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3.09pm : LRT Masjid Jamek
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3.35pm : KL Central3.38pm : KL Central - Bersama Arai (Aker) & Hilmi (SBM)
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Iraqi residents look to regain normality after more violence and clashes disturb Sadr City.
Ibn Ziyad was well prepared for Husayn. Every road leading into Koofa was completely blocked. There were troops stationed at every key-position in and around town. Local leaders were made responsible for reporting any sympathies with Husayn, failing which they would be beheaded.
As soon as news arrived in Koofa of Husayn's approach to the city, a detachment of one thousand cavalry-men was sent to intercept him. The man commanding these troops was Hurr Ibn Yazeed Riyahi, a man of proven military exper-tise.
He also had a great regard for Husayn and the Prophet's family. When Hurr's company met Husayn's caravan, Hurr and his men had lost their way in the desert and both the soldiers as well as the horses were on the verge of dying of thirst in the scorching heat of the desert.
Husayn saw this and immediately ordered his caravan to stop. Water was provided freely and generously to man and animal alike. As soon as Hurr and his troops recovered from exhaustion, Hurr spoke to Husayn and said that his orders were to stop Husayn from entering Koofa at all costs.
Against this background Husayn sent his cousin Muslim Ibn Aqeel to Koofa while he stayed in Makkah. In the meantime new developments in Makkah made him leave soon afterwards. It appears that Husayn travelled right across the subcontinent, from the Red Sea coast to the Gulf coast and then turned northwards along the shore. He then passed through the present-day Kuwait and then through Basra along the river Euphrates and ended up in Karbala. There is a mosque situated in a village on the East coast of present day Saudi Arabia, which is dedicated to Husayn, in memory of his visit there, en-route to Karbala. However, recent study by S.M. Raza Shabbar of London has shown that Husayn may have taken a much shorter and direct route to Karbala from Makkah.
While Husayn was on his way to Koofa, Muslim Ibn Aqeel was received with open arms by the Koofans. Eighteen thousand people swore allegiance to Husayn vicariously, on Muslim's hand. Yazeed's spies were at work and they were giving full reports about the comings and goings of Koofa. As soon as this news was brought to Yazeed he ordered Ibn Ziyad, the governor of Basra, to proceed immediately and take charge of Koofa. Ibn Ziyad was well known for his hatred for the family of the Proph-et. As soon as he arrived in Koofa, he summoned all the tribal leaders to his presence. When they came, they were arrested and put behind bars.
This was sufficient to deter the Koofans from hel-ping Muslim. That evening, several hundred people had gathered in the mosque to offer their prayers behind Muslim. When the prayers were over, only twelve people were left.
By the time Muslim was returning home, only three followed him. After a few minutes he was left alone in the back-alleys of Koofa. He took refuge in a woman's house, for the night. The woman's own son reported the whereabouts of Muslim for money. Seven hundred people led by Muhammad Ibn Ash'ath attacked the house where Muslim had stayed the night. Muslim came out with the sword in his hand, fought valian-tly and was wounded by trickery, arrested and pre-sented to Ibn Ziyad.
He ordered him to be thrown from the roof-top of the governor's palace. His dead body was dragged in the streets of Koofa. This was now the 9th of Zilhijj. The following day Husayn received the news of Muslim's brutal killing from travelling Bedouins. He was well on his way to Koofa. Obviously, the travelling Bedouins rep-orted both ways.
There is only one explanation for this course of action. Husayn's move was political only in the sense that if he had been able to draw the support he needed, he would have overthrown the Umayyad rule. In the circumstances, regardless of the odds against him, he had to move to fulfill his duty as the rightful Imam. That makes Husayn's step fulfilling the duty he was assigned as IMAM MANSOOS MIN ALLAH. That is the spirituality in his actions. The overwhelming fact that comes out of this analysis is that the SPIRITUALITY OVER-RIDES THE POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS in the true Political Philosophy of Islam..
