Hai manusia, kamu dalam keraguan tentang kebangkitan (dari kubur); maka (ketahuilah) sesungguhnya Kami telah menjadikan kamu dari tanah, kemudian dari setetes mani, kemudian dari segumpal darah, kemudian dari seumpal daging yang sempurna kejadiannya dan yang tidak sempurna, agar Kami jelaskan kepadamu dan Kami tetapkan dalam rahim, apa yang Kami kehendaki sampai waktu yang sudah ditentukan, kemudian Kami keluarkan kamu sebagai bayi, kemudian (dengan berangsur-angsur) kamu sampai pada kedewasaan, dan diantara kamu ada yang diwafatkan dan (ada pula) diantara kamu yang dipanjangkan umurnya sampai pikun, supaya dia tidak mengetahui lagi sesuatupunyang dahulunya telah diketahuinya. Dan kamu lihat bumi ini kering, kemudian apabila Kami turunkan air diatasnya, hiduplah bumi itu dan suburlah dan menumbuhkan berbagai macam tumbuh-tumbuhan yang indah (QS. 22:5)
O mankind! if ye are in doubt concerning the Resurrection, then lo! We have created you from dust, then from a drop of seed, then from a clot, then from a little lump of flesh shapely and shapeless, that We may make (it) clear for you. And We cause what We will to remain in the wombs for an appointed time, and afterward We bring you forth as infants, then (give you growth) that ye attain your full strength. And among you there is he who dieth (young), and among you there is he who is brought back to the most abject time of life, so that, after knowledge, he knoweth naught. And thou (Muhammad) seest the earth barren, but when We send down water thereon, it doth thrill and swell and put forth every lovely kind (of growth). (QS. 22:5)
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Happiness associated with deep talk
Happy people spend more time conversing about serious subjects rather than chitchatting about the weather or engaging in other idle banter, a team of researchers has found.
Their study, published in Psychological Science, doesn't purport to prove a cause-and effect relationship between happiness and serious conversation. On the one hand, their report says, happy people may be “social attractors” who facilitate deep social encounters..
"On the other hand, deep conversations may actually make people happier. Just as self-disclosure can instill a sense of intimacy in a relationship, deep conversations may instill a sense of meaning in the interaction partners. Therefore, our results raise the interesting possibility that happiness can be increased by facilitating substantive conversations," the authors suggest.
There is anecdotal evidence that deep conversations do, in fact, lift the spirits. For example, members of the Inland Empire Atheists, Agnostics and Skeptics in Riverside enjoy serious talk about topics such as the meaning of life, the origin of the universe, evolution and politics.
Studies show atheists and agnostics on average have a higher IQ than others. Many have advanced degrees, or are otherwise informed about science and philosophy.
One Riverside atheist commented on joining the Inland Empire Atheists that he was glad to be around people who know what "a priori" means.
Charlene Powell, who organizes the West Side Lunch discussion group for the Inland Empire atheists believes that more meaningful conversations make people happier on many different levels:
"When we discuss more meaningful topics we are telecasting to the world our own deeper worth and meaning," she says.
Gayle Myrna, another IEAA member, notes one of the reasons she joined the group was to engage in intellectual discussions:
“Since then, I have not been disappointed. Our group has a high level of bright people...so the discourses are always engaging, whether or not I always agree with someone's position on a topic.”
She says she finds the discussions "very uplifting."
Dr. Matthias R. Mehl of the University of Arizona and his fellow researchers studied thousands of conversations by 79 undergraduates over a four-day period. They equipped each with a digital recording device that took samples every 12.5 minutes, analyzed the results to determine whether the participants were alone or talking with others and characterized their conversations according to complexity.
The research team found that --- consistent with other research --- people who were happy with their lives were more gregarious and talkative.
“For example, compared with the unhappiest participants, the happiest participants spent about 25% less time alone and about 70% more time talking.”
Moreover, the happiest also had about one third as much small talk and twice as many substantive conversations as the least happy.
The study " "Eavesdropping on Happiness: Well-being is Related to Having Less Small Talk and More Substantive Conversations” is available online.
The authors are Matthias R. Mehl, Simine Vazire, and their students, Shannon E. Holleran and C. Shelby Clark. Further research is planned to test the hypothesis that deep conversations engender happiness.
Their findings seem to have been anticipated by a philosopher who lived 2,400 years ago. “The unexamined life is not worth living.” --- Socrates
examiner.com
Their study, published in Psychological Science, doesn't purport to prove a cause-and effect relationship between happiness and serious conversation. On the one hand, their report says, happy people may be “social attractors” who facilitate deep social encounters..
"On the other hand, deep conversations may actually make people happier. Just as self-disclosure can instill a sense of intimacy in a relationship, deep conversations may instill a sense of meaning in the interaction partners. Therefore, our results raise the interesting possibility that happiness can be increased by facilitating substantive conversations," the authors suggest.
