Imam al-Ghazali: Had Dan Martabat Usul Fiqh

Ilmu usul fiqh dan ilmu fiqh adalah saling berkaitan antara satu sama lain. Kadang-kala terdapat kesalah fahaman terhadap kedua-dua ilmu ini. Ilmu fiqh secara umum lebih memfokuskan kepada segala hukum berkaitan dengan segala perbuatan seorang yang mukallaf sahaja. Bahkan ilmu ini tiada berkaitan dengan ilmu-ilmu lain seperti ilmu usuluddin atau ilmu falsafah. Akan tetapi, ilmu usul fiqh lebih menjurus kepada autoriti dan penghasilan sesuatu hukum secara umum. Sebagai contoh, fokus ilmu usul fiqh lebih kepada al-Qur'an, as-Sunnah, dan ijma' secara umum. Walaubagaimanapun, harus difahami ilmu fiqh juga menjurus kepada autoriti dan penghasilan sesuatu hukum tetapi secara khusus. Sebagai contoh, autoriti dan penghasilan hukum untuk kontrak perkahwinan tanpa wali adalah bersifat khusus dan bukan umum. Ini kerana hukum tersebut lebih memfokuskan kepada autoriti-autoriti khusus yang ada di dalam al-Qur'an, as-Sunnah, dan ijma'.

Perbandingan antara ilmu usul fiqh dan ilmu-ilmu lain juga menunjukkan martabat ilmu usul fiqh. Ilmu usul fiqh sebagaimana ilmu fiqh dan ilmu hadis sebagai contoh memberi kesan secara khusus sahaja. Para ulamak usul hanya memfokuskan kepada kaedah mengeluarkan hukum sahaja. Begitu juga para ulamak fiqh memfokuskan kepada hukum melibatkan perbuatan mukallafin sahaja. Bahkan para ulamak hadis hanya memfokuskan kepada kaedah mengisbatkan sesuatu hadis sahaja. Akan tetapi, ilmu usuluddin memberi kesan secara menyeluruh. Para ulamak usuluddin banyak memfokuskan kepada isu-isu umum seperti maujud, jauhar, dan 'aradh. Oleh itu, ilmu usuluddin mempunyai martabat paling tinggi berbanding ilmu-ilmu lain terutamanya ilmu usul fiqh. Ini kerana ilmu usuluddin merupakan ilmu agama yang kesannya menyeluruh. Oleh sebab itu, mereka yang ingin mendalami ilmu usul fiqh seharusnya mendalami ilmu usuluddin.

Aqiqah For Muslims Only?

Recently I attended a kenduri of one of my relatives. The food served was actually good. I managed to eat nasi minyak together with daging masak merah, ayam masak merah, mutton kurma, mutton curry and juices. I personally want to express my gratitude to the hosts for their kindness in inviting me to their kenduri. Mutton kurma and mutton curry were actually served as part of the Islamic practice of aqiqah.

From the Islamic legal practice, the majority of the Muslim jurists except those of the Hanafis indicate that the practice of aqiqah is a recommended practice or Sunnah. However, the Hanafis indicate that the practice of aqiqah is an innovation or bid'ah. The main reason is that they do not recognise the authority establishing the practice of aqiqah derived from the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. Thus, the autthority according to them is solitary or ahad. They indicate that it is up to the Muslims whether to practice it or not.

During having my kenduri meal, I noticed a notice indicating that mutton kurma and mutton curry are aqiqah and for Muslims only. In other words, non-Muslims cannot consume both kurma and curry. Imagine the sadness on part of non-Muslims who attended the kenduri and loving mutton so much but were prohibited from eating mutton kurma and mutton curry. My question is whether non-Muslims are prohibited from eating mutton kurma and mutton curry which was served based on the practice of aqiqah? To my limited knowledge, non-Muslims should not be prohibited from eating them.

Syeikh Daud al-Fathani: Asas Sepuluh Perkara

Syeikh Daud al-Fathani menganjurkan agar kita memahami sepuluh perkara terlebih dahulu sebelum menganalisa secara mendalam ilmu tauhid atau ilmu usuluddin. Sepuluh perkara yang dicadangkan beliau tersebut berkenaan had, isi, pelopor, nama, kesudahan, hukum, permasalahan, sumber, faedah, dan nisbah.

Beliau berpandangan bahawa had ilmu tauhid atau ilmu usuluddin iaitu suatu ilmu berkaitan aqidah keagamaan yang di ambil daripada pelbagai dalil atau pelbagai bukti yang yakin atau kukuh.

