What is Zuhud? It is a terminology used by Muslim to show modesty. Speaking about tasawwuf, there are boasting Orientalists who trying to talk like they know about everything. As an individual who profess the faith to only the God as the Most Highest, the King of worlds and universe, I don't buy anything from them either their opinion or suggestion suits well with my thought or in the opposite because they have no authority to judge others when they do not have any faith to the six pillars of faith and the five pillars of the nature. I hate this shallow notion about certain matter is influencing others just to downgrade others. This earth is shared and human come from the same source unless if those human who turned to be human from apes, that is different thing since they were not human by origin but animal.
In Islam we have ihsan which is a concept where we believe that He is watching over us even when nobody is looking at us since He is the One who Supervise. Ihsan is mentioned by prophet Muhammad s.a.w during the discourse with archangel Gabriel a.s who actually was sent by the God to teach companions of prophet Muhammad s.a.w and to be taught to generations in to come in disguise of questions and answers about the basis of the nature of human-being and other creatures. Our devotion to the God is based from prophetic tradition and we reject Orientalists ideas. They are not the authority for us, their opinions whether supporting us or opposing us has no significance to us. Their standard is not in compliance with our standard.
Concerning things exported from Christianity? Jesus a.s who is the "Lord" of Christians and the originator of the "religion" which is known as Christianity is one of the prophet of Islam. Islam is not a "new religion" but it is "a nature" which originated from the God the Highest who possesses the Most Glorious Names. It does not originated from Muhammad s.a.w because he was a medium chosen by the God to transmit the teaching to other non-chosen human-being just like other prophets and messengers of the God since Adam a.s. Jesus a.s is the brother of Moses a.s and Muhammad s.a.w by souls and by the same first ancestor which is Adam a.s. They are not from apes offspring and those who believe that they are descended from apes are not wrong. They are indeed what they believe. Another thing that we need to bear in mind, we do not submit ourselves to Church Fathers but only to the God the Most Highest. Jesus Christ need not Church Fathers to decide anything for him if he is the Lord. So, if Christians wanted to devote themselves to whatever "Theophany" they wanted to devote, go on. Just avoid from evil morality which does not reflect the morality taught by Jesus Christ and they would be fine. I don't simply call people as infidel because it is not me who decide but the God to decide over His creatures. If anything being mentioned in the scripture, then it is His word and not my word. It will remain as it is.
Those Christian monasticism influencing others is not an issue for us. Those influencing matters are nonsense and those "scholars" I believe are not people who practice any religion instead they worship themselves under their so-called "scholarly" statements or "suggestions." They are human and not the God to be worshiped on their opinions and they have flaws just like other human-being. Those Christian evangelists mostly do not portray the moral of Jesus Christ but they showed the negative side of human-being to me as a lay person because I had encountered such experience with them. I didn't even choose to be baptized last time but considering Buddhism because I detest the way they talk to others, bajet suci gitu. I would also demand to stop calling us Muslims as Mohammedan. We are not worshipers of Muhammad either when he perform "divine" miracle or when he was in human characteristic because we don't need such a philosophy to explain his characteristics and developing a dogma. Everything is clear in basic suras in the glorious Quran, the Word of the God. We are Muslims. We submit ourselves to the One who posses the Peace, the One who protects everyone with Peace. In al-Fatihah surah it is already mentioned that we follow only Him. Not Church Fathers' philosophies nor Orientalists teachings : )
A person who is devoted to the God actually has no time to look to other places or thinking to rival with others in term of worldly matters but feeling afraid that he would be dipped into torments and being far from the God with misconducts. A person who is devoted to the God does not actually talk much because much of talking would only bring negative impact toward the environment and nature. So, my Muslim brothers and sisters who perform da'awa especially to other community, always keep in mind to adhere to morality conduct revealed by the God in Quran and Sunnah. We perform everything through the Light of the God, the knowledge, wisdom, practices, and sincerity only for His sake. Not because we wanted to gain anything, to gain glory in others' eyes, gaining fund for example from organization, and etc. Guidance and Mercy is His work and not our work. Our responsibility is only to deliver to fellow creatures. This is also an advise for myself : )
Now this article is actually an article published by Islamic Center of USM which I had kept for long and reading it over and over but due to that it is in Malay, I think it should also be translated into other languages may everyone receive the Mercy of the God. I would like to share it with anyone passing here whatever faith that they have. Anything good should be shared and this has nothing to harm anyone Creed toward any doctrine because it is noble morality.
