tetapi soal apakah ada orang yang mau menikah dengannya?

Ketika usia sudah 40-an, ketakutan kaum laki-laki sudah berbeza lagi, kecuali bagi mereka yang tetap terjaga hatinya.

Jika sebelumnya banyak kriteria yang dipasang pada usia 40-an muncul ketakutan apakah dapat mendampingi isteri dengan baik.

Lebih-lebih lagi ketika usia beranjak 50 tahun, ada ketakutan lain yang mencekam.

Iaitu kekhawatiran ketidakmampuan mencari nafkah sementara anak masih kecil.

Atau ketika masalah nafkah tak merisaukan khawatir kematian lebih dahulu menjemput sementara anak-anak masih banyak perlu dinasihati.

Bila Iman Tiada Makan Muncul Putus Asa

Jangan ditunda-tunda apa yang menghimpit saudara kita sehingga mereka sanggup menitiskan air mata.

Awalnya adalah kerana mereka menunda apa yang harus disegerakan, mempersulit apa yang seharusnya dimudahkan. Padahal Rasulullah s.a.w. berpesan:

Wahai Ali, ada Tiga perkara jangan ditunda-tunda; apabila Solat telah tiba waktunya, Jenazah apabila telah siap penguburannya, dan Perempuan apabila telah datang laki-laki yang sepadan meminangnya." - HR Ahmad

Hadis ini menujukkan agar tidak boleh mempersulit pernikahan baik langsung mahupun tak langsung.

Secara 'lansung' adalah menuntut mahar yang terlalu tinggi. Atau yang sejenis dengan itu. Ada lagi yang 'tidak secara langsung'.

Mereka membuat kebiasaan yang mempersulit, meski nyata-nyata menuntut mahar yang tinggi atau resepsi yang mewah.

Sebahagian orang mengadakan acara peminangan sebagai acara tersendiri yang tidak boleh kalah mewah dari resepsi pernikahan sebahagian lainnya melazimkan acara penyerahan hadiah atau wang belanja untuk biaya pernikahan secara tersendiri.

Bila seseorang tak kuat menahan beban, maka bisa saja melakukan penundaan pernikahan semata-mata hanya kerana masalah ini.

Saya sangat khawatir akan keruhnya niat dan bergesernya tujuan, sehingga pernikahan itu kehilangan barokahnya.

Naudzubillah! Penyebab lain adalah lemahnya keyakinan kita bahwa Allah pasti akan memberi rezeki atau boleh jadi cerminan dari sifat tidak qona'ah (mencukupkan diri dengan yang ada).

Pilihlah Yang Bertaqwa

Suatu saat ada yang datang menemui Al Hasan (cucu Rasulullah). Ia ingin bertanya sebaiknya dengan siapa putrinya menikah? Maka Al Hasan r.a berkata:

"Kawinkanlah dia dengan orang yang bertakwa kepada Allah. Ini kerana, jika laki-laki mencintainya, ia memuliakannya, dan jika ia tidak menyenanginya, ia tidak akan berbuat zalim kepadanya."

Nasihat Al- Hasan menuntun kita untuk menjernihkan fikiran. Jika kita menikah dengan orang yang bertakwa, cinta yang semula tiada meski cuma benihnya, dapat bersemi indah karena komitmen yang memenuhi jiwa.

Wallahu alam bi showwab.

- Artikel iluvislam.com

Kau Adi Guru

Kau Adi Guru

anak-anak menjerit
pelajar nakal
murid-murid bising
kau tegur, bimbing dan ajar
penuh sabar, ikhlas dan senyum
kuntum bibir lebar
dan rasa sayang di hati…
kerana…
kau lah guru…

murid mengantuk
main di barisan belakang
mencemuh teguranmu
abai nasihatmu
terkadang menentangmu
kau tetap nasihati, dekati
belaikata dan bimbing
penuh hikmah tanpa marah
malah cerna kasihsayang
luhur hati
oh… hebatnya
kerana kaulah guru…

