Apabila Islam dipandang negatif oleh masyarakat, maka akan tampillah wira-wira agama yang cuba menangkis tohmahan dan kejian....
Namun antara wira-wira itu malanganya ada yang tersasar..
Dunia Islam pernah digemparkan dengan Tesis Dr Ali Abd Raziq, yang menyingkap bahawa siyasah atau politik tiada dalam Islam..Tulisan beliau disambut Barat dalam keadaan mereka memerlukan hujah untuk melawan para pejuang Islam di negara-negara yang mereka takluki..
Secara husnu dzan, kita merasakan tindakan beliau didorong oleh semangat untuk membetulkan persepsi barat terhadap Islam, memandangkan politik Islam selepas Khulafa Ar-Rasyidin tidaklah begitu menampilkan suasana siyasah yang digariskan oleh Islam. Di sana adanya sietem warisan tahta dan juga penindasan antara Arab dan A'jam.
Malangnya, tulisan Dr Ali terus menjadi perisai Barat untuk menembusi pemikiran Muslim modern, biarpun dikatakan beliau telah menarik balik pandangannya dulu.
Kini, berdiri Dr. Amina Wadud membaca khutbah untuk membuktikan tiada penindasan dalam Islam terhadap wanita. Tindakan beliau dismbut dengan paluan kompang oleh Kerajaan US.Namun setelah 2 hari memberi khutbah, apa yang telah beliau berjaya buktikan adalah perpecahan umat Islam..Syabas beta syabas!..Bukankan umat Islam di US dan dimana-mana bersatu menyebarkan dakwah?
Ingin sekali berjumpa dengan wanita berani ini...Dari sudut ilmu memanglah dia cukup hebat..namun teringat puisi yang dicakan Ustaz Burhanuddin dalam kelas," kalaulah ilmu itu lebih dari taqwa, nescaya Iblis lah yang paling mulia"...kerana Iblis telah menemui Allah, telah pun melihat syurga dan neraka...
Kadang kala, dalam keadaan kita nak memupuk kepercayaan orang terhadap Islam, kita kadang2 dalam keadaan yang tidak sedar telah mengorbankan bahagian2 dalam Islam sendiri demi memuaskan aqal manusia..kita cenderung menggunakan aqal agar semua orang terima kerana mereka meletakkan aqal semata sebagai rujukan..Bayangkan..antara kucing yang makan frieskis dan ikan , tidur di atas sofa yang empuk dan ayam yang makan dedak dan cacing, tinggal di kepuh yang kotor..mana yang lebih baik dimakan? pilih antara nak guna aqal atau wahyu
Berkaitan dengan khatibah bagi solat Jumaat,
Ada beberapa pandangan ulama mu'asir yang boleh dirujuk untuk kajian:
Pandangan Dr. Yusuf al-Qardhawiy (Bahasa Arab):
http://www.islamonline.net/fatwaapplication/arabic/display.asp?hFatwaID=122680Pandangan Syaikh AbdulLah Hamid Ali:
Question: Why can't muslims get with the modern times and allow women to lead in prayer? Dr. Amina Wadud, professor of Islamic studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, will be the first woman to lead a public, mixed-gender Friday prayer in the modern day. Is there any possible objection you can have to this historic event?
Shaykh Abdullah's Response:
Can a Woman Lead Men in Salat?
Let's get right to the point.
The first problem with this scheduled event is that the theme is `Muslim Women Reclaim Right to Lead Prayer,' while it should read `Muslim Women Claim Right to Lead Prayer,' since there is no basis for the belief that it was ever a right for women to lead a mixed-group prayer. And there are no explicit accounts of women ever leading a mixed-group of men and women in prayer.
Three of the four Sunni Schools of law (Hanafis, Shafi'is, and Hanbalis) permit for a woman to lead other women in prayer except that the one leading is not to stand out in front of the row.[1] Rather, she is to remain aligned in a single row with the other women, so as not to appear to be leading as a man would. They base this on the following reports:
1- Imam Baihaqi, Daraqutni, and Ibn Abi Shayba report from Ra'ita Al-Hanafiyya that she said: "'Aisha led us. And she stood between us during the obligatory prayer."
