SUATU saat kami duduk di Masjid
Jogokariyan, di hadirat Syaikh Dr. Abu Bakr Al ‘Awawidah, Wakil Ketua Rabithah
‘Ulama Palestina. Kami katakan pada beliau, “Ya Syaikh, berbagai telah
menyatakan bahwa persoalan Palestina ini takkan selesai sampai bangsa ‘Arab
bersatu. Bagaimana pendapat Anda?”
Beliau tersenyum. “Tidak begitu ya
Ukhayya”, ujarnya lembut. “Sesungguhnya Allah memilih untuk menjayakan agamanya
ini sesiapa yang dipilihNya di antara hambaNya; Dia genapkan untuk mereka
syarat-syaratnya, lalu Dia muliakan mereka dengan agama & kejayaan itu.”
“Pada kurun awal”, lanjut beliau, “Allah
memilih Bangsa ‘Arab. Dipimpin RasuluLlah, Khulafaur Rasyidin, & beberapa
penguasa Daulah ‘Umawiyah, agama ini jaya. Lalu ketika para penguasa Daulah itu
beserta para punggawanya menyimpang, Allahpun mencabut amanah penjayaan itu
dari mereka.”
“Di masa berikutnya, Allah memilih bangsa
Persia. Dari arah Khurasan mereka datang menyokong Daulah ‘Abbasiyah. Maka
penyangga utama Daulah ini, dari Perdana Menterinya, keluarga Al Baramikah,
hingga panglima, bahkan banyak ‘Ulama & Cendikiawannya Allah bangkitkan
dari kalangan orang Persia.”
“Lalu ketika Bangsa Persia berpaling &
menyimpang, Allah cabut amanah itu dari mereka; Allah berikan pada orang-orang
Kurdi; puncaknya Shalahuddin Al Ayyubi dan anak-anaknya.”
“Ketika mereka juga berpaling, Allah
alihkan amanah itu pada bekas-bekas budak dari Asia Tengah yang disultankan di
Mesir; Quthuz, Baybars, Qalawun di antaranya. Mereka, orang-orang Mamluk.”
“Ketika para Mamalik ini berpaling, Allah
pula memindahkan amanah itu pada Bangsa Turki; ‘Utsman Orthughrul & anak
turunnya, serta khususnya Muhammad Al Fatih.”
“Ketika Daulah ‘Aliyah ‘Utsmaniyah ini
berpaling juga, Allah cabut amanah itu dan rasa-rasanya, hingga hari ini, Allah
belum menunjuk bangsa lain lagi untuk memimpin penjayaan Islam ini.”
Beliau menghela nafas panjang, kemudian
tersenyum. Dengan matanya yang buta oleh siksaan penjara Israel, dia arahkan
wajahnya pada kami lalu berkata. “Sungguh di antara bangsa-bangsa besar yang
menerima Islam, bangsa kalianlah; yang agak pendek, berkulit kecoklatan, lagi
berhidung pesek”, katanya sedikit tertawa, “Yang belum pernah ditunjuk Allah
untuk memimpin penzhahiran agamanya ini.”
“Dan bukankah Rasulullah bersabda bahwa
pembawa kejayaan akhir zaman akan datang dari arah Timur dengan bendera-bendera
hitam mereka? Dulu para ‘Ulama mengiranya Khurasan, dan Daulah ‘Abbasiyah sudah
menggunakan pemaknaan itu dalam kampanye mereka menggulingkan Daulah ‘Umawiyah.
Tapi kini kita tahu; dunia Islam ini membentang dari Maghrib; dari Maroko,
sampai Merauke”, ujar beliau terkekeh.
“Maka sungguh aku berharap, yang dimaksud
oleh Rasulullah itu adalah kalian, wahai bangsa Muslim Nusantara. Hari ini,
tugas kalian adalah menggenapi syarat-syarat agar layak ditunjuk Allah memimpin
peradaban Islam.”
“Ah, aku sudah melihat tanda-tandanya. Tapi
barangkali kami, para pejuang Palestina masih harus bersabar sejenak berjuang
di garis depan. Bersabar menanti kalian layak memimpin. Bersabar menanti kalian
datang. Bersabar hingga kita bersama shalat di Masjidil Aqsha yang merdeka
inshaallah.”
