Our debt to Islam

RESOURCE: ISLAM AWARENESS

Teaching children how Muslim sages saved European philosophy could bridge a modern culture gap.     

Martin Wainwright Friday July 26, 2002 

The Guardian 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,763422,00.html 

Halfway down the old Band of Gold prostitutes' beat in Lumb Lane, Bradford, there is an Asian-owned chemist's shop advertising yunani tibb. Few people give the two words a second glance, but they are a key to a marvellous but scandalously little-known embrace between those uneasy and quarrelsome neighbours, Islam and the west. Tibb means "medicine" in Urdu, yunani means "Greek" and the phrase comes straight from the centuries when the Muslim world saved the bedrock of western European culture, the learning of Athens. 

Without the work of a 500-year succession of Islamic sages, we would have lost the essence of Aristotle, much of Plato and scores of other ancients. It happened simply enough. While the barbarians smashed and burned in western Europe, the Arabs and Persians used the libraries of Alexandria and Asia Minor, translated the scrolls and took them to Baghdad and far beyond. 

In distant Bukhara on the Silk Road to China, a teenager called Abu Ali Ibn Sina was engrossed in Aristotle's Metaphysics at the age of 17. The year was AD997 and the text - central to the subsequent development of philosophy - had long been lost and unknown in western Europe. 

The story of this priceless heritage's return home, slung in the saddlebags of camels on the long caravans to Cairo, Fez and the cities of Moorish Spain, is well known to scholars. Hundreds of learned books are available and if you key in Ibn Sina or his westernised name Avicenna on an internet search engine you will come up with about 28,800 references. 

But the story, so relevant to the world today, has never been admitted to everyday British culture. There are simple reasons for this too - medieval Christian bigotry, the post-Renaissance belief in the glory of Europe - but a lack of excitement in the story is not one of them. Umberto Eco proved that in the global bestseller, The Name of the Rose. His demented monk Jorge smears poison on a lost work of Aristotle and contemptuously spits out the name of "the Arab, Averroes" - the scholar Ibn Rushd of Cordoba, the last link in the journey of Greek learning back to the west. 

The national curriculum reformers, to their credit, have seen the gap and tried to fill it, but their good intentions easily get lost. 

How many pupils in Britain take key stage 3's option on Islamic civilisation AD600-1600 or the shorter, 15-hour "scheme of work" project on the cultural achievements of Islamic civilisation? 

The Department for Education does not know; neither, more disturbingly, do the education authorities in a place like Bradford where Muslims and others desperately need common ground. 

In his report on the Yorkshire city's divided communities last year, Lord Ouseley inveighed against the national curriculum's shortcomings and demanded "effective learning environments in which racial differences are seen positively by pupils, underpinned by knowledge and understanding". 

He had good ideas, including a local Bradford citizenship section to be added to the national curriculum's citizenship module, which becomes compulsory from September. But the simpler option of highlighting those KS3 options, which offer just that "knowledge and understanding", didn't figure. Did Ouseley and his researchers know they were there? 

 The need for them, and for simple, readable textbooks on both courses, is not just a matter for the white community; the story has been marginalised in Islamic culture as well. A straw poll of British Asian students in Bradford produces the occasional cautious nod at the name Ibn Sina but none for Ibn Maimoun (Maimonides, Saladin's doctor and the greatest Jewish scholar of the Arabic world); and none for Ibn Rushd. Like Jorge, traditionalist Muslims have long found the sage of Cordoba disturbing and hard to explain to students in the madrassa. What can they make of a man who complained that curbs on women wasted the potential of half the population of the Islamic world - and this way back in the 12th century? 

A man whose books, for a time, were proscribed by Christian and Muslim authorities alike? And so we fumble on, with both communities stuck in the world memorably summarised by Dr Johnson's explanation of why Richard Knolles' book, A Generall Historie of the Turkes (1603), sank without trace. 

The author, said Johnson, "employed his genius upon a foreign and uninteresting subject and recounted enterprises and revolutions of which none desire to be informed". Next to Lumb Lane's yunani tibb shop is the Asian Sweet Centre, which, significantly, has opened a subsidiary Sweet Centre fish and chip shop. Commerce and the laws of the market can force such bridges between communities; maybe the KS3 history options, in places like Bradford, need a bit of compulsion too. · Martin Wainwright is the Guardian's northern editor. He presents an account of Averroes' life and work on Radio 4 at 11am today martin.wainwright@ guardian.co.uk

Copy and paste: 31 July 2022 : 3 Muharam 1444H: 950 pm

ISLAM IN MALAYSIA

RESOURCE: ISLAM AWARENESS

BY HJ AHMAD KAMAR

Introduction

The recognition of Islam in this part of the world has been a fact since C.E. 674 (forty-two years after the death of Prophet Muhammad, pbuh) when the Umayyad ruler Muawiyah was in power at Damascus. Two hundred years later in C.E. 878 Islam was embraced by people along the coast of Peninsular Malaysia including the port of Kelang which was a well-known trading centre.

Before the coming of Islam, the indigenous Malays embraced an ancient religion with various forms of belief with some of the population belonging to the Hindu/Buddha religion. Life was structured and arranged in ways that showed the influence of more than one religion. This can be seen not only in the Malay's cultural patterns but is also part of the 'power' structure of state dignitaries and princes.

At the political level, the royal ruler and the head of state in most communities in the Malay world embraced the Islamic religion. The people were impressed and attracted by the provision in the Qur'an and the Hadith that mankind should be ranked on a basis of interpersonal equality. Those who for so long had been considered of low caste saw how the different strata of Islamic society were laid before them. They were no longer imprisoned within a religious caste system and the notion of living in "classes". In Islam there was no discrimination, or division on the basis of colour, class tribal affiliation, race, homeland and birthplace, all of which gave rise to problems. Equal rights seemed the right human solution, which in practice meant the acceptance of rights and obligation as a member of the Islamic Community. The pious person achieved sublimity and nearness to God.

The local population saw that Islam could extricate them from this bondage and provide the means for the extirpation of social evils. The new religion gave the small man a sense of this individual worth - the dignity of man - as a member of an Islamic community.

The efforts of the ulama' in implementing Islamic teachings gradually reached rulers, officials, community leaders and the ordinary people. Their efforts left its mark in such places as Banten (formerly Bantam), East Java, Macassar, Kalimantan, the Southern Philippines, Southern Thailand, Malacca, Trengganu and elsewhere. The ulama' also played a part in the administration, and some of the powerful sultans held firmly to the teachings of Islam.

Spread of Islam

After the initial introduction of Islam, the religion was spread by local Muslim scholars or ulama' from one district to another. Their normal practice was to open a religious training centre called "pondok" or hut from the small sleeping quarters constructed for the students. In addition to giving lectures in houses, prayer houses, or mosques, they also performed tasks such as working in padi fields, gardening and craftwork and other jobs according to each individual's capabilities. The role of these ulama' was not merely that of a teacher but also that of advisor for the village families and communities. The role they played was fairly broad one by reason of their expertise and capability in more than one field of human activity. After graduating, the pupils would go back to their homeland, often in some remote corner of the country, forming a link in the chain between one ulama' and another.

Islam in the Malay Archipelago in general and Malaysia in particular follows the Shafie Mazhab. However there are many Muslims in Malaysia who do not follow any particular school. In Perlis, the state constitution specifies that Perlis follows the Qur'an and Sunnah and not a particular mazhab. Many Muslims in Perlis therefore do not follow any mazhab, as is the case with the followers and members of the Muhammadiyah Organisation in Indonesia.