pelajar buat salah
besar dan buruk tingkahlaku
didenda engkar disiplin
terkenal rosak akhlak
tapi kau tetap dekati
dan… kaunseling
tanpa lalai ingati selalu
semua murid itu
dengan hati ceria
tanpa rasa benci
malah didoakan
dan belaian jiwa…
kerana kau lah guru

bila ibu bapa sergah
marah guru dan sekolah
sokong anak buta tuli
kata seranah caci
kau tetap terima saja
tanpa bantah kata
cuma jawab hikmah
lembut gigi dari lidah
tinggi sopan mu
kerana… kau lah guru

bila pelajar dapat anugerah
cemerlang tinggi markah
ibubapa kata ini lah anakku
inilah hasil didikkan ku
laungkan sirna anaknya
tanpa sedar jasa gurunya
tapi kau doa syukur
berbunga hati murid tersohor
tanpa rasa kecewa hati
kerana tidak dihargai
itulah kau… guru

suatu hari suatu masa
jumpa murid dan keluarga berjaya
dia tak kenal dirimu guru
engkau tegur manis selalu
tanpa rasa gundah
lupakan jasa jerih silam
itu amanah tak perlu ulang
engkau buat kerana Allah
didik manusia jadi khalifah
itulah tugasmu… guru

terkadang jua engkau jumpa
murid tua tegur salam mesra
telah lupa tapi murid kisahkan
betapa dulu engkau beri didikan
oh… kagum akan adab muridmu
engkau sebak sayu dirgahayu
tapi tetap kata itu semua
adalah kecil belaka
cikgu cuma bimbing sekelumit
sebagai ajaran ilmu yang sedikit
oh… guru..
sungguh tinggi jiwa nurani
hebat budimu dan merendah diri
kerana…
kau lah adi guru..

adi guru yang sebenar…

Ibni Khalid Jurait

Tabarruj Di Facebook

Facebook merupakan laman sosial kegilaan ramai buat masa kini. Cukup aneh untuk berjumpa dengan seseorang yang tidak mempunyai sekurang-kurangnya sebuah akaun facebook. Namun di sebalik penggunaan facebook ini, tanpa kita sedari pelbagai dosa berlaku di kalangan pengguna. Ustaz Zaharudin ada mengulas mengenai dosa-dosa & facebook, bagaimanapun saya ingin menfokuskan pada salah satu point yang diberi beliau iaitu 'terlebih gambar'. Sikap suka menunjuk-nunjuk gambar boleh dikaitkan dengan tabarruj, iaitu suatu dosa yang dianggap remeh oleh masyarakat kita. Apakah itu tabarruj? Suatu persoalan yang perlu dihurai lanjut.

TABARRUJ ialah mendedahkan kecantikan rupa paras sama ada kecantikan itu di bahagian muka atau di anggota-anggota badan yang lain. Al-Bukhari rahmatullah 'alaihi ada berkata:

“tabarruj, iaitu seorang wanita yang memperlihatkan kecantikan rupa parasnya”.

Untuk menjaga masyarakat daripada bahaya pendedahan ‘aurat dan disamping menjaga kehormatan wanita dari sebarang pencerobohan, maka dengan yang demikian Allah melarang setiap wanita yang berakal lagi telah baligh dari bertabarruj. Allah s.w.t telah berfirman dalam surah an-Nur ayat 31 yang bermaksud:

“Katakanlah kepada wanita yang beriman: Hendaklah mereka menahan pandangannya dan memelihara kemaluannya, dan janganlah mereka menampakkan perhiasannya, kecuali yang bisa nampak daripadanya. Dan hendaklah mereka menutupkan kain tudung ke dadanya, dan jangan menampakkan perhiasannya, kecuali kepada suami mereka atau ayah mereka atau ayah suami mereka, atau putera-putera mereka, atau putera-putera suami mereka, atau saudara-saudara mereka, putera-putera lelaki mereka, atau putera-putera saudara perempuan mereka, atau wanita-wanita Islam, atau budak-budak yang mereka miliki, atau pelayan-pelayan lelaki yang tidak mempunyai keinginan (terhadap wanita) atau anak-anak yang belum mengerti tentang ‘aurat wanita. Dan jangalah mereka menghentakkan kaki untuk diketahui orang akan apa yang tersembunyi dari perhiasan mereka.Dan bertaubatlah kamu sekalian kepada Allah hai orang-orang yang beriman supaya kamu beruntung.”