2- Ibn Abi Shayba and `Abdur-Razzaq Al-San'ani report by way of Hujayra bint Husayn that she said: "Umm Salama led us in Salatul-`Asr. And she stood between us."[2]
Imam Al-Nawawwi says about these two hadiths, Daraqutni and Baihaqi related them with sahih chains.[3]
As for Imam Malik and the popular view held in the Maliki School, any prayer that a woman leads others in – whether women, men, or mixed – is invalid. Ali ibn Abi Talib is reported to have said, "The woman is not to lead (Salat)."[4] This was also the view of Sulaiman ibn Yasar and Al-Hasan Al-Basari.[5]
As for the other three schools, their position in general[6] was that it is permitted for women to lead other women in Salat.
As for the cause of this disagreement, we can reasonably say that it is the direct result of the different views of the Sahaba, in so much as that 3 of the Imams adopted the views of Umm Salama and `Aisha who were both wives of the Prophet – while Imam Malik and those who held the same view accepted the report of `Ali ibn Abi Talib -.
If we were Hanafis, it would be easy to resolve this matter by just having everyone follow the particular Companion's opinion we deem most worthy of following.
If one is a Maliki, it would similarly seem easy to resolve by just ascertaining that there was a consensus found among the scholars of Medinah during Malik's time that went contrary to these hadiths supported by the majority.
But if a Muslim is one who champions the hadith of the Prophet and doesn't place anything over it – as is the view of Shafi'i and Ahmad, the solution would seem easy to resolve by simply relying on the most authentic report found that demonstrates what the Prophet's sunnah was in this regard, since it is possible that some Sahaba heard what others may have not.
So after searching, we find that the strongest report found that goes back to the Prophet is the following:
Abu Dawud reports that Umm Waraqa y said, "I said: "O Messenger of Allah! Permit for me to participate in the raid with you. I'll nurse your sick. Perhaps Allah will grant me martyrdom." He said: "Remain in your house. For verily Allah I will grant you martyrdom." And she asked his permission to take a muadhdhin in her home. And he allowed her."
In another version Abu Dawud reports: "The Messenger of Allah used to visit her in her house. And he assigned to her a muadhdhin who would make the summons to prayer (adhan) for her. And he ordered her to lead the inhabitants of her home."
The hadith was reported by Baihaqi, Daraqutni, and Hakim. And Hakim said, "Muslim advanced Al-Walid ibn Jami' (one of the narrators) as being authoritative.[7] But this is a hadith with a single chain of narration (sunnah ghariba). I don't know of any hadith with a connected chain to the Prophet (musnad) in this chapter other than this one." And Imam Dhahabi concurred with his findings[8].
Al-Mundhiri said, "Al-Walid ibn Jami' is the subject of dispute (fihi maqal). And Muslim has reported through him." Ibn Al-Qattan said, "Al-Walid's state isn't known."[9] Ibn Hibban mentioned him in (his book) Al-Thiqat (Trustworthy Narrators).[10] And Ibn Hajar said, "In its chain is `Abdur-Rahman ibn Khallad (a second questionable narrator). And his status is unknown (fihi jahala)."
If this is true in that this report has two suspect narrators, Al-Walid ibn Jami' and `Abdur-Rahman ibn Khallad, then this hadith can't really have much if any authority.
And if it had not been for its weakness, it could be used by those who argue for the right of women leading men in prayer to support their argument even though the indications in the hadith are very subtle. That is, the fact that it states that the Prophet – assigned a muadhdhin for her and then ordered her to lead those in her house in prayer, gives the impression that she led at least one man in prayer who was likely a bondsman or unmarriageable relative of hers, since she would only be allowed to keep the company of a bondsman or a male relative, and men are usually those who make the call to prayer.
One could just as well assume that the muadhdhin appointed by Allah's Messenger e while presuming the hadith is authentic – was another woman, and that Umm Waraqa led a group of women in prayer as the other authentic reports make clear.[11]
But all of this is overshadowed by the weakness of the hadith. So it falls as a basis for argument.
Another important point is that Imam Abu Ja'far Ibn Jarir Al-Tabari (died 310 AH) held the view that a woman could lead Salat in spite of it being a view never accepted by the Ummah, and it has never been witnessed in all of Islamic history.[12]
Imam Al-Tabari was an absolute mujtahid and is known as the Imam of the Exegetes (Mufassirin). But his school didn't thrive and it didn't last as the 4 surviving schools did. So his view is extremely ancient and contradicts what the Ummah later unanimously agreed upon in that a woman cannot lead a man in prayer.