There is anecdotal evidence that deep conversations do, in fact, lift the spirits. For example, members of the Inland Empire Atheists, Agnostics and Skeptics in Riverside enjoy serious talk about topics such as the meaning of life, the origin of the universe, evolution and politics.
Studies show atheists and agnostics on average have a higher IQ than others. Many have advanced degrees, or are otherwise informed about science and philosophy.
One Riverside atheist commented on joining the Inland Empire Atheists that he was glad to be around people who know what "a priori" means.
Charlene Powell, who organizes the West Side Lunch discussion group for the Inland Empire atheists believes that more meaningful conversations make people happier on many different levels:
"When we discuss more meaningful topics we are telecasting to the world our own deeper worth and meaning," she says.
Gayle Myrna, another IEAA member, notes one of the reasons she joined the group was to engage in intellectual discussions:
“Since then, I have not been disappointed. Our group has a high level of bright people...so the discourses are always engaging, whether or not I always agree with someone's position on a topic.”
She says she finds the discussions "very uplifting."
Dr. Matthias R. Mehl of the University of Arizona and his fellow researchers studied thousands of conversations by 79 undergraduates over a four-day period. They equipped each with a digital recording device that took samples every 12.5 minutes, analyzed the results to determine whether the participants were alone or talking with others and characterized their conversations according to complexity.
The research team found that --- consistent with other research --- people who were happy with their lives were more gregarious and talkative.
“For example, compared with the unhappiest participants, the happiest participants spent about 25% less time alone and about 70% more time talking.”
Moreover, the happiest also had about one third as much small talk and twice as many substantive conversations as the least happy.
The study " "Eavesdropping on Happiness: Well-being is Related to Having Less Small Talk and More Substantive Conversations” is available online.
The authors are Matthias R. Mehl, Simine Vazire, and their students, Shannon E. Holleran and C. Shelby Clark. Further research is planned to test the hypothesis that deep conversations engender happiness.
Their findings seem to have been anticipated by a philosopher who lived 2,400 years ago. “The unexamined life is not worth living.” --- Socrates
examiner.com
Friday, April 16, 2010
Residents are learning a lot of their medicine from the computer
In “The Hostile Hospital,” from the Lemony Snicket “Series of Unfortunate Events” books, the three young orphans at the center of the story visit the fictitious Heimlich Hospital, where Babs, the head of human resources, asks them if they know what the most important work done in a hospital is.“Healing sick people?” one of the children asks innocently.
“You’re wrong,” Babs growls, silencing the children. “The most important thing we do at the hospital,” she continues without flinching, “is paperwork.”
It’s a satirical stab that comes uncomfortably close to the truth.
Paperwork, or documentation, takes up as much as a third of a physician’s workday; and for many practicing doctors, these administrative tasks have become increasingly intolerable, a source of deteriorating professional morale. Having become physicians in order to work with patients, doctors instead find themselves facing piles of charts and encounter and billing forms, as well as the innumerable bureaucratic permutations of dozens of health insurance companies.
But despite the paperwork burden, there are few studies on the amount of time current doctors devote to charting, ordering, filling out forms and dictating. That is, except among one subset of doctors — doctors-in-training, or residents.
According to a study published earlier this year, residents now spend up to twice as much time on documentation as their counterparts did two decades earlier. Analyzing the results of a national survey of over 15,000 trainees in internal medicine, researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., found that a majority of residents reported spending as many as six hours a day documenting, while only a small fraction of residents spent as much time with patients.
In other words, young people who are learning to doctor spend as much time writing, typing or dictating about their patients as they do seeing them.
“Residents are learning a lot of their medicine from the computer,” said Dr. Amy S. Oxentenko, lead author of the study and an assistant professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic. “That does nothing to foster the relationship with the patient.”
But the increase in paperwork has not only been absolute; it has also been relative. For residents, the sheer volume of administrative tasks they must complete is compounded by the fact that their work hours have decreased while documentation requirements have remained unchanged. “You can only fit so many activities into a day,” Dr. Oxentenko said.
Even though fatigue-related errors might be decreasing as a result of duty hours reform, new types of errors are now on the rise. Residents must make clinical decisions with less time to investigate the complexities of a patient’s symptoms and relatively little information culled from a one-on-one interview. “If you are spending so much time entering a note just because you have to enter a note,” Dr. Oxentenko said, “that’s less time to review that patient’s history, drug interactions, contraindications and the best test to order for that particular patient.”