Berkaitan isi ilmu tauhid atau usuluddin, beliau mengaitkannya dengan zat Allah s.w.t dan zat segala para nabi dan rasul-Nya dari konteks wajib, mustahil, dan harus.

Pelopor bidang ilmu tauhid atau ilmu usuluddin menurut pandangan beliau tidak lain tidak bukan Abu Hassan al-Asy'ari r.a. Beliau menceritakan bahawa Abu Hassan r.a. yang pada mulanya mendalami ilmu tauhid berasaskan fahaman tauhid aliran muktazilah telah meninggalkan fahaman tersebut setelah mendapat petunjuk Allah s.w.t. Maka Abu Hassan r.a. dianggap beliau sebagai individu pertama yang mempelopori ilmu ini yang berasaskan al-Qur'an, as-Sunnah, dan ijma' para Sahabat Nabi Muhammad s.a.w.

Nama bagi ilmu tauhid atau ilmu usuluddin menurut pandangan beliau adalah pelbagai seperti ilmu tauhid, ilmu usuluddin, ilmu sifat, ilmu aqidah, dan ilmu kalam.

Beliau berpandangan bahawa kesudahan ilmu tauhid atau ilmu usuluddin ialah kelebihan untuk membezakan antara aqidah yang sahih dan fasid.

Berkaitan hukum ilmu tauhid atau ilmu usuluddin, beliau berpandangan bahawa hukumnya wajib diketahui oleh setiap individu yang mukallaf.

Berkaitan permasalahan ilmu tauhid atau ilmu usuluddin, beliau memberi contoh-contoh permasalahan berkaitan jauhar dan 'aradh, sifat-sifat Tuhan, dan sebagainya.

Sumber ilmu tauhid atau ilmu usuluddin menurut pandangan beliau ialah al-Qur'an dan as-Sunnah.

Beliau berpandangan bahawa faedah-faedah ilmu tauhid atau ilmu usuluddin ialah kebahagiaan di dunia dan di akhirat, di masukkan ke dalam syurga yang abadi, serta dapat melihat akan wajah Allah s.w.t yang tidak seperti-Nya sesuatu.

Akhirnya, nisbah ilmu tauhid atau ilmu usuluddin ini ialah sebahagian ilmu agama Islam.

Pertunangan: Sah Atau Moral Sahaja?

Baru-baru ini saya terbaca di dalam suratkhabar tempatan tentang tindakan seorang Muslim mengambil tindakan terhadap bekas tunangnya di sebuah mahkamah Syariah. Beliau ingin memohon ganti rugi daripada bekas tunangnya kerana memutuskan pertunangan tersebut. Ini merupakan suatu tindakan yang jarang dilakukan kerana menurut undang-undang keluarga Islam, pertunangan bukan merupakan suatu kontrak sah tetapi hanya suatu kontrak moral sahaja. Ini bermakna pertunangan boleh diputuskan dan tiada nilai perundangannya. Yang berkaitan dengan putus pertunangan hanyalah berkenaan persoalan pemulangan balik barang-barang semasa pertunangan sahaja. Tindakan meminta ganti rugi dalam pertunangan ini walaubagaimanapun dibenarkan dalam undang-undang keluarga sivil. Undang-undang keluarga sivil menganggapnya sebagai suatu kontrak sah. Jumlah ganti rugi akan ditentukan mahkamah sivil tersebut. Persoalannya sama ada beliau mendapat inspirasi daripada amalan undang-undang sivil dan ingin mencuba nasib di mahkamah Syariah pula. Pada pandangan saya, kalau sesebuah pasangan itu sudah tidak serasi semasa menjalinkan hubungan semasa pertunangan, seelok-eloknya berundur dan putus dengan cara yang baik. Oleh itu, amalan undang-undang keluarga Islam berkenaan perkara ini lebih baik dan sesuai. Yang penting, tidak boleh dipaksa hati seseorang untuk berkahwin. Tepuk dada tanya selera.

The Rights To Use And Not Yet Ownership Of Vehicles

Our first impression when buying vehicles through hire-purchase agreements is that such vehicles are ours in terms of ownership. But the reality is not. The simple explanation that until we have paid all the installments under the hire-purchase agreements, the ownership of such vehicles is in the hand of financial institutions. We just merely have the rights to use the vehicles. The status of ownership is similar between conventional and Islamic hire purchase contract. The other similar characteristic is in term of the existence of two separate contracts. The first contract is the contract of hire and the second one is the contract of purchase. Thus, we have an option at the last installment either to purchase or return back the vehicles. The main different is the term charges existed in conventional hire purchase contract which is not allowed under Islamic hire purchase contract.