One noteworthy feature in the religious education scene is the close relationship between the Pondok schools, the teachers and even the pupils although the distance between them may be quite considerable as from Kubang Pasir for example, or Kedah to Achen, Java, Kalimantan, Kelantan and Terengganu. The unifying factor that makes strong ties among them is the uniformity of the system of instruction, for not only are the Holy book and the language used the same but also the socio-political problems, even though in Indonesia the Dutch were the colonial power and in Malaysia (or Malaya) the British. The colonisers whether Portuguese, Dutch or British attempted Christionisation by various means, in particular through their educational systems.

There were, however, a number of Muslims who felt that the pondok schools could not deal with the challenge of colonial education institutions. In order to overcome the problems, the Madrasatul Mashoor al-Islamiyah was established in Pulau Pinang in the year 1916 using Arabic as the language of instruction. The madrassahs taught Fiqh as well as secular subjects. This institute of learning was not merely intended to enhance the position of Muslims in Penang and northern Malaya but in Southeast Asia as well. This school chose as its inspiration the name of Syed Ahmad Al Mashoor, alternatively known as Ayid Mashoor, a leader of Arab descent on that Island.

After Malaya achieved independence on August 31, 1957, the growth of religious education at government subsidised schools was a result of sustained effort on the part of the Malay community. This can be seen at the Islamic College and the National University of Malaysia.

The best known and reputedly oldest pondok in Malaysia is that of Tok Guru Haji Muhammad Yusof or Tok Kenali, who constructed it himself in Kota Bahru, Kelantan. He received his basic education in Kelantan and then like any other pondok teacher pursued his studies in the Masjid al-Haram (the Great Mosque of Makkah). The Tok Kenali pondok became a famous centre of learning which led to large numbers of people from different states coming to learn at the pondok, and subsequently other pondok schools were opened by some of the former pupils who in time became community leaders. This teacher-pupil- teacher network spread to Southern Thailand and Indonesia.

Some Malaysian ulama' became teachers at the Masjid al-Haram. At the time of this writing one ulama' from Kedah, Muhammad bin Abdul Kadir, and two from Petani were teachers there. Muhammad's father was also a teacher at the al-Haram Mosque.

The Effects of Colonization

It is unfortunate that while the process of Islamisation was in progress in South-East Asia, the colonisers from the West came on the scene. The first ones were the Portuguese who were followed in succession by the Spanish, the Dutch and the British who took land in these places and altered all the laws and ways of living by one means or another, based on the 'divide and rule policy' so well known throughout the third world. The coming of the West could normally be considered under three categories: trade, conquest and Christianisation of the colonial subjects.

The missionary is a revolutionary and has to be so, for to preach and plant Christianity means to make a frontal attack on the beliefs, the customs, the apprehensions of life and the world and by implication on the social structure of the society. Beyond the missionary, the colonial administrators, planters, merchants, western penetration, etc., performed a much more severe and destructive attack.

The Malay Archipelago which became a trading area and a well known area for "spices" and all sorts of products of the soil and marine technology had become an area of intense rivalry as a consequence. The greed for double profits by the Western traders transformed the style of political power by colonisation. One by one the trading centres and the Islam influenced sites fell.into the hands of the colonisers, bringing a new administration and a military presence to reinforce it.

To strengthen their economy, the colonial powers (the British in particular) in the Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore brought in many labourers from India and China so as to constitute a political problem, which is still with us. Problems of immigration, citizenship, special rights (Malays and indigenous), language, culture and economy became political issues that led to a certain amount of nationalistic touchiness.

The fall of the Malacca sultanate to the Portuguese in 1511 was the beginning of colonisation on the Peninsula, that is, the breakdown of Malay political authority in this part of the world and the beginning of a setback to the spread of Islam. From Malacca the colonisers seized all administrative functions that were typically Islamic. The people had to endure a number of disturbing experiences, and to witness some of their number cooperating with the colonisers for their own personal gain.

The role of the ulama' was compromised for as time went on, they were weakened by the formation of various 'religious councils' on the pretext, in the colonial period, of preserving Malay customs and the Islamic religion. However, as can be seen from the Acts establishing these Councils their main function was to limit the role of Islam to purely personal matters. For their part the British promised they would not intervene in matters pertaining to Islam or Malay traditional practices. However, the separation of religion from the practical affairs of government and law was, in itself, an interference in matters pertaining to Islam. The ulama' whose previous function had been to advise and attend to state requirements were now replaced by a British Advisor or British Resident and the role of the ulama' became purely "religious" in the narrow sense.

Another effect was the opportunity for the Christian religion to establish itself in a number of areas in these districts and Christianise the native population. Schools and churches were opened once cooperation was secured from colonial officials. The Chinese and Indians who were brought to the Peninsula - Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei - became the middlemen and were given protection. Many of them entered schools belonging to Christian organisations and subsequently became Christians themselves. But for Malays it could be said they were "out" as far as Christian eligibility was concerned, and it was simply on that account that they were disparaged by the colonisers either on religious grounds or because they were said to be unskilled in basic human needs.

The colonisers' policy and political game consisted in restricting the natural growth of the indigenous people so that in many spheres of activity they were hobbled or rendered ineffectual. Strict adherence to Islam was not so firm or so uniform throughout Peninsular Malaya particularly as the education policy gave advancement in the British system to those educated in colonial schools. Thus was produced a generation of Muslim bureaucrats who were 'westernised' and 'secularised'.

Abridged, edited and web version prepared by Dr. A. Zahoor.

The full article appeared in Al-Nahdah as "The Spread of Islam in Peninsular Malaysia." Al-Nahdah, a RISEAP Publication.

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EDUCATION IN ISLAMIC HISTORY

RESOURCE: ISLAM.RU

Source : LostIslamichistory.com / 22 May 2013

From the very earliest days of Islam, the issue of education has been at the forefront at the minds of the Muslims. The very first word of the Quran that was revealed to Prophet Muhammad ﷺwas, in fact, “Read”. Prophet Muhammad ﷺonce stated that “Seeking knowledge is mandatory for all Muslims.” With such a direct command to go out and seek knowledge, Muslims have placed huge emphasis on the educational system in order to fulfill this obligation placed on them by the Prophet ﷺ.

Throughout Islamic history, education was a point of pride and a field Muslims have always excelled in. Muslims built great libraries and learning centers in places such as Baghdad, Cordoba, and Cairo. They established the first primary schools for children and universities for continuing education. They advanced sciences by incredible leaps and bounds through such institutions, leading up to today’s modern world.

Attitudes Towards Education

Today, education of children is not limited to the information and facts they are expected to learn. Rather, educators take into account the emotional, social, and physical well-being of the student in addition to the information they must master. Medieval Islamic education was no different. The 12th century Syrian physician al-Shayzari wrote extensively about the treatment of students. He noted that they should not be treated harshly, nor made to do busy work that doesn’t benefit them at all. The great Islamic scholar al-Ghazali also noted that “prevention of the child from playing games and constant insistence on learning deadens his heart, blunts his sharpness of wit and burdens his life. Thus, he looks for a ruse to escape his studies altogether.” Instead, he believed that educating students should be mixed with fun activities such as puppet theater, sports, and playing with toy animals.

The First Schools

Ibn Khaldun states in his Muqaddimah, “It should be known that instructing children in the Qur’an is a symbol of Islam. Muslims have, and practice, such instruction in all their cities, because it imbues hearts with a firm belief (in Islam) and its articles of faith, which are (derived) from the verses of the Qur’an and certain Prophetic traditions.”

The very first educational institutions of the Islamic world were quite informal. Mosques were used as a meeting place where people can gather around a learned scholar, attend his lectures, read books with him/her, and gain knowledge. Some of the greatest scholars of Islam learned in such a way, and taught their students this way as well. All four founders of the Muslim schools of law – Imams Abu Hanifa, Malik, Shafi’i, and Ibn Hanbal – gained their immense knowledge by sitting in gatherings with other scholars (usually in the mosques) to discuss and learn Islamic law.