While the introduction of electronic medical records has increased overall efficiency by allowing access to all of a patient’s previous documents, they have also spawned a whole host of electronic ways of bypassing actual patient contact when doctors are pressed for time. Residents may rely on notes written by other doctors instead of talking to the patients themselves. These other notes may have also been pieced together from previous notes rather than from actual interactions with the patient. As a list, a paragraph or whole sections get pasted into progressively more documents, important information, like a reaction to a certain treatment, can be lost in the transfer. Clinicians who rely mostly on computer notes for their information are at risk of inadvertently choosing the wrong therapeutic course of action for a patient.
A doctor’s note turns into a cut-and-paste collage instead of an accurate and personalized narrative of illness; and documentation becomes an electronic and potentially dangerous version of the game “Telephone.”
In the years ahead, achieving some kind of balance between documentation and patient interaction for physicians-in-training will be an ongoing challenge for doctors and medical educators. But the fundamental question driving these changes will be even more difficult to answer. Doctors and, even more significantly, patients must ask themselves what is the most important thing that young doctors must do with their limited hours of training.
“We have to ask ourselves, ‘Where do they really learn medicine?’ ” Dr. Oxentenko added. “If it’s with patients, then we have to make sure we preserve that face-to-face time. We have to preserve what is really important in terms of the learning environment because the habits doctors-in-training learn now will become their practice habits long-term.”
source: nytimes.com
“You’re wrong,” Babs growls, silencing the children. “The most important thing we do at the hospital,” she continues without flinching, “is paperwork.”
It’s a satirical stab that comes uncomfortably close to the truth.
Paperwork, or documentation, takes up as much as a third of a physician’s workday; and for many practicing doctors, these administrative tasks have become increasingly intolerable, a source of deteriorating professional morale. Having become physicians in order to work with patients, doctors instead find themselves facing piles of charts and encounter and billing forms, as well as the innumerable bureaucratic permutations of dozens of health insurance companies.
But despite the paperwork burden, there are few studies on the amount of time current doctors devote to charting, ordering, filling out forms and dictating. That is, except among one subset of doctors — doctors-in-training, or residents.
According to a study published earlier this year, residents now spend up to twice as much time on documentation as their counterparts did two decades earlier. Analyzing the results of a national survey of over 15,000 trainees in internal medicine, researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., found that a majority of residents reported spending as many as six hours a day documenting, while only a small fraction of residents spent as much time with patients.
In other words, young people who are learning to doctor spend as much time writing, typing or dictating about their patients as they do seeing them.
“Residents are learning a lot of their medicine from the computer,” said Dr. Amy S. Oxentenko, lead author of the study and an assistant professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic. “That does nothing to foster the relationship with the patient.”
But the increase in paperwork has not only been absolute; it has also been relative. For residents, the sheer volume of administrative tasks they must complete is compounded by the fact that their work hours have decreased while documentation requirements have remained unchanged. “You can only fit so many activities into a day,” Dr. Oxentenko said.
Even though fatigue-related errors might be decreasing as a result of duty hours reform, new types of errors are now on the rise. Residents must make clinical decisions with less time to investigate the complexities of a patient’s symptoms and relatively little information culled from a one-on-one interview. “If you are spending so much time entering a note just because you have to enter a note,” Dr. Oxentenko said, “that’s less time to review that patient’s history, drug interactions, contraindications and the best test to order for that particular patient.”
While the introduction of electronic medical records has increased overall efficiency by allowing access to all of a patient’s previous documents, they have also spawned a whole host of electronic ways of bypassing actual patient contact when doctors are pressed for time. Residents may rely on notes written by other doctors instead of talking to the patients themselves. These other notes may have also been pieced together from previous notes rather than from actual interactions with the patient. As a list, a paragraph or whole sections get pasted into progressively more documents, important information, like a reaction to a certain treatment, can be lost in the transfer. Clinicians who rely mostly on computer notes for their information are at risk of inadvertently choosing the wrong therapeutic course of action for a patient.
A doctor’s note turns into a cut-and-paste collage instead of an accurate and personalized narrative of illness; and documentation becomes an electronic and potentially dangerous version of the game “Telephone.”
In the years ahead, achieving some kind of balance between documentation and patient interaction for physicians-in-training will be an ongoing challenge for doctors and medical educators. But the fundamental question driving these changes will be even more difficult to answer. Doctors and, even more significantly, patients must ask themselves what is the most important thing that young doctors must do with their limited hours of training.
“We have to ask ourselves, ‘Where do they really learn medicine?’ ” Dr. Oxentenko added. “If it’s with patients, then we have to make sure we preserve that face-to-face time. We have to preserve what is really important in terms of the learning environment because the habits doctors-in-training learn now will become their practice habits long-term.”
source: nytimes.com
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Wanita yang Lisannya adalah Al Quran
Kisah menakjubkan berikut ini dikisahkan oleh Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak.
