Let us all act upon this assignment. To state the obvious, Habib Umar is recommending it to us for our own good, in this world and the hereafter.
May Allah grant us the tawfiq to act upon it. May Allah make our tongues light and inclined to lofty affirmations. May Allah enliven our hearts with the remembrance of His Essence.
Dalam keheningan malam, dalam kecelaruan suasana, dalam kekalutan dunia, naluri kita acap kali membawa diri kembali kepada yang bererti. Yang bererti itu adalah sesuatu yang mendamaikan, sesuatu yang meyakinkan, suatu kebenaran yang tiada ragu padanya.
Saya terpanggil untuk kembali ke sini untuk beberapa ketika, menjenguk ruang yang sering menenangkan hati saya. Bukan kerana apa yang pernah tersurat di sini, tetapi kerana ianya ibarat ruang kosong yang menerima apa sahaja yang dicurahkan, tanpa prejudis. Ia bagai telinga yang selalu sudi mendengar apa jua tempo keluhan, apa saja melodi perasaan.
Seumpama kata-kata Rumi: "Di luar batasan tanggapan yang benar mahupun yang salah, terdapat satu ruang. Di situ kita bertemu."
Sebagai manusia biasa, lumrah bagi kita mengimbau masa lalu dan menilai perjalanan kehidupan. Di usia di mana saya berada, berdasarkan pengalaman, saya merasakan adalah menjadi kewajipan saya untuk mengingatkan seramai mungkin manusia, sesiapa jua, bahawa hanya satu perkara yang paling bermakna dalam kehidupan ini - hubungan hati anda terhadap seorang manusia bergelar Kekasih Allah. Seorang yang perwatakannya dan perkataannya benar sebenar-benarnya sehingga membawa kepada gelaran Al-Amin.
Dalam kealpaan diri, terhoyong-hayangnya kadar iman bertukar-tukar, betapa kucar-kacir sekalipun rutin seharian, dengan cabaran dari luaran, ditokok keterbatasan kekuatan dalaman, wahai jiwa, kau capailah satu penawar hakiki. Penawar hakiki yang menyembuhkan, tiada lain selain ingatan kepada Taha, Ahmadur Rasulullah, Muhamadur Rasulullah.
Apakala ingat, sebutlah namanya, sampaikanlah salam dan ucapan untuknya baginda salallah alaihi wasalam. Ingatan terhadapnya dan hati yang terkait kepadanya dengan amalan selawat, itulah satu-satunya penyelamat jiwa. Itulah satu-satunya penyejuk hati. Itulah satu-satunya yang paling bererti.
Apa saja yang berada di tangan kita baik harta, nama, ataupun kuasa, tiada nilainya, tidak sebanding nilai hubungan rohani kita kepada seorang yang sangat bererti. Maka carilah, pupuklah, dan peliharalah hubungan itu. Sejauh manapun diri tersasar, selama mana pun waktu yang telah dipersia, kembalilah kita semua kepada yang bererti.
I feel obliged to convey even a single verse and encourage a good deed even if it is small, even if it was already spoken about in 2015.
We have found ourselves in a big predicament, health-wise, and economically too. In the Malaysian context, it started to get worse in mid-March 2020. As you are all aware, I am referring to the Coronavirus pandemic that snowballed from China to the rest of the world. The heartbreaking status, worldwide, as of now, is as shown below:
Two Malaysians have died, and the latest count of confirmed cases is 790 for Malaysia. This number will skyrocket if Malaysians do not observe the restriction of movement as ordered by the authorities. According to the health experts, we have a small window of time to curb the spread of the virus; else, we'll see a spike in the graph just like what happened in Italy, among others. In the next few days, the number could increase to 2000 cases, and from then on it would quickly climb to 4000 cases if we do not make an effort to practice social distancing and restrict our movements. By then, the health-care support would be severely strained!
***
I think it is wise to recite this selawat taught by Habib Umar in 2015.
Allahumma ya nikmal mawla wa ya nikmal nasir salli wa salim 'adada 'ilmika 'ala Sayyidina Muhammad man ja'altahu lana hirzan harizan wa 'ala alihi wasahbihi wan surna bihi wal muslimina bi asrari wa yan surakallahu nasran 'aziza
O Allah, O Best of Protectors and Best of Supporters,
bestow prayers and peace to the amount of Your knowledge
upon our Master Muhammad
the one You made for us an impregnable fortress
and upon his family and companions
and by him, support us and all Muslims
through the secrets of
'That Allah may support you with mighty support.'
***
We are Muslims; thus, we pray in our own unique way, and this is one of the afdhal ways - making selawat and tawassul through the Prophet salallah alaihi wasalam.
