لنستخرج كنوزا من المعرفة و الإبداع و العلم و الأفكار
The main keys to religious tajdid are awareness and understanding. An understanding in the religionis not merely the understanding on the laws contained in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) knowledge, but that understanding covers the extent of knowledge related to Islam that we gained which is truly pure and authentic from the teachings that can mislead and confuse the Muslims.
In short, tajdid or islah carries the same meaning, which is the process of change based on aqidah (faith). These terms carry the meanings of the resurrection of Islam starting from restorations and changes to be done in some aspects that has shaken the stability and harmony of the Muslims.
3.0 THE EMERGENCE OF MUJADDID
The rise or fall of a civilization depends a lot on the people chosen by Allah to be the khalifah (representatives) on this earth. Everything that happens in a civilization act as the chronicles of the life journeys of humans that contains happy and sad stories that come and go. The rise of a civilization is also seen as the evolvement of humans through the process of birth, advancement, excellence, downfall and death. In other words, it is the humans who are responsible to the advancement of a civilization because it is them who give birth to it, indeed they are also the ones who develop and bring it down (Mohamad et. al. 2014).
At the times when the Muslims found themselves in a state of jumud (narrow or close-minded) and face failure in expanding the history of Islamic civilization, during these times, Allah SWT protects His religion through a medium; a person who can practice tajdid to revive and purify the religious understandings and return it back into its place. The emergence of
mujaddid (the one who brings renewals) in the Islamic world has been mentioned in the hadith of Rasulullah SAW (Sunan Abi Dawud, in Salih bin ‘Abd al-Aziz Ala l-Syakh, 2000, p. 13) :
Translation: From Abu Hurairah r.a. from Rasulullah SAW, he said: “Verily Allah will send to this nation at the top of every one hundred years the people who renew (to the nation) the religion.”
(Hadith narrated by Abu Daud)
This hadith clearly shows that Allah SWT will always protect this religion through mujaddid to fight against threats on Islam and to revive the true Islamic teachings. According to Yusuf al-Qaradhawi, this hadith aims to incite optimistic feelings on the soul of every Muslimin and to remind the Muslims that Islam will never die, and at a certain time Allah SWT will dispatch someone who can perform tajdid and islah on the religion (al-Qaradhawi, 1994).
This hadith is also a good news to the Muslims and a firm evidence on the religion of Islam which will always be protected by Allah through His Messengers, Prophets, as well as those who pursue the missionary works to enlighten the Muslims about their weaknesses and to free them from being astray. This hadith also provide a strength for the Muslims to perform tajdid and to have confidence in Allah’s help towards His believers.
The scholars have debated some matters to understand the history of tajdid based on this hadith. Among the aspects being discussed related to this hadith is determining when did tajdid came into existence. This refers to the sentence “At the top of one hundred years” or
which does not mean ‘one hundred years’ or ‘one hundred and one’, but at the end of the century and the beginning of next century. Truthfully, we have not been able to ensure what is meant by Hijriah years, whether it refers to the year Rasulullah SAW passed away or the year of his prophecy. What is more important though, is the fact that Allah will never ignore the Muslims without sending the people who can wake them from neglect and unify them from disunity (al-Qaradhawi, 1994).
This hadith explained about religious tajdid and the people who will execute the tajdid tasks. Based on the scholars’ opinions, among them Ahmad bin Hanbal as mentioned by Ibn al-Jauzi, truly Umar bin Abdul Aziz was the first Islah andtajdid figure chosen by Allah to uphold the truth and to make comprehensive renewals for the Muslims (Ibn Kathir , 1998).
Follow please next Thursday inshâallah Part 5