Seorang wanita tua duduk di atas sebatang kayu (pohon) dalam perjalanan menunaikan ibadah haji. Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak rahimahullah kebetulan melewati jalan itu. Ia juga hendak menuju ke Baitullah untuk melaksanakan ibadah haji dan mengunjungi makam Nabi shallallahu alaihi wasallam. Melihat seorang wanita yang terlihat khawatir dan kesulitan, ia berkata kepadanya. Pembicaraan tersebut dikisahkan sebagai berikut:
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah):“Assalamu’alaikum warahma-tullah.”
Sang wanita: “(Kepada mereka dikatakan): “Salam”, sebagai ucapan selamat dari Tuhan Yang Maha Penyayang.” (QS Yasin *36+ : 58). Dia bermaksud bahwa jawaban salam adalah dari Allah Ta’ala, Kemudian dia berkata lagi:
“Barangsiapa yang Allah sesatkan , maka baginya tak ada orang yang akan memberi petunjuk.” (QS Al-A’raaf *7+ : 186). Maksudnya dia sedang tersesat.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Darimana asalmu?”
Sang Wanita: “Maha Suci Allah, yang telah memperjalankan hamba-Nya pada suatu malam dari Al Masjidil Haram ke Al Masjidil Aqsha.” (QS al-Israa [17] : 1) Maksudnya dia berasal dari Masjidil Aqsa
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Sudah berapa lama anda disini?”
Sang Wanita: “selama tiga malam: (QS Maryam [19] : 10)
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Bagaimana engkau makan?”
Sang Wanita: “dan Tuhanku, Yang Dia memberi makan dan minum kepadaku, (QS Asy-Su’ara *26+ : 79)” Maksudnya dengan satu cara atau lainnya, Allah member makan kepadanya.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Adakah air untuk berwudhu?”
Sang Wanita: “kemudian kamu tidak mendapat air, maka bertayamumlah kamu dengan tanah yang baik (suci).” (QS An-Nisaa [4] : 43). Maksudnya dia melakukan tayammum karena tidak menemukan air.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Ini ada sedikit makanan, ambillah!”
Sang Wanita: “sempurnakanlah puasa itu sampai (datang) malam,” (QS Al-Baqarah [2] : 187). Dia ingin menunjukkan bahwa dia sendang berpuasa.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Ini bukan bulan Ramadhan.”
Sang Wanita: “Dan barangsiapa yang mengerjakan suatu kebajikan dengan kerelaan hati, maka sesungguhnya Allah Maha Mensyukuri kebaikan lagi Maha Mengetahui.” (QS Al-Baqarah [2] : 156). Maksudnya ia melaksanakan puasa sunnah.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Membatalkan puasa dalam perjalanan diperbolehkan.”
Sang Wanita: “Dan berpuasa lebih baik bagimu jika kamu mengetahui.: (QS Al-Baqarah [2] : 184)
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Bicaralah sebagaimana saya berbicara.”
Sang Wanita: “Tiada suatu ucapanpun yang diucapkannya melainkan ada di dekatnya malaikat pengawas yang selalu hadir.” (QS Qaaf [50] : 18). Maksudnya karena setiap perkataan seseorang diawasi dan dicatat, maka dia bersikap hati-hati dengan berbicara hanya dengan kata-kata di dalam Al-Qur’an.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Dari suku mana asalmu?”
Sang Wanita: “Dan janganlah kamu mengikuti apa yang kamu tidak mempunyai pengetahuan tentangnya. Sesungguhnya pendengaran, penglihatan dan hati, semuanya itu akan diminta pertanggungan jawabnya.” (QS Al-Israa [17] : 36). Maksudnya bahwa hal-hal yang engkau tidak memiliki pengetahuan tentangnya dan bukan merupakan urusanmu, engkau hanya membuang-buang waktu dengan menanakannya.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Maaf, saya sungguh telah berbuat kesalahan.”
Sang Wanita: “Pada hari ini tak ada cercaan terhadap kamu, mudah-mudahan Allah
mengampuni (kamu).” (QS Yusuf *12+ : 92)
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Maukah anda berkendaraan dengan untaku dan menemui kelompokmu?”
Sang Wanita: “Dan apa yang kamu kerjakan berupa kebaikan, niscaya Allah mengetahuinya.” (QS Al-Baqarah [2] : 197). Maksudnya jika anda berbuat baik kepadakum Allah akan memberikan balasan bagimu.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Kalau begitu naiklah.” Lalu beliau menundukkan untanya (yakni membuat untu itu duduk agar dapat dinaiki wanita tersebut, -pnet).