A Question Regarding The Belief On Allah s.w.t

The Prophet Muhammad s.a.w teaches us the Muslims that the Heaven is for those who worship Allah s.w.t with sincerity and in accordance with the ways of Islam. The Prophet s.a.w also teaches us the Muslims that the Hell is for those who does not worship Allah s.w.t and commit sinful acts against Him s.w.t. My question is that if Allah s.w.t does not create the Heaven and the Hell and just command us the Muslims just to worship Him s.w.t with sincerity, do you think that we as the Muslims will have motivation to commit such act of worship?

No Attack On Any Place Of Worships

My recent views manifest a belief that the word 'Allah' should be only used by the Muslims within the context of Malaysia. Nevertheless, I do have to recognize the views of our Muslim scholars such as Prof. Dr. al-Qardhawi, Prof. Dr. al-Zuhaili, and Dato' Nik Abdul Aziz indicating that the word 'Allah' is not restricted to be used in Islam but is also extended to other faiths such as Judaism and Christianity. The main two reasons for my views is the protection of national security and also the recognized norms practiced in Malaysia. However, I do not manifest a support on the recent attacks on churches by presumably some Muslim individuals or groups. These individuals or groups manifest their ignorance on the whole issue. The fact is that the case is undergoing an appeal at the Court of Appeal requires all parties especially the Muslims to remain patience. We as the Muslims are taught to respect any place of worships and not to attack them. For instance, I still remember when studying the Islamic law, my previous lecturer indicated that even at time of war, the Muslim armies cannot destroy or attack any place of worship. May Allah s.w.t always give us the Muslims guidance and patience.

'Allah' Should Only Be Used For The Muslims Based On Histories

It is interesting to see that now the non-Muslims especially the Christians in Malaysia want also the right to use the term 'Allah' to be associated with their God. As we all know, the term 'Allah' is associated with Islam in which the Muslims in the world regard Allah s.w.t as the God Almighty and the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w as His Last Messenger. Some of the arguments used by the Christians are that the Arab Christians and the Christians in Indonesia are currently using the term 'Allah' in their daily religious rites and ceremonies. In case of the Arab Christians, it is understandable based on histories. However, in case of the Christians in Indonesia it is quite puzzling as to when they started using the term 'Allah'. Based on histories, Christianity was propagated in Indonesia through Dutch or Portuguese missionaries. Thus, generally these missionaries and the Christians in Holland and Portugal did or do not use the term 'Allah'. There was no evidence of the propagation of Christianity by the Arab missionaries. So the main question was whether the term 'Allah' was started to be used by the Christians in Indonesia as a means of easily propagating Christianity among the Muslim Malays in Indonesia. So I do hope that the relevant authorities manifest a respect towards the Malaysian Federal Constitution which generally gives privileges to Islam. Tolerance is indeed important and racial and religious tensions should be avoided. As such, our political parties should not also use this issue as a tool to gain supports from the public. They should think more on protecting the public from such tensions.

Awareness On The Payment Of Zakah

It was on the last day of 2009 in which I decided to discharge my responsibility as a Muslim to pay zakah. Nowadays, it is so easy for a Muslim to calculate the amount of zakah that he or she has to pay. Thus, the existence of websites which provide online calculation regarding the amount of zakah that has to be paid by the Muslim have made it easy for him or her to know the exact amount. I did my payment in one of the branches of the Selangor zakah center. I noticed that the center was over crowded with Muslims preparing to discharge with the payment. I also noticed that the numbers were bigger than the year of 2008. The question which comes into my mind is whether the payment of the amount of zakah made by the Muslims was based on their religious duties or tax rebate? Well, I do believe that the payment was based more on their religious duties. I hope that more Muslims will realize their religious duties in discharging with the payment of the amount of zakah.

A Sympathy Towards Our Academicians

Recently we have witnessed events which challenge the value of our academicians. The events were specifically related to the recognition of our political parties towards the views of our academicians. Our political parties especially the members have a tendency of not tolerating any views articulated by our academicians which are considered negative to the parties. Rather than analyzing such negative views in a positive way, some members of the parties are inclined towards condemning our academicians in a disrespectful way. This situation is rather strange as our political parties always call for academic freedom among our academicians. Is academic freedom means that our academicians must criticize only the government but not those opposing the government? From my view, this situation just show the level of maturity among our political parties. My hypothesis is that it would take another decade or two for our political parties to achieve maturity acceptable withing a civil society.