Measuring Our Social Piety

The thunderous chants of takbir (praising God’s greatness) greets the upcoming Idul Fitri holiday, which ends the solemn praying of Muslims throughout the fasting month of Ramadhan. The reverberating takbir signals the approaching victory.

Upon deeper contemplation, we will find that these thunderous takbir chants are our pledge and statements as mere weak servants of the Almighty.

The meaning of takbir, in my humble opinion, is truly a way to relativize ourselves as there is no entity greater and holier than Allah. Humans are fundamentally beings filled with limitations, deficiencies and weaknesses.

Observing the ontologically holy definition of takbir, its uttering must not be done in vanity or arrogance. This will contradict the very nature of takbir.

Arabic linguistic expert Tamam Hassan (1988) said that the meaning of takbir is an attribution of something to a greater thing. Therefore, if we see a thing, a phenomenon or others that we see as great, then Allah is definitely greater than all of that.

Truly, Allah is mightier than anything we can imagine. Allah’s greatness goes beyond whatever assumption we may have. This is because our assumption and estimation as mere creations are limited.

In the words of humanist Emha Ainun Nadjib, we need to define Allah’s greatness in dynamic, instead of static, ways. A servant who finds the greatness of Allah will always humble themselves before Him.

The accuracy in defining takbir, in my opinion, will heavily influence our religious experience. The shallower our definition of takbir, the shallower our religious actions will be.

Recently, we have even found many examples of the improper use of takbir. This is where the precision and accuracy in defining takbir comes in, as it will lead to a better understanding.

In this context, the reverberated takbir that signals the upcoming Idul Fitri brings us to two definitions: namely victory and a return to purity. Victory, to borrow Al-Jurjani’s definition, refers to the victory a servant gains for successfully winning the war against his or her earthly desires for one whole month. As such, the suggested reward is fitr or iftar, which means “breaking.”

There are those who define Idul Fitri as a momentum to return to self-purity. This meaning is in line with a hadith narrated by Ibn Khuzaimah: “This is the month of which the beginning [10 days] is filled with blessings, the middle is filled with mercy and the final [10 days] is when Allah frees His servants from the fires of hell.”

It is based on this hadith – which separates Ramadhan into three phases, each of which is filled with blessing, mercy and freedom from the fires of hell – that a servant who has successfully undergone a whole month of fasting during Ramadhan is in fact pure from all sins that he or she has ever committed. This is the meaning of returning to one’s fitrah or returning to one’s purity.

Social piety

Within the context of Ramadhan, our fasting is actually training for us to empathize with our fellow men. We are required to empty our stomachs from dawn to dusk as a way for us to understand the suffering of the weak and the poor. These are the people who must withstand hunger, not just during Ramadhan but throughout the year.

During Ramadhan, we are taught to donate and to give alms and to share with others. The teaching to share with the weak and the poor is proof that religion upholds humanitarian solidarity. Religion is present and it protects the weak.

Islam upholds humanitarianism and builds social solidarity especially in its encouragement to help the weak. In the Quran’s surah Al Maun, Muslims are reminded of the importance of building social solidarity.

Without hesitation, Allah blasts the people who only prioritizes mahdlah deeds and neglects social piety.

“Fawailul lil mushollin. Alladzinahum an shalatihim sahun walladzinahum yurauna wayamnaunal maun.”

“Woe to those who pray but who are heedless of their prayer. Those who make show of their deeds and withhold simple assistance. This is proof that piety with a social dimension has a very important place in Islam. “

In this context and within the contexts of Idul Fitri and social piety, a unique tradition of Indonesia not found anywhere else is the halal bihalal (gathering) tradition. The tradition commonly involves visiting families and friends in their homes to ask and provide forgiveness to one another.

Halal bihalal is a religious deed with a social dimension. It has a direct impact that can be felt sociologically. As part of the effort to maintain harmony, the tradition of forgiving each other is reflected in halal bihalal and there is no other way but to preserve, maintain and develop it.

One of the proofs of the importance of the social dimension in religious deeds is reflected in the al-muta’adi afdhalu minal qasir element of fiqh (Islamic law), which means that the muta’adi (deeds with social excesses) are more important that qasir (individual) deeds.

As Prophet Muhammad, PBUH, once said: “Khairunnas anfauhum linnasi.” (The best people are those who are most beneficial for others.)

In line with this, forgiveness is a deed with an extremely high social excess. To borrow Gandhi’s words, forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. The weak and narrow-minded can never forgive.

At this point, I wish to quote celebrated historian Edward Gibbons, who in his 1999 book The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire wrote that “a great civilization never goes down unless it destroys itself from within.”

Such an outcome is possible if we are steadfast with our ego and insistent with our version of the truth, if we feel self-righteous, if we are arrogant with no possibility of forgiving others. If neglected, it is possible that the self-destruction syndrome that former president Soekarno once talked about comes true. None of us want this.

Idul Fitri is the perfect moment to welcome the arrival of victory. It is a victor for the people who perform not only mahdlah deeds (reinforcing one’s hablum minallah– connection with Allah) but also do good unto others (strengthening one’s hablum minannas – connection with others) in their daily lives.

Furthermore, we are taught to protect nature and the environment (hablum minal alam). May we all be given the blessings of calmness and grace in our religious life as well as in the lives of our nation and state.

Wallahu a’lam bis showab (Only Allah knows what is correct).

A HELMY FAISHAL ZAINI

Secretary general of the Nahdlatul Ulama Central Board