Dengan ini jelas bahawa sebarang corak perhiasan di anggota badan atau di pakaian, adalah boleh membawa fitnah. Dengan inilah Allah melarang bermake-up. Larangan seperti ini hanya sanggup ditaati oleh wanita-wanita yang beriman sahaja kerana takut kepada kemurkaan Allah dan seksaan dari-NYA. Berikut pula mari kita renungi firman Allah khasnya yang ditujukan kepada isteri-isteri Rasulullah s.a.w yang bermaksud:

“Hai isteri-isteri Nabi(a.s), kamu sekalian tidaklah seperti wanita yang lain, jika kau bertaqwa. Kerana itu janganlah kamu terlalu lunak dalam bicara sehingga berkeinginanlah orang yang ada perasaan serong di dalam hatinya, tetapi ucaplah perkataan yang baik.” (Al-ahzab: 32)

Daripada ayat ini dapatlah difahamkan bahawa suara lemah lembut adalah sebahagian daripada ‘aurat wanita juga.Kembali lagi kita kepada jenis alat-alat make-up. Rasulullah s.a.w bersabda yang bermaksud:

“Andainya wanita keluar dari rumah serta memakai bau-bauan, maka dia sudah dianggap melakukan perzinaan”
Penggunaan wangi-wangian sembur atau jenis jenis bauan bagi kaum wanita diwaktu keluar dari rumah adalah dilarang, kerana syari’at Islam, apabila melarang perzinaan, maka segala sumber-sumber dan cirri-ciri yang membawa kepada perbuatan keji tadi semuanya juga dilarang.

Ummu salamah ada menceritakan, maksudnya begini:
“ Asma’ binti Abu Bakar telah menziarahi Rasulullah s.a.w pada suatu hari dengan pakaian yang nipis. Lantas Rasulullah.s.a.w menasihatinya dengan bersabda yang maksudnya :“ Wahai Asma’, sesungguhnya seseorang gadis yang telah berhaidh (baligh), tidak harus baginya menzahirkan anggota badan, kecuali ini dan ini.” Ketika itu, Rasulullah s.a.w mengisyaratkan kepada muka dan kedua tapak tangan.


Sekarang kita khususkan konsep tabarruj ke dalam penggunaan facebook. Jenguklah sebentar ke laman facebook dan lihatlah bertapa ramai muslimah tanpa segan silu meletakkan gambar-gambar memperlihatkan kecantikan masing-masing dengan pelbagai aksi. Macam-macam gaya ditunjukkan, ada yang menunjukkan peace, ada yang membeliakkan mata, memuncungkan mulut dan sebagainya. Apabila bila ditanya apakah motif memperlihatkan gambar sedemikian rupa? Rata-rata akan menjawab sekadar berkongsi kegembiraan, pengalaman dan sebagainya. Namun tidakkah dapat kita berfikir sejenak, memperlihatkan gambar tersebut boleh mendatangkan pelbagai respon dan persepsi ramai. Terutamanya kepada kaum berlawanan, gambar tersebut dapat mendatangkan keghairahan. Jikalah kaum hawa mengetahui apakah kaum adam berkata sesama sendiri mengenai gambar tersebut, nescaya mereka tidak akan meletak gambar sedemikian rupa lagi!

Islam merupakan agama yang menghendaki kita bersederhana. Janganlah berlebih-lebihan meletak gambar, seolah-olah saling berlawan siapakah memiliki paling banyak gambar. Jika tersangat beringinan untuk menunjukkan wajah diri sebagai pengenalan diri, cukuplah sekadar meletak satu gambar dengan syarat gambar tersebut tanpa aksi-aksi tertentu yang mampu menarik perhatian orang luar. Mudah-mudahan kita mampu melawat sifat ingin menunjuk-nunjuk ini. Nah... mulalah berubah. Anda mampu untuk mengatasi penyakit ini!

http://salafus-sholih.blogspot.com/2010/06/tabarruj-ialah-mendedahkan-kecantikan.html