Allah is The Lord of The Universe and Muhammad is The Mercy to The Worlds

Friday, March 13 2015

by Candra Malik 

Bismi 'l-laahi 'r-rahmani 'r-rahim.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The Prophet Muhammad SAW himself, in a hadith narrated by Malik, said,"Innama bu'itstu liutammima makarima 'l-akhlaq. Surely I was sent by God to enhance moral glory." And Allah SWT Himself in Q.S Al Anbiyaa verse 107 says,"Wa maa arsalnaka illa rahmatan lil 'alamiin. And We sent thee but to be a mercy to the worlds." Whether God or The Messenger don't mention a name of religion, included Islam itself. Let me check and double check those hadith and Qur'anic verse above, perhaps I will find the specific words about Islam.

The quotes are "Innama bu'itstu liutammima makarima 'l-akhlaq" and "Wa maa arsalnaka illa rahmatan lil 'alamiin." Thank God, I found two keywords, namely moral glory and a mercy to the worlds. It is "lil 'alamin", not "lil muslimin" nor "lil mukminin; to the worlds, not the Muslims nor the believers. Well, I am standing here to declare how much I love Allah and Muhammad more than I love myself and anything else in the world, since God and His Messenger love humanity beyond everything.

But who am I, loving Allah and Muhammad so much? You will not find me in the map of the world today. Furthermore, I have a question: who are you? Anyway, it is not the main-issue. Yes, indeed, we need the successors of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Gus Dur, etc, but actually we need anyone who even only makes a small step but he/she does it for the sake of the humanity. 

What I am trying to say is, whoever you are in this place or outside there, you and I can take a part to struggle to enhance glory moral for humanity. Born in Solo on March 25, 1978, growing up in that small village in Central Java, making nothing but only a hope for a better life, asking myself "Who am I?", I am writing this. Please allow me to ask you, the honourable people: "Who are you?" Can we create a fraternity, make peace, and spread the love between human beings?

The former president of the Republic of Indonesia, who was also the world leader of democracy, the late KH. Abdurrahman Wahid, well known as Gus Dur, once said," If you do something good to the people, then they do not question your religion nor your belief." Neither do I. Trust me. Your private life is yours and I am not asking about that. Anywhere I go I say to anyone I see, that Allah is The Essence and Muhammad is The Presence. We belong to Allah and Muhammad is the best symbol of the sense of belonging to Him.

Allah is the essence of love itself and Muhammad is its pure presence in the form of caring. Muhammad was the first to visit the man who spat at him every day when he fell ill. During his lifetime, Muhammad was also devoted to feed a blind woman who constantly insulted him. She could not see and therefore she did not recognize the face of Muhammad. The blind woman drowned in a sea of tears when one day she did not feel the same gentleness of the hands of the unknown man who fed her. She was sorry.

To the man came feeding her at that afternoon, the blind woman asked him the same question that I gave to you: "Who are you?". The man answered,"I am the man who feeds you every day." She argued back to him. "You probably can act as the gentleman, but I know for sure that you are not!" Abu Bakr As Shiddiq, the best friend of Muhammad, cried. Shiddiq told her that the gentleman has passed away and he wanted to continue to take good care to anyone who suffers and give them the best love as Muhammad did.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Please forgive me for reciting the same quotes, but it's just because of my folly. I repeat the same arguments. My books of Islam are just many when you know about the religion much. I am still a new learner when you have been teaching about Islam for years. I understand only a little of how the doctrine of the goodness works while in the same time you already do much kindness again and again. Accepting me here to present a simple note is actually too much for a country boy like me. I can say nothing but thank you. Thank you.

The two quotes above don't mention any religions nor beliefs. Allah SWT and His Messenger Muhammad SAW focus on enhancing moral glory to be a mercy to the worlds. As a Muslim, I always recite a very famous verse of the Quran that reads "Bismi 'l-laahi 'r-rahmani 'rahim. In the name of Allah the Merciful, the Compassionate." It reminds me that Allah is the Merciful and The Compassionate. The verse is well connected with the two quotes I recite in the beginning of my speech. And it's all about to love and care.