There are many Muslim doctors, nurses, health-workers around the world who are working around the clock, as there are thousands of infected patients. There are thousands of people whose sustenance has been adversely affected directly or indirectly due to the Movement Control Order issued by the Malaysian Government from 18 to 31st March 2020.
We pray so that Allah will support them and support us with mighty support. Today is Day 1 of the Movement Control Order. During these 14 days, let's busy ourselves with making this selawat. This, I remind myself, first and foremost.
***
The original posting in 2015 where I mentioned this selawat taught by Habib Umar bin Hafiz:
"Hanya takut kepada Allah. Jangan takut pada penyakit. Tetapi jangan sombong terhadap penyakit. Berwaspada itu wajib. Berubat itu sebahagian daripada iman."
- Habib Novel Alaydrus, Solo, Indonesia, 14 Mac 2020
"Tidak bersalaman itu adalah ikhtiar. Ikhtiar itu adalah sebahagian daripada tawakkal."
- Habib Syech AsSegaf, Solo, Indonesia, 18 Mac 2020
Habib Novel bin Muhammad Alaydrus [pic: left] is a regular host at Masjid ArRaudhah in Solo at Central Java, Indonesia. I have been actively (albeit remotely) following the majlis taalim and mawlid organized in Java, particularly those held at Masjid ArRaudhah and Gedung Bustanul Ashikin [hosted by Habib Syech AsSegaf].
During a majlis last Friday, Habib Novel said this week's event would be extra special on three accounts: to commemorate the upcoming Israk Mikraj, his birthday and there'd be a couple of special invitees.
Masjid ArRaudhah was well decorated with beautiful bouquets of flowers. To be frank, I've not seen mosques in Malaysia being decorated with flowers on any occasion. Ever since I follow the live streamings on Nabawi TV [a YouTube channel that focuses on Indonesian events], I'd noticed many beautiful event set-ups. So I'd like to say Mabruk Indonesia!
The gathering hosted by Habib Novel was casual and jovial, as always, as he's a humorous person. The crowd, both at the mosque and online, were clearly pleased to see the three special guests, namely Ustaz Abdul Somad [top pic: center], Habib Segaf Baharun [top pic: right] and Buya Yahya [below pic].
Buya Yahya
(full name: Yahya Zainul Ma'arif, is leader of the Al-Bahjah pesantren headquartered in Cirebon)
Absolutely beautiful majlis, zahir & batin.
Habib Segaf Baharun
[son of a prominent Indonesian ulama who founded Pesantren Dalwa, Habib Hasan bin Ahmad Baharun;
Habib Segaf who is also a student of many high caliber scholars including Sayyid Muhammad Al-Maliki & Habib Zain bin Smith, is a fiqh expert and author of several books on fiqh for women]
Ustaz Abdul Somad [center] is one entertaining Indonesian dai'e who holds a Ph.D. qualification from an Islamic university in Sudan, he now lectures at a university in Riau, Indonesia.
When Habib Novel asked the three guest scholars how they felt about being in the same gathering, Ustaz Abdul Somad's reply in the Indonesian language was succinct and profound. He said: "Semua kata kalau dicerita dengan kata, kata pasti berdusta." Should one make an attempt to describe his feelings in words, his words would tantamount to a lie as it is impossible to accurately describe one's emotions.
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Habib Novel reminded the audience to only fear Allah and not fear the Coronavirus or any illnesses. Yet one should not be arrogant towards it, instead one should always be vigilant. To seek medical remedy is a part of faith [iman] and one should also seek 'medication' by making plenty of du'a. One du'a that is highly recommended is Selawat Thibbil Qulub. It is said to be a cure for any kind of illness if one were to recite it 4000 times.
Habib Novel is one who regularly reminds his jemaah to have big intentions [niyyat]. In one of his previous lectures that I watched, he talked about his ambitions to expand Masjid ArRaudhah. Nothing is impossible, "I used to only own a motorbike, but I dare dream of building a mosque such as this."
During the lively session last night, Habib Segaf Baharun shared one unforgettable lesson his father taught him. His late father, a well-known dai'e, once told Habib Segaf: "Engkau Segaf, harus merasa kamu itu paling rendahnya orang. Dan harus berada di titik null." That he should feel as if he is the most insignificant person no matter where he goes, and that he is nothing.
Allahu a'lam.
**
p/s
Just a few takeaways there from the live streaming on Nabawi TV last night. Please pray for me as I've got tonnes of office and MBA assignments to do, it's terrifying. But still, I thought the majlis at Masjid ArRaudhah was too beautiful to let it slip from this blog. Alhamdulillah ala kulli hal.
"Bersama-sama doakan orang yang sakit dan doakan yang takut sakit, kerana itu penyakit hati yang lebih parah. Kita doakan biar semuanya sembuh, dan yang sihat, tidak terkena penyakit apa-apa. Dengan Selawat Thibbil Qulub..."