Some schools throughout the Muslim world continue this tradition of informal education. At the three holiest sites of Islam – the Haram in Makkah, Masjid al-Nabawi in Madinah, and Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem – scholars regularly sit and give lectures in the mosque that are open to anyone who would like to join and benefit from their knowledge. However, as time went on, Muslims began to build formal institutions dedicated to education.

From Primary to Higher Education

Dating back to at least the 900s, young students were educated in a primary school called a maktab. Commonly, maktabs were attached to a mosque, where the resident scholars and imams would hold classes for children. These classes would cover topics such as basic Arabic reading and writing, arithmetic, and Islamic laws. Most of the local population was educated by such primary schools throughout their childhood. After completing the curriculum of the maktab, students could go on to their adult life and find an occupation, or move on to higher education in a madrasa, the Arabic world for “school”.

Madrasas were usually attached to a large mosque. Examples include al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt (founded in 970) and al-Karaouine in Fes, Morocco (founded in 859). Later, numerous madrasas were established across the Muslim world by the great Seljuk vizier, Nizam al-Mulk. At a madrasa, students would be educated further in religious sciences, Arabic, and secular studies such as  medicine, mathematics, astronomy, history, and geography, among many other topics. In the 1100s, there were 75 madrasas in Cairo, 51 in Damascus, and 44 in Aleppo. There were hundreds more in Muslim Spain at this time as well.

These madrasas can be considered the first modern universities. They had separate faculties for different subjects, with resident scholars that had expertise in their fields. Students would pick a concentration of study and spend a number of years studying under numerous professors. Ibn Khaldun notes that in Morocco at his time, the madrasas had a curriculum which spanned sixteen years. He argues that this is the “shortest [amount of time] in which a student can obtain the scientific habit he desires, or can realize that he will never be able to obtain it.”

When a student completed their course of study, they would be granted an ijaza, or a license certifying that they have completed that program and are qualified to teach it as well. Ijazas could be given by an individual teacher who can personally attest to his/her student’s knowledge, or by an institution such as a madrasa, in recognition of a student finishing their course of study. Ijazas today  can be most closely compared to diplomas granted from higher educational institutions.

Education and Women

Throughout Islamic history, educating women has been a high priority. Women were not seen as incapable of attaining knowledge nor of being able to teach others themselves. The precedent for this was set with Prophet Muhammad’s own wife, Aisha, who was one of the leading scholars of her time and was known as a teacher of many people in Madinah after the Prophet’s ﷺdeath.

Later Islamic history also shows the influence of women.  Women throughout the Muslim world were able to attend lectures in mosques, attend madrasas, and in many cases were teachers themselves. For example, the 12th century scholar Ibn ‘Asakir (most famous for his book on the history of Damascus, Tarikh Dimashq) traveled extensively in the search for knowledge and studied under 80 different female teachers.

Women also played a major role as supporters of education:

The first formal madrasa of the Muslim world, the University of al-Karaouine in Fes was established in 859 by a wealthy merchant by the name of Fatima al-Fihri.

The Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid’s wife, Zubayda, personally funded many construction projects for mosques, roads, and wells in the Hijaz, which greatly benefit the many students that traveled through these areas.

The wife of Ottoman Sultan Suleyman, Hurrem Sultan, endowned numerous madrasas, in addition to other charitable works such as hospitals, public baths, and soup kitchens.

During the Ayyubid period of Damascus (1174 to 1260) 26 religious endownments (including madrasas, mosques, and religious monuments) were built by women.

Unlike Europe during the Middle Ages (and even up until the 1800s and 1900s), women played a major role in Islamic education in the past 1400 years. Rather than being seen as second-class citizens, women played an active role in public life, particularly in the field of education.

Modern History

The tradition of madrasas and other classical forms of Islamic education continues until today, although in a much more diminshed form. The defining factor for this was the encroachment of European powers on Muslim lands throughout the 1800s. In the Ottoman Empire, for example, French secularist advisors to the sultans advocated a complete reform of the educational system to remove religion from the curriculum and only teach secular sciences. Public schools thus began to teach a European curriculum based on European books in place of the traditional fields of knowledge that had been taught for hundreds of years. Although Islamic madrasas continued to exist, without government support they lost much of their relevance in the modern Muslim world.

Today, much of the former Ottoman Empire still runs education along European lines. For example, what you are allowed to major in at the university level depends on how you do on a certain standardized test at the end of your high school career. If you obtain the highest possible grades on the test, you can study sciences such as medicine or engineering. If one scores on the lower end of the spectrum, they are only allowed to study topics such as Islamic sciences and education.

Despite the new systems in place in much of the Muslim world, traditional education still survives. Universities such as al-Azhar, al-Karaouine, and Darul Uloom in Deoband, India continue to offer traditional curricula that bring together Islamic and secular sciences. Such an intellectual tradition rooted in the great institutions of the past that produced some of the greatest scholars of Islamic history and continues to spread the message and knowledge of Islam to the masses.

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The Female Scholars of Islam

RESOURCE : WHY ISLAM

Amrah bint Abdur Rahman was amongst the greatest of the female Successors, the generation that came after that of the Companions of the Prophet. She was a scholar, a jurist, and a specialist in prophetic traditions (hadith). The great Caliph Umar b. ‘Abdul ‘Aziz used to say: “If you want to learn hadith go to Amrah.” Imam Zuhri, who is credited with compiling the first systematically edited compilation of hadith, would recommend: “Go to Amrah, she is a vast vessel of hadith.”

During that time, the Judge of Medina ruled in a case involving a Christian thief from Syria who had stolen something. The judge had ordered that his hand be severed. When Amrah bint Abdur Rahman heard of this decision, she immediately told one of her students to go tell the judge that he cannot sever the man’s hand because he had stolen something whose value was less than a single gold coin. As soon as he heard what Amrah had said, he ordered that the man be released, unharmed. He did not question her authority, nor did he seek a second opinion from other scholars who were quite numerous in Medina at the time. This incident is recorded in the compilation of Imam Malik, and this ruling is also his opinion in such cases.

One of the great Successors, Umm Darda taught in both Damascus in the great Umayyad Mosque and in Jerusalem. Her class was attended by imams, jurists, and hadith scholars. The powerful Caliph Abdul Malik b. Marwan, who ruled an empire stretching from Spain to India, had a teaching license from Abdullah b. Umar, who was considered the greatest jurist of his time in Medina. When ‘Abdullah reached old age, the people asked him: “Who should we seek religious verdicts from after you?” He replied: “Marwan has a son (Abdul Malik), who is a jurist so ask him.” Hence, Abdul Malik was endorsed by Abdullah. This same Abdul Malik b. Marwan would attend the classes of Umm Darda, willingly and without reserve, learning from her. Furthermore, he would humbly serve her. It has been recorded that when Umm Darda was teaching and it was time to go to the mosque for prayers, she would lean on the shoulder of Abdul Malik b. Marwan due to her advanced age. He would then help her return to her place of teaching after the prayer. The fact that these women taught men who were themselves regarded as great scholars indicates the respect and status they had attained.

The mosque of the Prophet, peace be upon him, is undoubtedly one of the most sacred places in Islam, and his blessed grave is even more sacred. Around the beginning of the eighth century of the Muslim calendar, Fatima bint Ibrahim b. Jowhar lived and taught. She was a famous teacher of Bukhari, under whom both Imams Dhahabi and Subqi studied the entirety of Sahih Bukhari. When she came for the Pilgrimage (Hajj) her fame was such that as soon as the students of hadith heard that she had reached Medina, they requested her to teach in the Mosque of the Prophet. Ibn Rushayd al-Subki, who traveled from Morocco, describes one of her classes thus: “She was sitting in front of the blessed head of Prophet, peace upon him, and [due to her advanced years] she would lean on his grave. She would finish by writing and signing the license to transmit her narrations, personally, for all of the hadiths that were read by every student present.”