Sang Wanita: “Katakanlah kepada orang laki-laki yang beriman: “Hendaklah mereka menahan pandanganya.” (QS An-Nuur [24] : 30). Hadhraat Adullah memahaminya dan berpaling. Ketika wanita tersebut menaiki unta, unta tersebut menyentak dan pakaian wanita tersebut terlilit di pelana dan dia pun berseru: “Dan apa saja musibah yang menimpa kamu maka adalah disebabkan oleh perbuatan tanganmu sendiri” (QS Asy-Syuura [43] : 30). Dengan kata lain, ia hendak memint aperhatian Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak rahimahullah terhadap kecelakaan tersebut.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah) memahaminya dan ia mengikat kaki unta dan meluruskan tali pelana. Wanita tersebut memuji kecekatan dan kemampuannya dengan mengakatan: “maka Kami telah memberikan pengertian kepada Sulaiman” (QS Al-Anbiyaa [21] : 79).
Ketika perjalanan akan dimulai, wanita itu membaca ayat yang dibaca ketika melakukan perjalanan: “Maha Suci Tuhan yang telah menundukkan semua ini bagi kami padahal kami sebelumnya tidak mampu menguasainya, dan sesungguhnya kami akan
kembali kepada Tuhan kami”. (QS Az-zukhruf [43] : 13-14)
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah) memegang tali kekang unta tersebut. Dia mulai menyenandungkan Huddi, nasyid Arab yang terkenal di dalam perjalanan dan dia mulai berjalan dengan cepat.
Sang Wanita: “Dan sederhanalah kamu dalam berjalan dan lunakkanlah suaramu.” (QS Luqma [31] : 19) Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak memahaminya. Dia mulai berjalan lebih lambar dan merendahkan suaranya.
Sang Wanita: “bacalah apa yang mudah (bagimu) dari Al Qur’an.” (QS Al-Muzammil [73[ : 20). Maksudnya, daripada menyenandungkan Huddi, iia sebaiknya membaca Al-Qur’an.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahima-hullah) mulai membaca Al-Qur’an.
Sang wanita menjadi sangat senang dan berkata: “Dan hanya orang-orang yang berakallah yang dapat mengambil pelajaran (dari firman Allah).” (QS Al-Baqarah [2] : 269)
Setelah membaca Al-qur’an selama beberapa saat, Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah) bertanya kepada wanita tersebut jika ia mempunyai suami: “Wahai bibi, apakah anda mempunyai suami?” (maksudnya apakah dia masih hidup)
Sang Wanita: “Hai orang-orang yang beriman, janganlah kamu menanyakan (kepada Nabimu) hal-hal yang jika diterangkan kepadamu akan menyusahkan kamu dan jika kamu menanyakan di waktu Al Qur’an itu diturunkan, niscaya akan diterangkan kepadamu,” Wanita itu bermaksud mengatakan bahwa seharusnya tidak ada perntanyaan mengenai hal tersebut, yang menunjukkan mungkin suamina telah meninggal. Akhirnya mereka pun dapat
menyusul rombangan wanita itu.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Apakah anda memiliki anak atau kerabat dalam romongan itu yang memiliki hubungan denganmu?”
Sang Wanita: “Harta dan anak-anak adalah perhiasan kehidupan dunia.” Dia bermasud bahwa dia memiliki anak-anak bersama rombongan tersebut dan mereka membawa perbekalan bersamanya.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Apa yang dilakukan oleh anak-anakmu untuk rombongan ini? (Maksud pertanyaan Hadhrat Abdullah adalah untuk memudahkan mengenali anak-anak wanita tersebut).
Sang Wanita: “dan (Dia ciptakan) tanda-tanda (penunjuk jalan). Dan dengan bintang-bintang itulah mereka mendapat petunjuk.” (QS Al-Nahl [16] : 16). Maksudnya bahwa anaknya adalah penunjuk jalan bagi rombongan tersebut.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Bisakah anda mengatakan nama mereka kepadaku?”
Sang Wanita: “Dan Allah mengambil Ibrahim menjadi kesayanganNya.” (QS An-Nisaa [4] : 125). “Hai Yahya, ambillah Al Kitab (Taurat) itu.” (QS Maryam *19+ : 12). “Dan Allah telah berbicara kepada Musa dengan langsung .” (QS An-Nisaa [4[ : 164). Dengan membaca ayat-ayat ini, wanita tersebut mengabarkan bahwa nama anak-anaknya adalah Yahya, Ibrahim dan Musa.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah) memanggil nama-nama tersebut dari
romongan itu dan tiga orang anak muda segera mendekat.
Sang Wanita: “Maka suruhlah salah seorang di antara kamu untuk pergi ke kota dengan membawa uang perakmu ini, dan hendaklah dia lihat manakah makanan yang lebih baik, maka hendaklah ia membawa makanan itu untukmu” (QS Al-Kahfi [18] : 19). Dengan kata lain dia memerintahkan anak-anaknya untuk member makan Hadhrat Abdullah.