Ah.. Campur aduk perasaan, tertusuk-tusuk
rasa hati kami di Jogokariyan mendengar ini semua. Ya Allah, tolong kami,
kuatkan kami. [Salim A Fillah]
TIMUR ADALAH KAWASAN TIMUR KA’BAH
Hadits Tentang Panji Hitam Dari Timur
Telah menceritakan kepada kami Abdullah bin
Ishaq Al Washithi An Naqid; telah menceritakan kepada kami Yahya bin Ishaq dari
Yazid bin Hayyan; aku mendengar Abu Mijlaz menceritakan dari Ibnu Abbas, ia
berkata; “Sesungguhnya panji Rasulullah shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam berwarna
hitam dan benderanya berwarna putih.”- sunan Ibn Majah 2808
Qaul Sahabat Radhiyallahu ‘anhum, “Al-Mahdi
berserta tentara-nya akan muncul daripada Timur. Sekiranya gunung menjadi
penghalang (perjalanan) mereka, nescaya gunung itu akan (mereka pukul sehingga)
hancur rata menjadi jalan mereka.”Sabda Nabi SAW, “Akan datang Panji-panji
Hitam dari Timur, seolah-olah hati mereka adalah kepingan-kepingan besi.
Sesiapa yang mendengar tentang mereka, hendaklah datang kepada mereka dan
berbaiatlah kepada mereka, sekalipun terpaksa merangkak di atas salji.”
(Al-Hafiz Abu Nuaim)
Kata Sayidina Ali, “Maka Allah Azza wa
Jalla menghimpunkan sahabat-sahabatnya (tentera al-Mahdi yang dipanggil Ikhwan)
seramai tentera-tentera Badar dan seramai tentera Talut, yaitu 313 orang
lelaki, seolah-olah mereka itu singa-singa jantan yang keluar dari hutan. Hati
mereka itu ibarat kepingan-kepingan besi. Kalau mereka berkehendak untuk
memindahkan gunung, niscaya akan mereka lakukan. Pakaian mereka sejenis dan
seolah-olah mereka itu dari satu ibu dan satu ayah.”
Dari Ibnu Umar RA katanya, Rasulullah SAW
ditanya oleh para sahabat RA, “Apakah ada orang yang beriman kepadamu sedangkan
mereka tidak pernah melihatmu dan membenarkan ajaranmu sedangkan mereka tidak
pernah melihatmu?” Baginda SAW menjawab, “Mereka itu adalah Ikhwanku dan mereka
bersama-samaku. Beruntunglah mereka yang melihatku dan beriman kepadaku dan
beruntung juga mereka yang beriman kepadaku sedangkan mereka tidak pernah
melihatku.” (diulang 3 kali). (Muslim)
Rasulullah SAW, ada menyebutkan mengenai
Ikhwan ini yang maknanya kira-kira begini: “Apabila azan sang muazin,
berserulah dia, ‘Asyhaduan Lailahaillallah’, (ketika itu) bergoncanglah syurga.
Sangatlah rindunya para bidadari dan bertambah-tambah rindunya lagi mereka akan
Rasulullah SAW. Begitu juga segala mahligai syurga dan segala bilik peraduannya
(bergoncang-goncang kerana) amat rindu kepada Rasulullah SAW. Kemudian
Rasulullah SAW itu pula, selain rindunya yang bersangatan kepada syurga, juga
tersangat rindu kepada suatu toifah dari kalangan umatnya yang akan keluar pada
akhir zaman nanti. Mereka itu berakhlak dengan akhlak nabi-nabi dan mengambil
perjalanan yang ditempuh oleh para siddiqin. Mereka ini adalah
ghuraba(orang-orang asing) di kalangan umum mukminin.”
Firman Allah SWT yang bermaksud: “Dan masa
(kejayaan/ kekuasaan dan kehancuran) itu Kami pergilirkan di antara manusia
(sebagai iktibar/ pengajaran)” (Ali Imran: 140)
Sabda Rasulullah SAW: “Akan terjadi di
akhir zaman Islam muncul dari bumi sebelah Timur.” (tersebut di dalam Kitab
Sababul Inhithat Al Muslimin oleh Sayid Hasan Ali An Nadwi)
Berdasarkan ayat di atas, jelas bahwa Allah
menggilirkan kejayaan dan kejatuhan suatu bangsa dari dulu hingga kini.