This story and similar ones make it clear that women have taught some of the most esteemed male scholars and did so in the best of mosques. Pathetically, today there are debates as to whether women can even come to the mosque for prayer! This is an indication of our ignorance of our own Islamic heritage, and of our digression from the practices of our pious predecessors.

Ayesha bint Abdul Hadi used to teach in the grand mosque of Damascus. She was appointed by the Sultan of that time as the Master of Hadith and taught the compilation of Imam Bukhari. No man in the entire community could compare to her scholarly authority. Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani, considered by many to be the greatest of all latter day hadith scholars, traveled to Damascus and studied more than one hundred books with her. Today, it would be difficult to find a “shaykh” who even knows the names of her books, to say nothing of having read them. In addition to her intellectual acumen, her chain of narration in hadith is regarded as the strongest from her generation back to the Prophet. Between her and Imam Bukhari are eight transmitters, and between Imam Bukhari and the Prophet there are variously, three, four or five transmitters. No other chain of narrators allows one to reach the Prophet with an equal or smaller number of narrators.

If we consider the great role of women such as Hafsah, may God be pleased with her and her father, in the compilation of the Qur’an, and the role of women like Ayesha bint Abdul Hadi in preserving and accurately conveying hadith, it is clear that the two most fundamental sources of our religion have been secured with the aid and blessing of women.

Fatima al-Juzdani, a great scholar from Isfahan in present-day Iran, read one of the great books of hadith, Al-Mu’jam Al-Kabeer, with Abu Bakr b. Rida, who himself studied the entirety of the book with its author, Imam Tabarani. This book has been published in thirty-seven volumes (unfinished). After mastering the book, she subsequently taught it many times. Not a single scholar alive today has studied this book, or even part of it with a teacher.

During the golden age of hadith, when the development of hadith literature and teaching was at its peak and caused societal reformation, there was a woman in Syria who was also known for her scholarship and the powerful positive influence she had on society. She helped in the reformation of communities in Damascus and Cairo by enjoining good and forbidding evil. Ibn Kathir, the student of Ibn Taymiyya, has written in his highly acclaimed work of history, Al-Bidaya w’al-Nihaya: “She reformed society by enjoining good and forbidding evil; she accomplished what men are unable to do, that is to say, she did more than the male scholars of her time.” This testimony was written by a man. Hence, no one can say it is the biased opinion of a woman, and thereby question its authenticity. This was a golden age full of proactive, confident, and talented women.

Hisham b. Urwah b. Zubair was the teacher of Imam Malik, Abu Hanifa, Sufyaan al-Thawri, Saeed Qahtan, and is acknowledged as a great hadith scholar of that era. The most reliable hadiths narrated by him, found in both Bukhari and Muslim, are those he narrates from his wife, Fatima bint Mundhir. Sadly, many Muslim men today would not marry a woman more knowledgeable than themselves. The men of our past would proudly marry and learn from erudite women.

One of the best compilations in Hanafi fiqh is the masterpiece Badaya’ al- Sanaaya’ by Imam Kasani, whose wife was Fatima al-Samarqandiyya, daughter of Ala’addin al-Samarqandi. This book is a commentary on Tuhfa al-Fuqaha’ written by the latter. Fatima was a great expert in hadith and other religious sciences. Imam Kasani’s students narrate: “We saw our teacher at times would leave the classroom when he could not answer a certain difficult question. After a while he would return to elucidate the answer in great detail. Only later on did we learn that he would go home to put the same question to his wife in order to hear her explanation.” Clearly, he respected, and relied on the scholarship of his wife.

Not only were women scholars allowed to give binding religious verdicts (fatwas), but if they differed with their male contemporaries there would be absolutely no objections concerning their pronouncements. This was apparent from the earliest period. Illustrative of this is the opinion of Fatima bint Qais, who said that a husband need not provide support for his irrevocably divorced wife during her period of waiting. She based her opinion on a narration from the Prophet. Despite the fact that Umar and other senior Companions disagreed with her, based on their understanding of a verse in the Quran, they did not question her faith, impose sanctions on her, or prevent her from continuing to narrate the hadith and issuing her fatwa. This incident is interesting in that it presents the opinion of a woman that advances a ruling that is not deemed favorable to women. In so doing, she opposes an opinion advanced by men that is deemed favorable to women. If this incident had occurred in our times it would have surely been the point of much contention and discussion.

The above are just some of the evidence that establishes the enormous contribution of women to the Islamic scholarly enterprise. The book from which the examples are excerpted contains many more arguments and can be found at www.interfacepublications.com. I hope that this article empowers us to ensure that women be accorded the status and dignity conferred on them by God, and acknowledged and acted upon by our pious predecessors. The positive perception and respect of women was based on the example and inspiration they received from our exemplary prophet, Muhammad, peace be upon him.

 Adapted from an article published in Message Magazine.

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ULAMAK & JIHAD DI TANAH MELAYU:SHEIKH DAUD AL-FATHANI PIMPIN UMAT ISLAM MELAWAN SIAM

Posted by :Ibnu Kamal Aliff > PERISTIWA N' SEJARAH

KEJATUHAN Pattani ke tangan Siam dan syahidnya Sultan Mohamad Pattani (1776-1786M) pada 1786M telah membawa petaka kepada bumi ulamak yang menjadi “Cermin Mekah” ini. Sebelum ini, Siam telah telah melancarkan berpuluh kali serangan ke atas Pattani sejak 1603M, tetapi mereka gagal. Sejak Pattani menjadi taklukan Siam, negeri ini tidak lagi mempunyai raja yang berdaulat, bahkan tempoh antara 1786M hingga 1842M, raja-raja Pattani dilantik mengikut kehendak Siam.

Raja-raja Pattani seperti Tengku Lamidin (1786-1791M), Datu Pengkalan (1791-1808M), Nai Kwan Sai (1808-1815M), Nai Phai (1815-1816M), Tuan Sulong (1816-1832M) dan Nik Yusof (1832-1842M) adalah “raja-raja patung” yang tidak berdaulat. Jika mereka membantah atau melawan Siam seperti Tengku Lamidin dan Datu Pengkalan, mereka akan dipecat dan dibunuh oleh Siam.Bahkan,ekoran pemberontakan Datu Pangkalan pada 1808M, Siam telah melantik orang Cina-Siam, Nai Kwan Sai dan Nai Phai sebagai raja di negeri Melayu.

Peranan Pattani sebagai kerajaan dan pusat perdagangan terbesar di Teluk Siam telah hancur dengan penaklukan Siam ini. Lebih teruk lagi apabila para ulamak tidak lagi dapat berfungsi dalam pentadbiran kerajaan dan juga pendidikan di pondok-pondok dngan berkesan. Kerana itu, ulamak mendukung pemberontakan Tengku Lamidin pada 1891M dan Datu Pengkalan pada 1808M. Kesan dari itu, pada 1816M Siam telah memecahkan Pattani kepada dua. Pertama, tujuh wilayah utara dipecahkan dari Pattani dan diletakkan di bawah Ligor bermula dari Tiba (Thepa) hingga ke Singgora (Songkhla). Kedua, tujuh wilayah di selatan pula dipecahkan menjadi tujuh negeri iaitu Pattani, Nongcik, Teluban, Jalor, Jering, Reman dan Legeh dengan raja masing-masing tetapi di bawah kawalan Raja Jering berbangsa Cina-Siam, Nai Phai.