In the true political philosophy of Islam politics is subservient to spirituality. The law is governed by the Prophetic guidance and Qur'anic edicts. The Ahlul Bayt being the custodians of the Qur'an and the Prophetic Traditions are the true Imams of the community. Their claim to that high office would be proved not by brute force over the people neither by the hereditary principle but by the sacrifices they would make to protect the Qur'an and the Prophetic Traditions; and that would in effect protect the basic rights of the oppressed.
The Tragedy of Karbala is the epitome of that political philosophy.
This short episode gives us a very clear insight into the Shi'a theory of Imamat. Husayn himself was confident that he was the rightful Imam. His followers on the other hand were confident that they were following the right Imam. Now they were calling their Imam to come and relieve them of the misery of Syrian oppression. It was like a child in real distress calling his father for a rescue attempt. Husayn had to respond even though he knew that he would be jeopardizing the safety and security of his person as well as that of his family and friends. Husayn's historic step was very much like a father would try everything to save his own child from a dangerous situation even if his own life was endangered in that effort.
Husayn first sent his cousin, Muslim bin Aqeel, to Koofa on a fact finding mission. He was welcomed by the Shi'a of Koofa with open arms. Nearly 18,000 people pledged their support to him in the mosque . But only a few days later, Muslim was deserted by his supporters and brutally executed on Ibn Ziyad's orders . Husayn received the news of Muslim's killing while he was on his way to Koofa. If Husayn's move was for purely political purposes, any intelligent person would immediately turn back, or, at least stop and reflect. Husayn, on the other hand, continued towards Koofa. In that same journey he was met by the poet Frazdaq, who told him: "the hearts of the people of Koofa are with you but their swords are with the Banu Umayya." Such a clear warning would not deter Husayn from his advance. That simile of the child in distress calling his father explains Husayn's decision of continuing towards Iraq even after Muslim's Killing.
KUALA LUMPUR: The move by Datuk Lee Kah Choon to accept the posts of director of Penang Development Corporation (PDC) and investPenang is opposed to the Barisan Nasional spirit, said party chairman Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Abdullah, who is also prime minister, said Lee cannot accept the two posts offered by the Penang state government before conferring with the Gerakan leadership.The former Gerakan deputy secretary-general must first seek the views and decision of the party leadership on the offer, he was quoted as saying by Bernama."I want to hear the views of Gerakan acting president (Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon) on this matter."Any subsequent action on Lee will be left to Gerakan to decide."
All indications are that Husayn was still reluctant to go to Iraq. Finally, one day he received a letter from the people of Koofa which read as follows:
"We have been writing to you to come and lead us on the
right path. You are our Imam. If you still do not heed our
call we will complain on the Day of Judgement that we had
called our Imam and he had not responded to our call. "
Eyewitness reports tell us that as Husayn read that letter, he stood up shaking. It was at this point that Husayn finally decided to move towards Koofa.
Perlembagaan Madinah memberi asas bagaimana kepemimpinan Islam dan misi pembangunan umatnya menjadi teras yang tidak saja membatasi ketrampilan faktor teras, tetapi memayungi kelompok bukan teras.
Pengalaman itu berjalan dengan baik di bawah suatu muafakat yang jelas arah tujunya, tetapi ia menampilkan masalah apabila wujud rasa ingkar terhadap apa disepakati.
Sesama golongan Muhajirin dan Ansar, muafakat yang lahir adalah berasaskan kesatuan akidah. Orang Nasrani dan Yahudi berasaskan latar agama yang diungkap daripada tradisi Nabi Allah Ibrahim.
Secara etika dan nilainya, banyak titik persamaan dan secara akidahnya ada asas perbezaan. Ia tentunya menuntut etika di mana yang berbeza biarlah berbeza dan yang bersama suburkan titik persamaannya.
Hakikatnya agama daripada tradisi Nabi Allah Ibrahim memberikan asas etika dan nilai yang mendukung nilai kemanusiaan tinggi. Sayangnya, ia tidak dimengerti oleh penganut yang melihat perbezaan sebagai isu pokok mempertajamkan hubungan keinsanan.
Hal yang menyangkut mengenai pasal membabitkan umat Islam diberikan asas teguh dalam Perlembagaan Madinah dan hal yang menyentuh masyarakat bukan Islam juga diberi diperuntukkan agak besar.