In my short thoughts, the verse of "bismi 'l-laahi 'r-rahmani 'r-rahim" teach us that the name of Allah can be quoted for all kind of activities that we do, as long as every single thing we do, we do with the mercy and compassion to the worlds. We are not allowed to bring the name of Allah for violence purposes. We are forbidden to put His name into the war and killing people. We do not have the right to take the name of God to impose our will, spreading hatred and hostility. 

Allah SWT has 99 Asma al-Husna, and every name of His Great Names explains about love and caring. It does not matter if we give a name to God as long as it is showing about love and caring. Mahatma Gandhi once said,"For someone who is hungry, a loaf of bread is the face of God." Talking about Allah, we need to speak up about Dzat (The Substance), Sifat (The Nature), Asma (The Names), and Af'al (The Behaviours) of God and it will take a long way to heaven, right? Instead, how if we talk about Muhammad as the presence of the essence?

Ladies and gentlemen,

The Prophet is an extra-ordinary man born once in the history of life of man in the universe. We can summarize the figure of Muhammad in the four main characters. He's wise (Fathanah) and trustworthy (Amanah), acting properly (Shiddiq), and delivering message without doubt (Tabligh). Let us say that he had all thing which a man needs to become a perfect gentleman. The question is, are we in one of those characters? No need to ask whether our names will be noted in the history of mankind. It is too big.

Muhammad was the right man in the right time and the right place. He appeared as the Messenger and the Seal of the Prophets of God in the crisis of humanitarian in the worlds, especially in Arabian peninsula since the Quraish were falling into the moral deterioration. However, based on Q.S. Al Ahzab verse 40, that reads "Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets; and Allah has full knowledge of all things", we can say that he does not belong to Arabic only.

Alhamdu li 'l-laahi rabbi 'l-'alamin. Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the universe that Muhammad belongs to the worlds, not only a state nor a nation. The Khatam an-Nabiyyin or the Seal of The Prophets, a title used by the Al Qur'an to designate him in a divine duty, accepted the last revelation that enhance religions revealed by God to the prophets in former ages, without denying them. And the Al Qur'an he received is intended for all mankind for all time to come without doubts in it.

In one side, Allah Himself says that He is Rabb 'l-'alamin, the Lord of the universe, and in another side He says that Muhammad is rahmatan li 'l-'alamin, the mercy to the worlds. Therefore, I must say it loud that Allah is not God for The Muslims only and Muhammad is not the Messenger and the Seal of Prophets of Islam only. Above all things, be it ethnicity, religion, race, nation, and state, Allah is the Lord of the universe and Muhammad is the mercy to the worlds. Don't downgrades God and His Messenger.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Syahadat is the most fundamental sentence in Islam which, according to a hadith narrated by Muslim, explains the confession of faith to Allah as the One and only God and Muhammad as His Messenger. The sentence reads "Asyhadu an-laa ilaaha illa 'l-laah wa asyhadu anna Muhammadan 'r-rasulu 'l-laah" which means I testify there is no god but Allah and I testify that Muhammad is His Messenger. See how there is no word that refers to ethnicity, race, religion, nation, and certain countries in the most important sentence in the Muslims faith.

Again and again I will say it to you that Allah is the Lord of the universe and Muhammad is the mercy to the worlds. Therefore, I invite you all to stop being racist and stop any action based on bias against a particular race. All about Arabian custom is not always associated with Islam and everything about Islam is not always about Arabian custom. There is no problem with being an Arabian, but this will be a big disaster for anyone if you spread fear, terrorize by threats and criminal acts, and propagate hatred and hostility.

The difference is not something that should be abolished. It is a necessity. 

We are actually the same since each one of us had the distinction. In a simple way, let me say that we are the same because we are the difference itself. If the universe is a painting, the way of life of ours are its colour. I can not imagine how it would be if one of the seven colours of the rainbow were removed. How suffered the city where we live can be identified by finding how many colour of butterflies around our house. 

