Once upon a time, Prophet Moses walked toward the hills of Sinai where he would receive the commandments of God.
On his way, he met with an abid (devout worshipper of Allah) who was doing an uzlah (self-seclusion). The abid knew that Moses was about to meet with Allah and requested that Moses ask Allah to which level of heaven he would be put in the afterlife. Moses asked him why he was so sure he would go to heaven. The abid answered that he had secluded himself from all the chaos of the world for 40 years. He had never sinned. He filled his days by worshipping and praying to Allah.
Prophet Moses then reported the encounter to Allah. Allah answered that the man would be placed in hell.
Prophet Moses then returned and met with the abid again. The abid was filled with optimism and asked Moses to which level of heaven he would be put. Moses remained quiet, not knowing how to answer. He then told the abid to be patient, as he would be put in hell.
The abid did not believe it, after 40 years of continuous prayer, he would be put in hell. He then told Moses that he might have misheard Allah and requested that he return to meet with Him once more to make sure. Believing he may have misheard Allah, Moses returned to have another audience with The Creator.
Moses said he wished to be sure the abid would really be put in hell. Allah then said he would be placed in heaven. I had wanted to put him in hell as I created men not to be egotistical, including in spirituality. I created men to help other men. The abid was not really trying to be close to Me. He wanted only to run away from real life.
O God, why have you changed your decision so fast? Moses asked. Allah replied, when you returned here, the abid fell down on the ground and cried. He begged Me to enlarge his body to fill all of hell, so that no other man could go but himself. In that moment, he was no longer egotistical. He had put other people before himself.
Social observance
The message from the tale above is that ritual observances and social observances are inseparable from each other. We must do them both. We cannot do one while neglecting the other. We often see people who diligently practice ritual observances and forget their social observances. On the other hand, many neglect ritual observances, such as daily prayers, fasting, zakat (alms) and haj pilgrimage, but are active in social observances such as helping the poor, among others.
Ritual observance, which builds individual connection between a person and Allah, will only reward oneself. Meanwhile, social observances are essentially connections between people, but they are also connections with Allah.
It is interesting to see that Islam regulates that certain ritual observances are replaceable with social deeds; for example, those who cannot fast can pay the fidyah. On the other hand, those who cannot pay zakat cannot replace it with prayer or fasting.
Ramadhan fasting is a ritual observance, designed to provide benefits, in the form of social observance, for those who fast. By fasting, we feel temporary hunger, as we will be able to eat again after dusk. Through this temporary hunger, we can feel the hardships of people facing permanent hunger, as they do not have enough money to buy food. The expected outcome is that we become willing to help those in need. However, not all people who fast during Ramadhan enjoy such positive benefits.
In surah Al-Ma’un, it is said that those who call the religion a lie are those who treat orphans with harshness and those who do not urge others to feed the poor. It is also said that woe is for those who pray but are heedless of their prayer and for those who make a show of their deeds and withhold simple assistance. This surah highlights the positive impact of fasting as a form of caring toward those who find it hard to obtain food.
Latest condition
Based on available data, many Indonesians still suffer from malnutrition. The total is more than 10 percent of the population. It seems that many financially well-off Muslims have yet to help the poor as they are commanded to do. Perhaps not many have asked themselves whether they would be among those who treat religion as a lie for not feeding the poor in their neighborhood.
I wish to expose two facts, which portray our current condition. Islamic Development Bank research shows that the potential for religious alms in Indonesia is over Rp 200 trillion (US$15.04 million). In 2016, only Rp 5 trillion in religious alms were collected by formal alms agencies. Perhaps another Rp 5 trillion was donated through other channels. That makes for a total of Rp 10 trillion, just five percent of Rp 200 trillion.
Every year, one million Indonesians go on umrah (little haj) pilgrimage. If one person pays US$2,000, the total fund disbursed for umrah is US$2 million annually, or around Rp 27 trillion. In my opinion, umrah is of lower priority than alms – and yet umrah attracts three times as much as what Indonesians spend on alms every year. Once again, ritual observances are seen as more interesting, more enjoyable and of a higher priority than social observances.
I assume that many Muslims have not yet understood the importance of what I have exposed here. Through continued reminders, God willing, they will be moved to help their brothers and sisters in faith and nationality who are suffering from malnutrition and other problems. Perhaps a system is needed to facilitate Muslims to help those who suffer from malnutrition in their neighborhood.