UMAT MELAYU TERUS BANGKIT

Dalam keadaan orang Melayu lemah kerana negeri mereka dipecah-pecahkan oleh Siam dan setiap negeri mempunyai raja sendiri, para ulamak berusaha membangkitkan semula semangat orang Melayu untuk menentang Siam. Di antara ulamak yang terkehadapan ialah Sheikh Wan Mustafa yang pernah menjadi Wazirah al-Harbi (Menteri Pertahanan) Pattani dari kalangan ulamak kerajaan. Beliau selalunya dikenali sebagai Hulubalang Wan Pa. Manakala di kalangan ulamak rakyat pula, tokoh utama ialah Sheikh Daud al-Fathani. Ulamak-ulamak lain juga tidak kurang yang terlibat walaupun pergerakan politik mereka sangat terhad kerana dikawal oleh Siam. Kerana sekatan-sekatan politik ini, sudah ada ulamak Pattani yang mula berundur ke Kelantan dan Seberang Prai yang tidak dikuasai oleh Siam.

Dalam suasana tegang ini, Raja-raja terpaksa mengikut kehendak Siam dan tidak dapat bergerak bebas secara bersendiri. Pada ketika inilah, Mufti Kedah, Sheikh Abdul Qadir al-Mahdani mengutuskan surat kepada ulamak Mekah memaklumkan keadaan negeri Kedah dan Pattani yang terjajah oleh Siam. Beberapa ulamak termasuk Sheikh Daud al-Fathani telah menyertai Sheikh Abdul Samad al-Falembani telah balik ke Tanah Melayu untuk memimpin gerakan ke atas penjajah Siam. Hasilnya, satu gerakan telah dilancarkan dari Kedah untuk menyerang Siam pada 1831M dengan dipimpin oleh Tunku Kudin.

Melihat gerakan Tunku Kudin ini, Siam telah mengarahkan Nai Phai, Raja Jering untuk mengumpulkan orang Melayu Pattani bagi membantu Siam. Raja-raja Melayu, para ulamak dan rakyat jelata dari lima negeri iaitu Pattani, Yala, Nongcik, Jering dan Teluban telah dipaksa bergerak ke Singgora dengan dipimpin oleh Nai Phai. Ketika sampai di Tiba,ulamak-ulamak telah mempengaruhi Raja-raja Melayu supaya belot dan menyokong Tunku Kudin. Mereka telah bergabung dengan Kedah di Chenok dan menyerang Singgora pada 1832M. Antara tokoh utama yang memimpin pergerakan ulamak ini ialah Sheikh Daud al-Fathani, pengarang kitab Munyatul Musolli yang terkenal itu.

SHEIKH DAUD AL-FATHANI MEMIMPIN JIHAD

Nama Sheikh Daud al-Fathani tidak asing bagi orang Melayu kerana beliau dianggap ulamak terbesar yang pernah lahir di Alam Melayu ini. Sheikh Daud mempunyai pertalian darah dengan pendakwah terkemuka, Syed Hussein Jamadil Kubra melalui jalur ayah dan ibunya. Ibu beliau adalah cicit kepada Tok Kaya Ratna Diraja Patani (Wan Yusof), manakala ayahnya adalah cicit kepada Tok Kaya Pandak (Wan Ismail). Sedangkan, kedua-dua pembesar Patani ini – Tok Kaya Pandak dan Tok Kaya Ratna di Raja – adalah adik-beradik, anak kepada Perdana Menteri Patani, Datuk Maharajalela Faqih Ali yang selalu disebut sebagai Andik Ali atau Nakhoda Wangkang itu. Sedangkan Datuk Faqih Ali sendiri adalah anak kepada Raja Jambu, Nik Mustafa yang terkenal sebagai Sultan Abdul Hamid (Po Rome), Raja Champa.

Sheikh Daud dilahirkan di Kg Parit Marhum, Kerisik pada sekitar 1740M dan belajar di Pondok Pauh Bok beberapa tahun bersama Sheikh Abdul Samad al-Falembani yang jauh lebih tua daripadanya. Setelah itu, beliau belajar di Aceh selama dua tahun. Kemudian beliau terus ke Mekah dan Madinah untuk belajar selama lebih 30 tahun. Guru terbesarnya ialah Sheikh Mohamad Abdul Karim as-Saman yang terkenal itu. Setelah tamat belajar, beliau pulang ke Patani beberapa ketika, kemudian kembali ke Mekah dan menjadi guru di sana. Selain mengajar, aktiviti utama beliau ialah menulis kitab dan menjadi sheikh haji. Wan Mohd Saghir menyenaraikan hampir 60 karya yang dihasilkannya, sedangkan Ismail Che Daud mengatakan jumlahnya melebihi 130 buah.

Di sebalik kegiatan akademik yang begitu

hebat

, Sheikh Daud terlibat juga dengan politik Patani. Beliau begitu terkesan dengan kejatuhan Patani pada 1786M dan mula menyuarakan pandangan politiknya lewat kitab-kitab yang ditulisnya. Antaranya Tuhfatul Raghibin I (1233H), Tuhfatul Raghibin II (1234H), Jam’ul Fawaaid (1239H) dan Munyatul Musolli (1242H), selain Furu’ul Masa’il (1254-1357H). Melalui Munyatul Musolli yang ditulis pada 1242H (1827M), beliau menyebut tentang isu kepemimpinan dalam Islam, satu sindiran terhadap raja-raja patung yang dilantik sejak 1786M yang menjadi punca kelemahan umat.

Menurut Wan Mohd Saghir juga, ketiga-tiga kitab yang disebut di atas membahaskan panjang lebar tentang masalah penjajahan bangsa kafir ke atas umat Islam. Hal yang sama juga disebut di dalam fatwa-fatwanya yang tercantum di dalam Furu’ul Masa’il. “Tulisan Sheikh Daud Abdullah al-Fathani yang panjang mengenai jihad beliau tulis dalam dua buah karyanya, Jam’ul Fawaid dan Tuhfatul Raghibin,” kata Wan Mohd Saghir.

TURUN KE MEDAN JIHAD

Ketika beliau ditanya tentang hukum jihad, di dalam Furu’ul Masa’il beliau mengatakan hukumnya fardhu ain jika orang kafir menceroboh negeri Islam, erti setiap individu Islam di negeri tersebut dan sekitarnya wajib berjihad. Jika tiada kesanggupan pun, ia tetap wajib juga sehingga negeri itu kembali ke tangan Islam. Jika ada orang Islam yang ditawan oleh kafir, wajib orangIslam menolak pencerobohan ke atas para muslimat. Membebaskan orang Islam adalah kewajipan dan membebaskan negeri Islam yang dirampas oleh kafir juga kewajipan. Fatwa yang serupa juga disebut oleh Sheikh Daud dalam Jawahirus Saniyah (1252H).

Di dalam Bughyatut Tulab pula, Sheikh Daud menjelaskan “Dan setengah daripada perang sabil bagi (ke atas) kuffar yakni wajib Imam (raja atau pemimpin) itu pergi kepada negeri mereka itu (untuk berperang), maka iaitu fardhu kifayah dengan ijmak…Tetapi jika ia (tentera kuffar) datang kepada negeri Islam, maka jadilah ia fardhu ain atas tiap-tiap orang (berjihad menentang mereka).” Demikian itulah tegasnya pandangan Sheikh Daud terhadap suasana politik negeri Patani ketika ini.

Di samping fatwa-fatwa jihad tersebut, Sheikh Daud telah menerima panggilan jihad daripada Mufti Kedah, Sheikh Abdul Qadir al-Mahdani ekoran pergolakan politik terbaru setelah jatuhnya Kedah ke tangan Siam pada 1821M. Beliau bersama beberapa ulamak telah kembali ke Patani pada 1829M dan terlibat dalam perperangan yang telah disebutkan di atas di Singgora pada 1832M. Beberapa ulamak seperti Tunku Muhammad Saat, Sheikh Abdul Samad al-Falembani, Sheikh Nik Abdul Wahab, Sheikh Mas’ud al-Banjari dan lain-lain telah syahid.