How does it feel when the worlds consist of only one colour? I have no idea but I'm afraid that it will show us the plight of the blind. The blackout that darken the sight and the ignition of the ablaze lights dazzling our eyes are actually different, but both give us the same impression: it feels like viewless. So, let's make our life colourful by talking about the similarity in the different styles and the difference in the same spirit; to love and care. We are different, therefore we are the same.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am familiar with the unity in diversity. Our anchestors; the archipelago men; called it Bhinneka Tunggal Ika. I have no big deal with the diversity in religiousity. Let it be different. All people are free to find their own pathway to reach the true happiness and walk on it in peace. We have our own understanding on God. Allah says that He is in accordance with the presupposition of His servants. If all humans on earth are united to create a new God, we are bound to fail. Indeed, Islam teaches us that making allies against God is the greatest and unforgiven sin. But I have a question.

What kind of sin that goes beyond the forgiveness of His majesty? In my humble opinion, what actually happens is the opposite. Allah mentions the greatest sin that goes beyond the limits of human ability to achieve it. If His affection goes beyond His wrath, as mentioned in a Qudsi Hadith narrated by Bukhari, and Allah also says in Q.S. Al Ikhlas verse 4 reads "Wa lam yakun lahu kufuwan ahad. And no one equal to Him", then He is not tainted by human actions. Allah is far away but He actually takes no distance. And Allah is so close but He remains untouchable.

God is the most powerfull and we are powerless. He makes us strong in the way of the energy of the universe strengthens us. We are never really all alone nor able to do anything by ourselves. The universe works. Without the microphone, for example, I have to speak louder. Otherwise I can not deliver my message further and the audience sitting there in the corner will not be able to listen to me clearly. Do you think I'm standing on my feet and that's it? No, I am not. Earth's gravity makes me stand firmly without bounce due to the rotation of the earth.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The earth still spins as it should without making us dizzy or bounce. It works constantly according to its fate and function without disturbing us. Meanwhile we are again and again hurting the earth with environmental degradation that makes natural disasters happens more frequent anywhere. Day by day it's easier to see damages in any places. God appointed man as Khalifah fil ardli, the representation of God on the earth, but we betray Him. Are we a bunch of people who do not know how to thank God? Or were we allied to betray Him and tried to fight Him even though we know we are going to fail?

Yes, we are different but we all live under the same sun. So do the birds. If not deign to learn from our own humanity, we can still learn from other creatures about the unseen strength.

At first I thought that the birds flying in the air with wings flapping. Then I found Q.S. Al Mulk verse 19 which reads,"Do they not see the birds fly above their heads? There is nothing to hold the birds in the air besides the Merciful."  The unseen strength takes a greater role and vital in our life.

Which part of your body takes the greater role? The unseen organs or the seen ones? Everything below the surface of the skin is the unseen part. In addition to more numerous, each unseen part of our body takes a greater role than the visible organs. Nerve, lungs, heart, liver, kidney, spleen, intestine, brain, bile, bladder, pancreas, marrow, bone, muscle, blood vessels, and many more members of our body are not visible. Who are we? Invisible beings or not? Are we the unseen? 

Besides we ourselves, who sees us? To see for ourselves, by which I mean the parts below the surface of the skin, we need tools. However, we see only the image of each, not its original form. When you say there is something in your heart or mind, where is it? It is indeed unseen but felt deeply and more than that: no doubt it exists. Something that does not get caught by the senses, not necessarily it does not exist. Something that disappeared does not always gone. It stays near us but unseen.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This little boy talks too much. It seems to me that I am emotional and try too hard to appear around you to attract your attention and get recognition. I do apologize. Yes, I am nobody. But I am not talking about the empty power. I prefer to process and manage the power of the emptiness. Since I have an empty schedule, then I can take my me-time to write this article. And because I have no political will but to live together as a big family on earth, I can say anything without fear that I will be kicked out of a party.

Well, ladies and gentlemen,

I remain saying that I am nobody. But, I love Islam and being a Muslim -- and being a Dervish. Quoting Shaikh Hisham Kabbani of Haqqani Naqsabandiy,"Still I am a student", I close my statements by asking you: let me learn from you, please.

Thank you.