Sejarah telah membuktikan, kejayaan sesuatu
bangsa dipergilirkan antara Timur dan Barat, bermula dari bangsa Qibti (Timur),
bangsa Yunani (Barat), bangsa Farsi (Timur), Bangsa Romawi (Barat), kemudian
bangsa Arab (Timur), dan kini Amerika (Barat) yang sedang menurun pengaruh
kekuasaannya hari demi hari. Jika diikuti susunan timur-barat ini, giliran
bangsa yang bakal menguasai dunia kini adalah bangsa dari Timur.
Telah mengeluarkan Tabrani dalam Al-Ausat,
dari Ibnu Umar bahwa Nabi SAW telah mengambil tangan Ali dan bersabda : “Akan
keluar dari sulbi ini pemuda yag memenuhi dunia dengan keadilan (Imam Mahdi).
Bilamana kamu melihat yang demikian itu, maka wajib kamu mencari Pemuda dari
Bani Tamim itu, dia datang dari sebelah Timur dan dia adalah pemegang bendera
Al-Mahdi”. (dari kitab Al Hawi lil Fatawa oleh Imam Sayuti).
Timur manakah ? Dalam dunia Islam ada dua
Timur, yaitu TimurTengah dan Timur jauh (Asia Tenggara). Bila diukur dari segi
peluang, kewibawaan dan pengamalan Islam, Timur jauh mengatasi Timur Tengah.
Besar kemungkinan Timur yang dimaksud dalam hadist adalah Timur jauh (Asia
Tenggara). Di Timur jauh satu bangsa yang menonjol pengamalan Islamnya dan
belum pernah menjadi empire dunia adalah bangsa Melayu (nusantara) yang
meliputi terutama Indonesia dan Malaysia, Brunei, Selatan Thailand, dan
Mindanao.
Guru Besar Universitas Al Azhar Kairo,
Prof. DR. Syeikh Abdul Hayyi Al-Farmawi, menegaskan bahwa kebangkitan Islam di
masa depan akan dimulai di Indonesia. Beberapa tokoh dan penulis dunia di
antaranya : Malik bin Nabi (penulis Perancis), Dr. Abdus Sallam Harras (Univ.
Qarawiyyun Maroko), Judith Nagata (penulis Amerika), Mahmud Bajahji (mantan PM
Irak) juga meyakini bahwa kebangkitan Islam akan bermula dari Asia Tenggara,
dengan tulang punggungnya Indonesia.
SUMBER: KABARMAKKAH.COM
Gold And Unrealistic Expectations - Gold Is Not An Investment
Gold has been characterized as insurance, a hedge against inflation/social unrest/instability, or, more simply, just a commodity. But it is treated most of the time, by most people, as an investment.
This is true even by those who are more negative in their attitude towards gold. "Stocks are a better investment." In most cases, the logic used and the performance results justify the statement. But the premise is wrong. Gold is not an investment.
When gold is analyzed as an investment, it gets compared to all kinds of other investments. And then the technicians start looking for correlations. Some say that an 'investment' in gold is correlated inversely to stocks. But there have been periods of time when both stocks and gold went up or down simultaneously.
One of the commonly voiced 'negative' characteristics about gold is that it does not pay dividends. This is often cited by financial advisors and investors as a reason not to own gold. But then...
Growth stocks don't pay dividends. When was the last time your broker advised you to stay away from any stock because it didn't pay a dividend. A dividend is NOT extra income. It is a fractional liquidation and payout of a portion of the value of your stock based on the specific price at the time. The price of your stock is then adjusted downwards by the exact amount of your dividend. If you need income, you can sell some of your gold periodically, or your stock shares. In either case, the procedure is called 'systematic withdrawals'.
The (il)logic continues... "Since gold doesn't pay interest or dividends, it struggles to compete with other investments that do." In essence, higher interest rates lead to lower gold prices. And inversely, lower interest rates correlate to higher gold prices.
The above statement, or some variation of it, shows up daily (almost) in the financial press. This includes respected publications like the Wall Street Journal. Since the US elections last November, it has appeared in some context or other multiple times.