BERUNDUR DAN MENGATUR STRATEGI BARU

Kekalahan tentera Patani dan Kedah pada 1832M telah memaksa Sheikh Daud bersama sejumlah ulamak berundur. Bukan ke Patani, tetapi keluar dari wilayah yang dikuasai oleh Siam. Raja-raja Patani seperti Tuan Sulong (Patani), Tuan Nik Dah (Legeh), Tuan Kundur (Jalor) dan Tuan Kecik (Nongcik) telah diburu oleh Siam. Tuan Kecik dan Tuan Nik Dah berundur ke hulu, di mana Tuan Kecik mangkat dalam pelarian ini, manakala Tuan Nik Dah terpaksa menyamar menjadi orang awam dan keturunannya telah melucutkan gelaran diraja. Tuan Sulong dan Tuan Kundur yang berundur ke Kelantan terpaksa diserahkan kepada Siam setelah Kelantan diugut untuk diserang juga.

Turut diserahkan ialah sejumlah panglima perang seperti Panglima Damit, Panglima Mahmud, Panglima Pik dan Panglima Ahmad. Sebahagian yang lain terpaksa bersembunyi dan manyamar di Kelantan dan Terengganu, termasuk keluarga Hulubalang Sheikh Abdul Wahab (cucunya, Tuan Konok adalah ulamak terkenal di Kelantan). Sheikh Daud sendiri bersama ahli keluarganya berundur ke Terengganu bersama Tok Sheikh Duyung, Tuan Hassan Besut, Sheikh Abdul Qadir Bukit Bayas dan lain-lain. Selain Kelantan dan Terengganu, banyak juga yang berhijrah ke Kedah, Perlis, Seberang Perai dan Perak.

Dari Terengganu, Sheikh Daud kembali ke Mekah. Di Tanah Suci itu, beliau mengembleng tenaga untuk melahirkan ulamak-ulamak Melayu bagi meneruskan perjuangan ke atas penjajah sehingga lahir generasi baru ulamak yang berjiwa politik. Mereka bergabung pula dengan ulamak Indonesia seperti Sheikh Ahmad Khatib Minangkabau dan ulamak India, Maulana Rahmatullah Khan untuk membina kesedaran jihad ke atas penjajah pada generasi selepas Sheikh Daud. Sheikh Daud sendiri terus kembali ke Mekah. Di Tanah Suci itu, beliau mengembleng tenaga untuk melahirkan ulamak-ulamak Melayu bagi meneruskan perjuangan ke atas penjajah sehingga lahir generasi baru ulamak yang berjiwa politik. Mereka bergabung pula dengan ulamak Indonesia seperti Sheikh Ahmad Khatib Minangkabau dan ulamak India, Maulana Rahmatullah Khan untuk membina kesedaran jihad ke atas penjajah pada generasi selepas Sheikh Daud. Sheikh Daud sendiri terus memperkatakan tentang kewajipan jihad melalui karya-karyanya selepas perang seperti Jawahirus Saniah, Bughyatut Tulab dan Furu’ul Masa’il. Sheikh Daud wafat di Taif pada 1847M dan dikebumikan di sana.

MOHD FADLI GHANI

Institut al-Balaghul Mubin

5 Ramadhan 1441 / 28 April 2020

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31 Julai 2022 > 2 Muharam 1444H: 7.31 am

Makna Sanah Helwah Dan Syafakallah Yang Sering Orang Guna Pada Masa Ini

SUMBER: ISLAM ITU INDAH

Dalam percakapan seharian, kita banyak menggunakan bahasa asing selain Bahasa Melayu. Selain Bahasa Inggeris, kita sering juga menggunakan Bahasa Arab. Antara ungkapan yang paling popular dan sering digunakan ialah perkataan Sanah Helwah dan Syafakallah.

Walaupun ianya digunakan secara meluas terutama dalam media-media sosial, masih ramai yang tidak memahami maksudnya yang sebenar.

MAKNA SANAH HELWAH

Dalam tulisan latin ada ditulis bermacam-macam seperti Sana Helwa, Sanah Helwah, Sena Helwa, Sena Helwah dan sebagainya. Namun sebutannya adalah sama. Apakah maksudnya perkataan-perkataan tersebut?

Ianya bermaksud Selamat Hari Jadi atau Selamat Hari Lahir. Paling popular adalah Happy Birthday.

Senah Helwah

Makna Senah Helwah – Selamat Hari Jadi atau Hari Lahir

CONTOH AYAT YANG DIGUNAKAN

“Sanah Helwah Ya Ukhti” yang bermaksud “Selamat Hari Lahir Kakak”.

Sanah Helwah. Sakinah Mawaddah Barokah Warohmah. Ianya bermaksud “Selamat Hari Lahir. Semoga Beroleh Ketenangan, Kasih Sayang, Keberkatan dan Belas Kasihan”.

MAKNA SYAFAKALLAH / SYAFAKILLAH / SYAFAKUMULLAH

Kalau kita mahu menyebut perkataan di atas hendaklah membezakan kepada siapa kita ingin menyebut. Bukan kita boleh menyebut kesemuanya dengan perkataan SYAFAKALLAH.

SYAFAKALLAH digunakan jika ucapan tersebut ditujukan kepada kaum lelaki manakala SYAFAKILLAH digunakan untuk memberi ucapan kepada kaum wanita.

Menurut tatabahasa Arab, menggunakan kalimat SYAFAKUMULLAH pula ditujukan kepada jumlah orang jika melebihi seorang tidak kira samada lelaki ataupun wanita.

Makna SYAFAKALLAH dan SYAFAKILLAH adalah “semoga Allah menyembuhkanmu”. Keduanya memiliki arti sama, hanya saja perbedaannya terletak pada cara penggunaannya.

ERTI SYAFAKALLAH SESUAI DENGAN TATABAHASA

Untuk Lelaki

1. شفاك الله (Syafakallah) – Semoga Allah memberikan kesembuhan kepadamu.

2. شفاكم الله (Syafakumullah) – Semoga Allah memberikan kesembuhan kepada anda semua.

3. شفاه الله (Syafahullah) – Semoga Allah memberikan kesembuhan kepadanya.

6. شفاهم الله (Syafahumullah) – Semoga Allah memberikan kesembuhan kepada mereka.

Untuk Perempuan

1. شفاك الله (Syafakillah) – Semoga Allah memberikan kesembuhan kepadamu.

2. شفاها الله (Syafahallah) – Semoga Allah memberikan kesembuhan kepadanya.

3. شفاهن الله (Syafahunnallah) – Semoga Allah memberikan kesembuhan kepada mereka.

RUMUSAN

Banyak lagi bahasa-bahasa arab yang popular menjadi sebutan ramai seperti La Tahzan, Jazakumullah Khairan Kathiran dan lain-lain lagi.

Copy and paste: 30 Julai 2022 : 1 Muharam 1444H: 3.23 pm

Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa (684 – 701 Masihi): Pembina Empayar Terawal Bangsa Melayu

02/03/2019, By : Raja Ariff Danial

Sebuah batu bersurat tulisan Pallava telah ditemui di kawasan Kedukan Bukit, Palembang oleh seorang Belanda bernama M. Batenburg pada tahun 1920. Secara ringkasnya, batu bersurat yang dikenali sebagai Prasasti Kedukan Bukit tersebut menceritakan mengenai seorang tokoh bernama Dapunta Hyang yang melaksanakan satu perjalanan suci (mangalap siddhayatra) dari sebuah tempat bernama Minanga Tamvan menuju ke Matajap diiringi oleh 200 orang pawang dan lebih kurang 20000 tentera. Prasasti Kedukan Bukit turut mencatatkan tahun peristiwa tersebut mula berlaku iatu pada tahun Saka 605 yang bersamaan dengan tahun 683 Masihi. Dua baris terakhir prasasti tersebut menceritakan bahawa Dapunta Hyang berjaya membina sebuah wanua Srivijaya yang gemilang (laghu mudita datang marwuat wanua Criwijaya jaya siddhayatra subhiksa).