Add to that, it would difficult to know what exactly Imam Al-Tabari based his ijtihad on today, since his school hasn't been preserved with an unbroken chain as the 4 schools have. So are we to accept his opinion just because it was an opinion without proper scrutiny and research?
Furthermore, what lends to the understanding that a woman's proper place is not leading a man in prayer are the following:
- If it was permissible, it would have been reported from the Salafus Saliheen.
- Since the Sunnah for women in prayer is for them to be behind the men, it is known from that that it is not permitted for them to be in front of them. For Abdullah bin Mas'ud said: "Put them back to where Allah put them back." Al-San'ani and Tabarani reported it. It is also mentioned in Majma' Al-Zawa'id. And for that reason, some of the allowed them to lead other women, since they are all to align straight in one row.
- The Prophet also said, "The best ranks of the men are those at the front. And the worst of them are those at the back. And the best ranks of the women are those at the back. And the worst of them are those at the front."
And if the Messenger – had intended any other arrangement for women in Salat, then we would have found him at least on one occasion allow the women to pray directly behind him or for a woman to lead the men in Salat.
So we are to understand that this is from the divinely inspired direction of the Creator. And to contravene it would be to question His wisdom. And to question His wisdom, would be to follow in the footsteps on Satan. And to follow in the footsteps of Satan, one is surely to be damned as he is.
So it becomes clear that such people who insist on the permissibility of a woman leading men in prayer have nothing firm to rely on in their position other than the following of their fancies and what their lusts dictate to them.
The Issue of Apostasy
The next important question would be, are such people Muslims who contravene the consensus of the Ummah, which upholds that a woman leading men in prayer is prohibited?
The short answer is, no! But that `no' is a `no' that doesn't remove the danger from being damned by the Almighty One.
In other words, the decisive consensus for Sunnis cannot be violated. Were one to contravene that consensus, he/she would be considered an apostate from Islam.
But this consensus is one that occurred after a well-known disagreement due to the view of Al-Tabari and Abu Thawr. And scholars have differed about whether or not contravening this kind of consensus is enough to expel a person beyond the pale of Islam. [13]
One can also reply that the Shiites do not consider consensus to have the same authority that Sunnis do. And they do not accept it.
But we can reply that in spite of that Shiites do not allow for women to lead men in prayer. So even though they may not consider it to be a valid source of law, their practice shows that they share with Sunnis in their traditional belief that a woman may not lead the Jumu'a prayer or any other prayer for that matter unless it be a woman leading other women in a prayer that is not Jumu'a.
So even if Shiites don't accept scholarly consensus as a valid source of law, they do accept that Allah says in the Qur'an, "Whoever splits from the Messenger after guidance has become clear to him, and then follows other than the way of the believers, We will turn him to what he has turned, and enter him into Hell. And how evil a destination!" [4:115]
And it is the way of the believers that from the time of the Prophet until now that no woman has ever been reported leading the Jumu'a Prayer, Eid Prayer, or any other prayer when those being led were a mix of men and women.
In the end, I seriously doubt that many people will be in attendance at this event, at least not many real men or women.
We know that the enemies of Islam have many tactics they use in trying to get a misdirected and emotional response out of the Muslims. And perhaps they do that in order to produce a situation where they can justify taking action against those they label as extremists, radicals, terrorists, and fundamentalists.
I think that if people want to make up their own religion, let them do as they like. We just ask them to give us a little respect and not call it Islam, and don't call themselves Muslims. That's all.
Was Salam
Abdullah bin Hamid Ali
Ustadh Abdullah bin Hamid Ali is the first American to attend and graduate from the University of Al- Qarawiyeen's Faculty of Shariah The focus of his study was the understanding of the science of fiqh, Usool Al-Fiqh, and`Aqeedah. He has studied under some of the top scholars of Islam including Dr Abdullah Ghaazeewee, Professor of Usool Al-Fiqh, Sheikh Muhammad At-Ta'weel, Muftee, Scholar, and Professor of Usool Al-Fiqh, Sheikh Muhammad Al-Ghaazee Husainee, Grand Muftee of Morocco and Professor of Al-Fiqh Al-Muqaaran, Sheikh Ahmad Zweetin, Professor of Fiqhul-Hadeeth and many others!