Pembangunan Islam sejak zaman Rasulullah SAW dan sahabat, zaman seterusnya sehinggalah kebangkitan tamadun Islam di Maghribi, Andalusia dan Eropah, tidak dapat mengelak daripada wujudnya interaksi tamadun dan budaya dengan masyarakat bukan Islam.
Pemerintahan Islam Maghribi sentiasa dirujuk mengenai bagaimana hubungan Eropah dan negara Arab dapat berlaku. Kehebatan Andalusia memperhalusi keupayaan agama terbesar dunia melakukan interaksi keinsanan menyebabkan mereka mampu membina muafakat dan berkongsi nilai ketamadunan untuk membina sistem.
Hakikatnya, Islam itu sendiri membawa ajaran mengenai memperkasa rahmah alamiah. Islam tidak diturunkan untuk mempertajam rasa perkauman dan menyulitkan keadaan. Penampilan Islam pada zaman berbeza yang dilatari masyarakat pelbagai dengan fahaman berbeza tidak dimaksudkan untuk menyulitkan hubungan, tetapi memudahkan interaksi ilmu, perkongsian etika dan nilai bermanfaat untuk pembangunan sistem.
Maksud amanah, adil, telus dan tulus dalam Islam umpamanya, tidak hanya berlegar di sekitar kepentingan umat dan agamanya, tetapi memberi kebaikan kepada yang lain. Ideologi yang terbangun hasil pemikiran manusia umpamanya mempunyai keserasian terhadap ajaran Islam jika pendukung ideologi berkenaan peka dengan usaha membangun nilai yang fitrah.
Tidak mungkin kestabilan boleh wujud jika faktor teras dalam latar budaya, sejarah dan agama di tolak semata-mata atas nama persamaan dan demokrasi. Tidak pula dikatakan adil jika kelompok yang lemah penguasaan ekonominya diajak bersaing di permulaan yang sama sedangkan banyak faktor dalam diri bangsa itu memerlukan fokus yang jujur dan peningkatan kualiti modal insan.
Malaysia yang menggunakan pendekatan demokratik dalam memahami maksud amanah, keadilan, kebajikan dan kesejahteraan memerlukan pedoman bagaimana dalam dunia persaingan terbuka memerlukan faktor teras yang sifatnya memayungi dan faktor bukan teras didekati secara santun, adil serta saksama.
Mendukung maksud adil dalam Islam menuntut faktor pemahaman makna rohaniah dan spiritual yang berupaya diterjemahkan dalam program dan sistem. Menangani isu kemiskinan, kecelikan ilmu dan minda, keutamaan nilai dan etika, kesalingan hubungan insan dan kejernihan sistem sosial, binaan prasarana yang dirasai semua dan fokus integrasi terpancar daripada keyakinan dan kepuasan terhadap kesaksamaan memerlukan upaya penterjemahan tinggi dan bijaksana.
Islam tidak harus didekati secara emosi, sentimen, retorik yang tinggi dengan hanya menggariskan pedoman umum serta harapan supaya orang lain melakukannya saja. Pencernaan maksud Islam dalam pembangunan dan sistem harus bermula dengan keupayaan menjana ilmu yang bersepadu supaya penampilan Islam dilihat mampu mengatasi masalah dan menghasilkan suasana kondusif dikongsi semua.
Jika pencernaan itu gagal dirumus dan dilaksanakan, maka sebarang usaha pembaharuan hanya tinggal dalam dengungan slogan di tengah kerumitan serta kerencaman ideologi sekular dan liberal yang mencengkam.
Kebuntuan melakukan tajdid boleh menyebabkan gagasan umum mengenai Islam cair diserapi sistem yang sudah lama berjalan, malah menjadikan pendukung Islam lebih hampa dan masyarakat bukan Islam lebih kecewa.
Amat penting faktor teras diperkasakan supaya sifat memayungi menjadi suatu rahmah dan akhirnya Malaysia akan terus menjadikan model kepelbagaian berdiri atas teras yang adil, unik dan mensejahterakan.
BH 22 April 2008
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