Zuhud means a characteristic of heart which is not attached to the world or worldly matters. It does not mean that we are wearing dirty clothes, torn everywhere or looking poor like a beggar in front of other. Even when we are poor, we do not show it to others but maintaining the look of normal people. In Islam, we are taught to look the same like others. Even if we learn scriptural studies, we do not necessarily wearing clothes which show us as a cleric or a minister. It is enough to look like other civilians and live like others. Zuhud only means that the condition of heart which is not attached toward worldly matters, does not depend to anything in the world but only depends to the God.
The tranquility of life in this world is what everyone desires. But we still see that many people are living in anxiety, fear, worrying about something which is uncertain, hatred to others (I also have this evil thing in mind) and many unnecessary things. Prophet Muhammad s.a.w through the Revelation taught us a practice which will makes the God love us.
His teaching is recorded in a hadith narrated by Abu Abbas Sahal bin Sa'ad Sa'idi r.a where he mentioned again that when a man walking passed prophet Muhammad s.a.w, he asked prophet Muhammad s.a.w: "Dear messenger of the God, show me a practice in which I will be loved by the God and everyone around me will also love me. Said prophet Muhammad s.a.w: "Be modest in the worldly matter, as the God will love you. Be modest on anything which is possessed by human, and human will love you."
Prophet Muhammad s.a.w teaches everyone to be like a person who is traveling. He said: "be like a foreigner in the world." A person who travels never being attached to anything or feeling that they should have any possession since they are just temporarily staying at a certain place. Just take a look at travelers, how do they look like? Do they bring anything like valuable stuffs with them while traveling or doing sightseeing? They just bring things that they need right? For example few clothes, few hygienic stuffs, passport, identity card, some money to use while staying in a certain place, some notebooks, or books to read while waiting for passport control. Another example that we could see are migrant workers. Look at how they live. Are they living a comfortable life or just enough for them to live in a foreign country where they are earning the money to be sent home? A modest person has no greed toward worldly matters.
Prophet Muhammad s.a.w further said: "Indeed a modest person in the world will feel relieved in the world and hereafter. A person who is attached to the world will feel suffocated and exhausted in the world and hereafter." (reported by Thabrani, Baihaqi from Abu Hurayrah r.a)
Imam al-Ghazali divided zuhud or modesty into three stages:
1. Lowest modesty where ones avoiding attachment toward worldly matters to avoid evil consequences in the hereafter.
2. Middle modesty where ones avoiding attachment toward worldly matters to get rewards in hereafter.
3. Highest modesty where ones avoiding attachment toward worldly matters because of the devotion and dependence only to the God.
People at lowest level of zuhud still are attached to worldly matters but at least they are striving hard to refrain from submission toward evil desires. The better zuhud appears when the heart of person actually had left the world and has no interest in worldly matters anymore. Highest zuhud is a stage where a person knows Who is his Creator and Lord. For these people, the world and its content actually have no significance anymore but their whole heart, thought and soul is only directed toward hereafter and the God.
Human have choice and rights to choose. The God had also grants us with mind to think what suits us better. So, it actually depends on us where should we go. Even the devil could also choose and he also has freedom to choose to be what he wants. He had chosen to be a boast. So do, Western Orientalists. They had chosen to make people around the world fight among each other with their attachment to worldly matters. Where are they now? Are they still living or resurrected as a cyborg by machines and technology? LOL
Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace, and love, amin!