Sebuah lagi prasasti ditemui di Talang Tuwo, juga di Palembang oleh Louis C. Westenenk pada tahun yang sama Prasasti Kedukan Bukit ditemui. Prasasti yang dikenali sebagai Prasasti Talang Tuwo tersebut mencatatkan tarikh “tahun Saka pada hari kedua bulan terang bulan Chaitra” yang bersamaan dengan tarikh 23 Mac 684 Masihi. Prasasti ini pula menceritakan mengenai seorang raja bernama Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa yang membina taman bunga dan kebun buah-buahan yang indah dinamakan “Sriksetra” untuk kegunaan segala makhluk malah prasasti tersebut turut mendoakan kebahagiaan dan kebaikan kepada raja yang membina taman tersebut.

Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa sehingga kini dianggap sebagai pengasas empayar Srivijaya yang bermula sejak akhir abad ke-7 Masihi. Sejarah hidup baginda masih tidak diketahui dengan jelas tetapi dasar-dasar pemerintahan baginda mungkin dapat difahami melalui dua jenis sumber. Sumber pertama ialah dari prasasti-prasasti berbahasa Melayu kuno dan bertarikh akhir abad ke-7 Masihi yang ditemui di kawasan selatan Sumatera. Selain Prasasti Kedukan Bukit dan Prasasti Talang Tuwo, terdapat juga Prasasti Telaga Batu (bertarikh 683 Masihi) dan Prasasti Kota Kapur (bertarikh 686 Masihi).

Kewujudan prasasti-prasasti tersebut bukan sahaja menunjukkan bukti kewujudan bahasa Melayu kuno sejak abad ke-7 Masihi, malah prasasti-prasasti tersebut dapat memberi gambaran mengenai sistem pentadbiran dan politik awal Srivijaya pada masa pemerintahan Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa. Sumber kedua pula ialah catatan-catatan perjalanan seorang sami Buddha dari China bernama Yijing (I-Ching) yang pergi melanjutkan pelajaran dalam agama Buddha di Nalanda, timur laut India dengan menggunakan jalan laut melalui kawasan Asia Tenggara pada akhir abad ke-7 Masihi.

Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa Sang Penakluk

Yijing mula berlayar dari Kwangtung, selatan China pada akhir tahun 671 Masihi dengan menumpang sebuah kapal orang Parsi (Po-ssu) sehingga singgah sebentar di sebuah tempat bernama Fo-Shih. Beliau tinggal di Fo-shih selama enam bulan sehingga beliau pergi pula ke sebuah tempat bernama Mo-lo-yu dan tinggal di sana pula selama dua bulan. Dari Mo-lo-yu, beliau bergerak ke negeri Kiet-cha dan hanya sekitar tahun 672, barulah Yijing melanjutkan pelayarannya ke pelabuhan Tamralipti (Tan-mo-lo-ti) kemudian bergerak sehingga sampai ke Nalanda, sebuah universiti pengajian agama Buddha yang terletak di timur laut India.

Sepuluh tahun kemudian setelah menghabiskan pembelajarannya di Nalanda, beliau kembali semula ke Fo-shih sekitar tahun 685 Masihi dan mendapati bahawa negeri Mo-lo-yu sudah menjadi sebahagian dari negeri Fo-shih (Shih-li-fo-shih). Kepulangan Yijing pada tahun 685 Masihi (pada masa Mo-lo-yu menjadi sebahagian dari Shi-li-fo-shih) berlaku satu tahun selepas tarikh yang tercatat pada Prasasti Talang Tuwo (684 Masihi) di mana prasasti tersebut mencatatkan Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa sebagai pemerintah Srivijaya (Shih-li-fo-shih dalam sebutan Cina). Hal ini bermakna Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa sendiri sebagai pemerintah Srivijaya telah berjaya menakluk Malayu (Mo-lo-yu) sebelum tahun 685 Masihi.

Malayu (Mo-lo-yu) dipastikan terletak di kawasan Muara Jambi, selatan Sumatera kini. Penaklukan Malayu ke dalam kekuasaan Srivijaya adalah penting untuk Srivijaya menguasai perdagangan dan mengukuhkan kuasa politiknya. Dalam usaha untuk menguasai perdagangan di selat Melaka, Srivijaya haruslah mengalahkan dan menguasai pesaing-pesaing terdekatnya termasuklah Malayu.

Kedudukan Malayu yang strategik sebagai pusat perdagangan dan kaya dengan penghasilan emas dianggap memberi saingan ketat kepada Srivijaya. Penaklukan Malayu bukan sahaja menyingkirkan pesaing ketat yang paling hampir malahan Srivijaya juga berjaya menguasai perdagangan di Muara Jambi dan penghasilan emas yang banyak di hulu sungai Batang Hari. Sehingga hari-hari akhir kerajaan Srivijaya, pelabuhan Malayu menjadi salah satu wilayah terpenting yang menyumbang kepada kemakmuran Srivijaya sebagai penguasa perdagangan di Selat Melaka.

Dasar perluasan kuasa Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa tidak berhenti setelah Malayu berjaya ditundukkan. Prasasti Kota Kapur yang ditemui di Pulau Bangka, berdekatan Palembang menunjukkan bahawa Srivijaya meneruskan dasar perluasan kuasanya dengan menguasai pulau tersebut, setahun selepas laporan Yijing yang mencatatkan penguasaan Malayu oleh Srivijaya.

Prasasti Kota Kapur memuatkan mantera serta sumpahan kepada sesiapa yang ingkar kepada “kadatuan Srivijaya” dan diakhiri dengan dua baris perkataan yang menceritakan mengenai persediaan Srivijaya pada tahun Saka 608 (bersamaan tahun 686 Masihi) untuk melaksanakan sebuah lagi ekspedisi ketenteraan ke atas pulau Jawa yang dikatakan tidak mahu mengakui kekuasaan Srivijaya.

Adalah dipastikan bahawa pada masa tersebut, Srivijaya sedang melancarkan perluasan kuasa ke atas kerajaan Tarumanagara yang terletak di barat pulau Jawa berseberangan dengan Selat Sunda. Kedudukan Tarumanagara yang menguasai jalan perdagangan di Selat Sunda menjadikannya sasaran perluasan kuasa Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa yang seterusnya.

Kerajaan Tarumanagara yang sebelum ini dikatakan menghantar utusan ke China sekitar tahun 666 hingga tahun 669 Masihi kemudiannya tidak kedengaran lagi oleh sumber-sumber China setelah dikuasai oleh Srivijaya. Menjelang abad ke-8 Masihi, kekuasaan Srivijaya mungkin sudah meliputi seluruh kawasan selatan pulau Sumatera termasuklah pulau Bangka serta di kawasan Jawa Barat.

Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa yang dianggap sebagai pemerintah awal Srivijaya telah mengukuhkan kuasa kerajaannya dengan menguasai mana-mana pelabuhan-pelabuhan terdekat yang menjadi pesaing kepada Srivijaya.

Srivijaya mengambil peluang keuntungan yang banyak hasil daripada dua keadaan yang berlaku pada masa tersebut iatu bermulanya penglibatan orang Cina secara langsung dalam perdagangan maritim Asia Tenggara dan kemerosotan empayar Funan sebagai kuasa maritim yang penting di Asia Tenggara. Hal ini menunjukkan juga bahawa Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa merupakan seorang pemerintah yang mempunyai wawasan yang tinggi dan pandai memanfaatkan peluang untuk mengukuhkan kekuasaannya.

Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa juga dikatakan membina kekuasaan melalui hubungan baik dengan masyarakat orang laut dan masyarakat pedalaman. Hubungan baik ini sudah tentu membawa keuntungan kepada kerajaannya sendiri kerana orang laut dapat menyumbangkan tenaga untuk mengawal jalan perdagangan maritim dan untuk tujuan ketenteraan manakala penduduk kawasan pedalaman dapat menyumbangkan komoditi berharga dari kawasan tersebut seperti hasil hutan, rempah ratus, emas dan wangi-wangian untuk diperdagangkan. Semua ini dilakukan untuk membina sebuah kekuasaan maritim yang dapat mengawal perdagangan antarabangsa di Selat Melaka dan Selat Sunda.

Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa Pemerintah Ulung

Kekuasaan Srivijaya semakin besar pada masa pemerintahan Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa namun kekuasaan yang besar ini boleh sahaja musnah akibat kekacauan dan serangan musuh. Negeri-negeri yang baru diserap masuk ke dalam kekuasaan Srivijaya mungkin akan mencetuskan pemberontakan. Mungkin juga ada dalam kalangan pengikut raja sendiri yang tidak setia dan ingin membuat khianat. Tambahan pula, kekuasaan yang besar seperti Srivijaya pula memerlukan sebuah sistem pentadbiran yang lebih sistematik untuk memastikan keamanan dalam negeri.

Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa dikatakan telah mengambil langkah mengatasi masalah tersebut dengan mengeluarkan prasasti-prasasti persumpahan. Leonard Andaya telah membahagikan prasasti-prasasti tinggalan kerajaan Srivijaya bertarikh akhir abad ke-7 Masihi kepada dua pengkelasan umum iatu prasasti peringatan terhadap sesuatu peristiwa penting dan prasasti persumpahan. Prasasti-prasasti peringatan sebagai contoh adalah Prasasti Kedukan Bukit (memperingati siddhayatra ke Matajap) dan Prasasti Talang Tuwo (memperingati pembinaan taman Sriksetra).

Prasasti-prasasti persumpahan pula adalah Prasasti Telaga Batu, Prasasti Kota Kapur, Prasasti Karang Brahi dan sebagainya. Kesemua prasasti tersebut berasal dari kawasan selatan pulau Sumatera. Secara umumnya, semua prasasti persumpahan peninggalan kerajaan Srivijaya (pada masa pemerintahan Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa) mempunyai isi kandungan yang hampir sama ; ancaman dan sumpahan buruk kepada sesiapa sahaja yang ingin menderhaka kepada kekuasaan Srivijaya.

Prasasti Telaga Batu merupakan prasasti persumpahan yang mempunyai tujuh kepala naga dan sebuah muncung air di bahagian bawah prasasti tersebut. Prasasti ini dikatakan telah digunakan oleh kerabat diraja, bangsawan dan individu lain yang berkait rapat dengan pemerintah Srivijaya dalam upacara persumpahan bagi memastikan taat setia mereka kepada pemerintah. Upacara persumpahan itu dilakukan dengan cara meminum air yang dituang ke atas prasasti tersebut.

Apa yang menariknya, prasasti tersebut mengandungi senarai nama-nama jawatan, pekerjaan dan kedudukan yang terdapat dalam kerajaan Srivijaya seperti yuvaraja (putera mahkota), rajakumara (putera-putera diraja), dandanayaka (hakim diraja yang melaksanakan kuasa penghakiman bagi pihak raja), kumaramatya (menteri-menteri yang bukan keturunan diraja), parvanda (ketua tentera diraja), bhupati (ketua wilayah), senapati (ketua tentera wilayah), nayaka (pengutip cukai), pratyaya (pengurus harta diraja), kayasatha (kerani), tuha an vatakurah (penyelia perdagangan), puhawang (pelaut), vaniyaga (saudagar dagang) sehinggalah ke hulun haji (hamba-hamba raja).

Senarai jawatan dan pekerjaan dalam prasasti tersebut adalah mungkin terdiri daripada mereka yang mampu membawa mudarat dan berpotensi menjadi pengkhianat. Pengkhianat boleh sahaja terdiri daripada putera-putera raja dan ketua-ketua tempatan yang boleh mencetuskan pemberontakan, pelaut-pelaut yang boleh disogok oleh musuh atau hamba raja yang boleh menceroboh ruang peribadi raja. Sesiapa yang disebut jawatan dan pekerjaannya dalam prasasti tersebut tidak setia pada pemerintah dan menderhaka, maka mereka akan disumpah dengan perkara-perkara buruk.

Berdasarkan ayat terakhir prasasti tersebut yang mencatatkan persediaan Srivijaya untuk menundukkan Jawa, dapatlah diketahui motif utama penghasilan prasasti-prasasti persumpahan tersebut. Keberangkatan tentera Srivijaya ke Jawa akan menyebabkan berkurangnya kekuatan pertahanan dalam negeri. Hal ini boleh mencetuskan pemberontakan oleh sesetengah pihak yang tidak berpuas hati dengan dasar politik Dapunta Hyang dan ingin membebaskan diri dari kekuasaan Srivijaya.

Ini terus mendorong Dapunta Hyang menghasilkan prasasti-prasasti persumpahan tersebut yang mencatatkan ancaman kepada sesiapa sahaja yang ingin melawan kekuasaan baginda. Ancaman bukan sahaja terhad kepada sumpahan, malah ancaman penghapusan oleh kuasa ketenteraan juga diberikan khususnya kepada golongan elit dan pembesar tempatan yang ingin memberontak bebas dari penguasaan Srivijaya

Lokasi prasasti-prasasti persumpahan tersebut diletakkan di kawasan-kawasan yang strategik yang menjadi tumpuan, menurut Andaya. Sebagai contoh, Prasasti Kota Kapur diletakkan di pulau Bangka berhampiran Selat Bangka yang menjadi laluan kapal-kapal yang bergerak antara wilayah selatan Sumatera dan pulau Jawa. Prasasti Karang Brahi diletakkan di hulu sungai Batanghari yang merupakan jalan perdagangan sungai terpenting terutamanya dalam memperdagangkan komoditi emas yang dihasilkan di kawasan pedalaman Jambi.

Sebuah lagi prasasti persumpahan, Prasasti Palas Pasemah diletakkan di wilayah Lampung yang menjadi tempat pengumpulan hasil-hasil komoditi dagang dari Jawa dan Lampung. Penghasilan prasasti-prasasti persumpahan tersebut menunjukkan Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa merupakan seorang pemerintah yang tegas dan tidak teragak-agak akan menggunakan kekerasan untuk menghapuskan ancaman kepada kerajaannya.

Kewujudan jawatan-jawatan dan pekerjaan-pekerjaan yang tercatat dalam Prasasti Telaga Batu menunjukkan wujudnya masyarakat yang mempunyai organisasi sosial yang agak teratur pada zaman Srivijaya. Prasasti Telaga Batu memberi gambaran menarik mengenai stratifikasi sosial dalam masyarakat Melayu kuno pada zaman tersebut.

Jawatan-jawatan seperti ketua hakim diraja, ketua ketenteraan, ketua wilayah, penyelia perdagangan, kerani, pengutip cukai dan saudagar dagang menunjukkan pemerintahan Srivijaya pada masa pemerintahan Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa mempunyai sistem pentadbiran yang sistematik dengan pengkhususan kerja mengikut jawatan masing-masing. Hal ini membuktikan ketinggian ketamadunan yang wujud dalam mandala Melayu tersebut jauh sebelum kewujudan Kesultanan Melaka.

RUJUKAN

1. Andaya, Leonard Y. 2008, Leaves of the Same Tree : Trade and Ethnicity in the Straits of Melaka, University of Hawai’i Press.
2. Coedes, George, 1975, Australian National University Press, The Indianized States of Southeast Asia.
3. Hall, Kenneth R., 1985, University of Hawaii Press, Maritime Trade and State Development in Early Southeast Asia.

Sumber artikel : thepatriots

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