Ketika makanan telah dibawakan, dia berkata kepada Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “”Makan dan minumlah dengan sedap disebabkan amal yang telah kamu kerjakan pada hari-hari yang telah lalu”. (QS Al-Haaqah [69] : 24), dan bersama ayat tersebut dia membaca ayat lain, maksudnya adalah untuk menunjukan rasa terima kasihnya kepada Hadrath Abdullah atas kebaikannya. Ayat tersebut adalah: “Tidak ada balasan kebaikan kecuali kebaikan (pula).” (QS Ar-Rahmaan [55] : 60)
Percakapan merreka berakhir pada ayat ini. Anak wanita itu mengabarkan kepada Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah) bahwa ibunya telah berbicara dengan cara seperti itu, yakni hanya menggunakan ayat-ayat Al-Qur’an dalam perkataannya, selama 40 tahun terakhir.
doktermuslim.wordpress.com
Seorang wanita tua duduk di atas sebatang kayu (pohon) dalam perjalanan menunaikan ibadah haji. Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak rahimahullah kebetulan melewati jalan itu. Ia juga hendak menuju ke Baitullah untuk melaksanakan ibadah haji dan mengunjungi makam Nabi shallallahu alaihi wasallam. Melihat seorang wanita yang terlihat khawatir dan kesulitan, ia berkata kepadanya. Pembicaraan tersebut dikisahkan sebagai berikut:
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah):“Assalamu’alaikum warahma-tullah.”
Sang wanita: “(Kepada mereka dikatakan): “Salam”, sebagai ucapan selamat dari Tuhan Yang Maha Penyayang.” (QS Yasin *36+ : 58). Dia bermaksud bahwa jawaban salam adalah dari Allah Ta’ala, Kemudian dia berkata lagi:
“Barangsiapa yang Allah sesatkan , maka baginya tak ada orang yang akan memberi petunjuk.” (QS Al-A’raaf *7+ : 186). Maksudnya dia sedang tersesat.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Darimana asalmu?”
Sang Wanita: “Maha Suci Allah, yang telah memperjalankan hamba-Nya pada suatu malam dari Al Masjidil Haram ke Al Masjidil Aqsha.” (QS al-Israa [17] : 1) Maksudnya dia berasal dari Masjidil Aqsa
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Sudah berapa lama anda disini?”
Sang Wanita: “selama tiga malam: (QS Maryam [19] : 10)
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Bagaimana engkau makan?”
Sang Wanita: “dan Tuhanku, Yang Dia memberi makan dan minum kepadaku, (QS Asy-Su’ara *26+ : 79)” Maksudnya dengan satu cara atau lainnya, Allah member makan kepadanya.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Adakah air untuk berwudhu?”
Sang Wanita: “kemudian kamu tidak mendapat air, maka bertayamumlah kamu dengan tanah yang baik (suci).” (QS An-Nisaa [4] : 43). Maksudnya dia melakukan tayammum karena tidak menemukan air.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Ini ada sedikit makanan, ambillah!”
Sang Wanita: “sempurnakanlah puasa itu sampai (datang) malam,” (QS Al-Baqarah [2] : 187). Dia ingin menunjukkan bahwa dia sendang berpuasa.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Ini bukan bulan Ramadhan.”
Sang Wanita: “Dan barangsiapa yang mengerjakan suatu kebajikan dengan kerelaan hati, maka sesungguhnya Allah Maha Mensyukuri kebaikan lagi Maha Mengetahui.” (QS Al-Baqarah [2] : 156). Maksudnya ia melaksanakan puasa sunnah.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Membatalkan puasa dalam perjalanan diperbolehkan.”
Sang Wanita: “Dan berpuasa lebih baik bagimu jika kamu mengetahui.: (QS Al-Baqarah [2] : 184)
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Bicaralah sebagaimana saya berbicara.”
Sang Wanita: “Tiada suatu ucapanpun yang diucapkannya melainkan ada di dekatnya malaikat pengawas yang selalu hadir.” (QS Qaaf [50] : 18). Maksudnya karena setiap perkataan seseorang diawasi dan dicatat, maka dia bersikap hati-hati dengan berbicara hanya dengan kata-kata di dalam Al-Qur’an.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Dari suku mana asalmu?”
Sang Wanita: “Dan janganlah kamu mengikuti apa yang kamu tidak mempunyai pengetahuan tentangnya. Sesungguhnya pendengaran, penglihatan dan hati, semuanya itu akan diminta pertanggungan jawabnya.” (QS Al-Israa [17] : 36). Maksudnya bahwa hal-hal yang engkau tidak memiliki pengetahuan tentangnya dan bukan merupakan urusanmu, engkau hanya membuang-buang waktu dengan menanakannya.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Maaf, saya sungguh telah berbuat kesalahan.”