The statement - and any variation of it that implies a correlation between gold and interest rates - is false. There is no correlation (inversely or otherwise) between gold and interest rates.
We know that if interest rates are rising, then bond prices are declining. So another way of saying that gold will suffer as interest rates rise is that as bond prices decline, so will gold. In other words, gold and bond prices are positively correlated; gold and interest rates are inversely correlated.
Except that all during the 1970's - when interest rates were rising rapidly and bond prices were declining - gold went from $42 per ounce to $850 per ounce in 1980. This is exactly the opposite of what we might expect according to the correlation theory cited earlier and written about often by those who are supposed to know.
During 2000-11 gold increased from $260 per ounce to a high of $1900 per ounce while interest rates declined from historically low levels to even lower levels.
Two separate decades of considerably higher gold prices which contradict each other when viewed according to interest rate correlation theory.
And the conflictions continue when we see what happened after gold peaked in each case. Interest rates continued upwards for several years after gold peaked in 1980. And interest rates have continued their long-term decline, and have even breached negative integers recently, six years after gold peaked in 2011.
People also talk about gold the way they talk about stocks and other investments... "Are you bullish or bearish?" "Gold will explode higher if/when... " "Gold collapsed today as... " "If things are so bad, why isn't gold reacting?" "Gold is marking time, consolidating its recent gains... " "We are fully invested in gold."
When gold is characterized as an investment, the incorrect assumption leads to unexpected results regardless of the logic. If the basic premise is incorrect, even the best, most technically perfect logic will not lead to results that are consistent.
And, invariably, the expectations (unrealistic though they may be) associated with gold, as with everything else today, are incessantly short-term. "Don't confuse me with the facts, man. Just tell me how soon I can double my money."
People want to own things because they expect/want the price of those things to go up. That is reasonable. But the higher prices for stocks that we expect, or have seen in the past, represent valuations of an increased amount of goods and services and productive contributions to quality of life in general. And that takes time.
Time is of the essence for most of us. And it seems to overshadow everything else to an ever greater degree. We don't take the time to understand basic fundamentals. Just cut to the chase.
Time is just as important in understanding gold. In addition to understanding the basic fundamentals of gold, we need know how time affects gold. More specifically, and to be technically correct, we need to understand what has happened to the US dollar over time (the past one hundred years).
Lots of things have been used as money during five thousand years of recorded history. Only one has stood the test of time - GOLD. And its role as money was brought about by its practical and convenient use over time.
Gold is original money. Paper currencies are substitutes for real money. The US dollar has lost 98 percent of its value (purchasing power) over the past century. That decline in value coincides time wise with the existence of the US Federal Reserve Bank (est. 1913) and is the direct result of Federal Reserve policy.
Gold's price in US dollars is a direct reflection of the deterioration of the US dollar. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Gold is stable. It is constant. And it is real money. Since gold is priced in US dollars and since the US dollar is in a state of perpetual decline, the US dollar price of gold will continue to rise over time.
There are ongoing subjective, changing valuations of the US dollar from time-to-time and these changing valuations show up in the constantly fluctuating value of gold in US dollars. But in the end, what really matters is what you can buy with your dollars which, over time, is less and less. What you can buy with an ounce of gold remains stable, or better.
When gold is characterized as an investment, people buy it ('invest' in it) with expectations that it will "do something". But they are likely to be disappointed.
In late 1990, there was a good deal of speculation regarding the potential effects on gold of the impending Gulf War. There were some spurts upward in price and the anxiety increased as the target date for 'action' grew near. Almost simultaneously with the onset of bombing by US forces, gold backed off sharply, giving up its formerly accumulated price gains and actually moving lower.
Most observers describe this turnabout as somewhat of a surprise. They attribute it to the quick and decisive action of our forces and the results achieved. That is a convenient explanation but not necessarily an accurate one.
What mattered most for gold was the war's impact on the value of the US dollar. Even a prolonged involvement would not necessarily have undermined the relative strength of the US dollar.
Gold's value is not determined by world events, political turmoil, or industrial demand. The only thing that you need to know in order to understand and appreciate gold for what it is, is to know and understand what is happening to the US dollar.
Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Kelsey_Williams/2474391
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9855550