Assalamualaikum
Aaaah...at least I am drawing somebody's attention. It is very true with this modern days we need a better approach in Islamic study...the high tech what so ever. I have seen lectures of tasauf Al hikam ibni Ataillah being made into series of lectures by Ustaz Agm, an Indonesian scholar. It was shown in TV8 few years ago during the fasting month half an hour before breaking of fast. It would be easy for a person who has some basic tasauf to understand the lecture but to the normal layman it would be confusing. I guess ilmu tasauf was not meant to be dramatised in such a way.
We have people making the slot 'Arrival' to make the people aware the danger of zionis. Baba Ali making his hilarious slot to remind the muslims in case they forget. In years to come Islamic approach will be done via the media but again I am sceptical about ilmu tasauf. It stress much on 'adab' of getting the ilmu. Few years back there is a controversial issue high lighted by the Islamic scholars regarding the semi circle type of lecture hall in University Al Azhar. They prefer the halaqah or the complete circle system of lecture hall. There must be a reason to this controversy.
You can find a lot of Gurus teaching fekah and tauhid but when it comes to tajwid the scope becomes narrowed. Even worse to find taranum Gurus teaching via television... it is ineffective. Taranum is an art where you have to learn from a Guru face to face. Ask Keno about it. I think she knows what I mean. Tasauf is a different story altogether. It is difficult to find the Guru, worse still to invite him to make series of lectures via television except for Ustaz Agm. This people shy away from the limelight. Tasauf is an art, psychology and more to it. You have to be in it to understand what it is all about. Time is always the barrier to everything especially when deen is concern. That is why I am giving you all a crash course to find a Guru.
Let me relate you what I have passed through back those days in 1980's. Friends, it is not my intention to boast about myself but rather to give you all a guide if it is applicable. Remember the story which I told you all about in search of a Guru? It all started way back in 1981. After confronting with a lot of fraud Gurus and mursyids, I some sault of give up... walk on water, fly like a bird and all those nonsense. Some how I always thought that religious people could do all those things...how naive. Either than that all shows were considered as magic @ sihir.
I was in Beranang, one day, in search of a friend's house when I coincidently met a few people going for maghrib prayers at a certain Haji's house. I joined in the maghrib prayers which later on held a majlis ilmu. The Guru has a very strong charismatic aura and the students too were a bunch of smiling group. Since it is free for all, I started attending the classes every Monday and Saturday. Mind you, I have to travel all the way from Port Dickson to Beranang which took me almost one and half hours those days. Either than good companionship shown by the group, I found out that what the Guru taught was very hard to comprehend.
After almost a year plus, one day the Guru called me aside and told me that he could not take me as his student. He was sad and felt sorry for me because he was wasting my time. You are still young...make solat hajat, insyaallah you will find one Guru which suits you. I am no superman...I shed tears too when I left him. Back in PD I did what was instructed by him...that was after a few months later. To cut things short...I met my Guru in Malacca. One fine day I relate the story of that Haji to my Guru. My Guru laughed aloud and said ... 'Haji Ibrahim tu mengajar budak - budak Universiti. Kau budak tadika macam mana dia nak ngajar kau.'
Only then did I know that Guru too has their own level. The world of the mursyids is small. Basically they know each other. I met Tuan Guru Haji Ibrahim later on, that was five years later during Hari Raya. The first question that came out from his mouth was...'Dah pandai menulis ke?' Tuan Guru Haji Ibrahim was the very few guru who could teach hard core tasauf, bayan and mantik...the Guru of jalan hakikat. Kitab Daru Nafis was banned in year 2003 in Negeri Sembilan for reason no one was able to deliver the ilmu. Application for the ban was done by Tuan Guru Haji Abdullah Sijang himself... the only Guru known in Negeri Sembilan to hold such majlis ilmu on that kitab. There are other few kitabs which will follow suit. One is the pocket size kitab Ahzab used mostly by Tarikat Naqsabandi and Ahmadiah.
It would be good to attend majlis ilmu in masjid or madrasah but it will take time. If I ask you which will you prefer if you are pursuing an oil painting course...a. a mass lecture or b. a group study of twenty person. a or b? Whom would you want your lecturer to be? a. an appointed staff whom you do not know or b. an appointed staff who knows you. a or b? The most sensible answer should be ... b. I am not talking about dakwah as the matter is secondary. I am talking about you and me. Why? A Guru once said to me ...' satu hari besok para - para mursyid tak duduk lagi di kampung - kampung atau di hutan - hutan tapi di HUTAN BATU. (bandar)
I think this is very obvious, right? Look at the masjid in the kampung. At times, in a day there is hardly any jemaah prayers. I have attended a subuh prayer in one of the mosque in Kajang...the jemaah consists of 8 safs of 30 person per line. Still small in numbers but encouraging. The people in the hutan batu are you all. Professional people with the brains. Arip Kasmo already paved the way contributing for the muslim community. I am more concern about individual enhancement. I guess my part is merely to encourage you all to seek Islamic knowledge and to realise that what we know about Islam is merely the tip of an iceberg...there is more to it.
For those who heed my advise in search of a Guru...if you have found one then hold fast to him. By the way, do you all know that the Guru of wali songo is Ali Akbar? A blackman from Hadrat Maut. He used to flog his students with a whip on a slightest mistake done. He was the head of matriculation, if there is such a title, before sending the students to Mekah for further Islamic studies. One more thing...upon reading Sulatus Salitin and a few books on the saintly people, I concluded that Shiekh Jenar was from Malacca...maybe from Jonker street...pergh.
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