Sang Wanita: “Pada hari ini tak ada cercaan terhadap kamu, mudah-mudahan Allah
mengampuni (kamu).” (QS Yusuf *12+ : 92)
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Maukah anda berkendaraan dengan untaku dan menemui kelompokmu?”
Sang Wanita: “Dan apa yang kamu kerjakan berupa kebaikan, niscaya Allah mengetahuinya.” (QS Al-Baqarah [2] : 197). Maksudnya jika anda berbuat baik kepadakum Allah akan memberikan balasan bagimu.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Kalau begitu naiklah.” Lalu beliau menundukkan untanya (yakni membuat untu itu duduk agar dapat dinaiki wanita tersebut, -pnet).
Sang Wanita: “Katakanlah kepada orang laki-laki yang beriman: “Hendaklah mereka menahan pandanganya.” (QS An-Nuur [24] : 30). Hadhraat Adullah memahaminya dan berpaling. Ketika wanita tersebut menaiki unta, unta tersebut menyentak dan pakaian wanita tersebut terlilit di pelana dan dia pun berseru: “Dan apa saja musibah yang menimpa kamu maka adalah disebabkan oleh perbuatan tanganmu sendiri” (QS Asy-Syuura [43] : 30). Dengan kata lain, ia hendak memint aperhatian Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak rahimahullah terhadap kecelakaan tersebut.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah) memahaminya dan ia mengikat kaki unta dan meluruskan tali pelana. Wanita tersebut memuji kecekatan dan kemampuannya dengan mengakatan: “maka Kami telah memberikan pengertian kepada Sulaiman” (QS Al-Anbiyaa [21] : 79).
Ketika perjalanan akan dimulai, wanita itu membaca ayat yang dibaca ketika melakukan perjalanan: “Maha Suci Tuhan yang telah menundukkan semua ini bagi kami padahal kami sebelumnya tidak mampu menguasainya, dan sesungguhnya kami akan
kembali kepada Tuhan kami”. (QS Az-zukhruf [43] : 13-14)
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah) memegang tali kekang unta tersebut. Dia mulai menyenandungkan Huddi, nasyid Arab yang terkenal di dalam perjalanan dan dia mulai berjalan dengan cepat.
Sang Wanita: “Dan sederhanalah kamu dalam berjalan dan lunakkanlah suaramu.” (QS Luqma [31] : 19) Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak memahaminya. Dia mulai berjalan lebih lambar dan merendahkan suaranya.
Sang Wanita: “bacalah apa yang mudah (bagimu) dari Al Qur’an.” (QS Al-Muzammil [73[ : 20). Maksudnya, daripada menyenandungkan Huddi, iia sebaiknya membaca Al-Qur’an.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahima-hullah) mulai membaca Al-Qur’an.
Sang wanita menjadi sangat senang dan berkata: “Dan hanya orang-orang yang berakallah yang dapat mengambil pelajaran (dari firman Allah).” (QS Al-Baqarah [2] : 269)
Setelah membaca Al-qur’an selama beberapa saat, Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah) bertanya kepada wanita tersebut jika ia mempunyai suami: “Wahai bibi, apakah anda mempunyai suami?” (maksudnya apakah dia masih hidup)
Sang Wanita: “Hai orang-orang yang beriman, janganlah kamu menanyakan (kepada Nabimu) hal-hal yang jika diterangkan kepadamu akan menyusahkan kamu dan jika kamu menanyakan di waktu Al Qur’an itu diturunkan, niscaya akan diterangkan kepadamu,” Wanita itu bermaksud mengatakan bahwa seharusnya tidak ada perntanyaan mengenai hal tersebut, yang menunjukkan mungkin suamina telah meninggal. Akhirnya mereka pun dapat
menyusul rombangan wanita itu.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Apakah anda memiliki anak atau kerabat dalam romongan itu yang memiliki hubungan denganmu?”
Sang Wanita: “Harta dan anak-anak adalah perhiasan kehidupan dunia.” Dia bermasud bahwa dia memiliki anak-anak bersama rombongan tersebut dan mereka membawa perbekalan bersamanya.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Apa yang dilakukan oleh anak-anakmu untuk rombongan ini? (Maksud pertanyaan Hadhrat Abdullah adalah untuk memudahkan mengenali anak-anak wanita tersebut).
Sang Wanita: “dan (Dia ciptakan) tanda-tanda (penunjuk jalan). Dan dengan bintang-bintang itulah mereka mendapat petunjuk.” (QS Al-Nahl [16] : 16). Maksudnya bahwa anaknya adalah penunjuk jalan bagi rombongan tersebut.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “Bisakah anda mengatakan nama mereka kepadaku?”
Sang Wanita: “Dan Allah mengambil Ibrahim menjadi kesayanganNya.” (QS An-Nisaa [4] : 125). “Hai Yahya, ambillah Al Kitab (Taurat) itu.” (QS Maryam *19+ : 12). “Dan Allah telah berbicara kepada Musa dengan langsung .” (QS An-Nisaa [4[ : 164). Dengan membaca ayat-ayat ini, wanita tersebut mengabarkan bahwa nama anak-anaknya adalah Yahya, Ibrahim dan Musa.
Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah) memanggil nama-nama tersebut dari
romongan itu dan tiga orang anak muda segera mendekat.
Sang Wanita: “Maka suruhlah salah seorang di antara kamu untuk pergi ke kota dengan membawa uang perakmu ini, dan hendaklah dia lihat manakah makanan yang lebih baik, maka hendaklah ia membawa makanan itu untukmu” (QS Al-Kahfi [18] : 19). Dengan kata lain dia memerintahkan anak-anaknya untuk member makan Hadhrat Abdullah.
Ketika makanan telah dibawakan, dia berkata kepada Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah): “”Makan dan minumlah dengan sedap disebabkan amal yang telah kamu kerjakan pada hari-hari yang telah lalu”. (QS Al-Haaqah [69] : 24), dan bersama ayat tersebut dia membaca ayat lain, maksudnya adalah untuk menunjukan rasa terima kasihnya kepada Hadrath Abdullah atas kebaikannya. Ayat tersebut adalah: “Tidak ada balasan kebaikan kecuali kebaikan (pula).” (QS Ar-Rahmaan [55] : 60)
Percakapan merreka berakhir pada ayat ini. Anak wanita itu mengabarkan kepada Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mubarak (rahimahullah) bahwa ibunya telah berbicara dengan cara seperti itu, yakni hanya menggunakan ayat-ayat Al-Qur’an dalam perkataannya, selama 40 tahun terakhir.
doktermuslim.wordpress.com
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Overcoming Employment Gap
by Susan Heathfield
Concerned about getting back in the workforce after a gap in your employment? You should be when you consider the bad experiences some employers have had when they take a chance on people with a gap in their employment history. Additionally, the job market appears to have qualified candidates for most positions. How will your resume, with a one, five, or ten year employment gap, stack up against those of people who have been racking up career achievements and accomplishments for the same ten years?
Stay-at-home moms and dads who raise their children, rather than their expertise and visibility in a workplace, are the largest group to sport these resume gaps. Even a couple of years out of the workforce can devastate your career if you’re not careful. In worse case scenarios, you can become unemployable in your field. Even in best case scenarios, you will undoubtedly take a salary cut and find yourself reporting to someone who would formerly have reported to you.
This is not to say that returning to work is hopeless. There are plenty of people who have walked back into an executive job, developed their dream job or created a career change following chosen unemployment. It’s just that it’s harder for you with an employment gap. These tips will help you stay ready for employment while you raise the kids or take a few years for a non-work activity. It’s much better to spend that time preparing to be employable than to hit the job market cold after years at home. You'll be better prepared if you heed these tips.
Concerned about getting back in the workforce after a gap in your employment? You should be when you consider the bad experiences some employers have had when they take a chance on people with a gap in their employment history. Additionally, the job market appears to have qualified candidates for most positions. How will your resume, with a one, five, or ten year employment gap, stack up against those of people who have been racking up career achievements and accomplishments for the same ten years?
Stay-at-home moms and dads who raise their children, rather than their expertise and visibility in a workplace, are the largest group to sport these resume gaps. Even a couple of years out of the workforce can devastate your career if you’re not careful. In worse case scenarios, you can become unemployable in your field. Even in best case scenarios, you will undoubtedly take a salary cut and find yourself reporting to someone who would formerly have reported to you.
This is not to say that returning to work is hopeless. There are plenty of people who have walked back into an executive job, developed their dream job or created a career change following chosen unemployment. It’s just that it’s harder for you with an employment gap. These tips will help you stay ready for employment while you raise the kids or take a few years for a non-work activity. It’s much better to spend that time preparing to be employable than to hit the job market cold after years at home. You'll be better prepared if you heed these tips.
Tips for Staying Employable During an Employment Gap
- Work With Your Current Employer: Your current employer, assuming you are still working, may value you and your experience. Talk with your employer to identify potential part-time or consulting work or periodic assignments you can do during the years you plan to work less than full time. If you work in marketing, for example, perhaps you can do freelance work on brochures, the website or press releases. If you work in Human Resources, you may contract to update the employee handbook annually or teach a class periodically. This is the easiest way to stay grounded in the workplace during an extended leave. Make your best pitch before you leave your job. Don't hesitate to call, however, even if you have been off work for a period of time.
- Build and Keep Your Network Before You Need It: It is easier to maintain current professional contacts than to build a new group a few years down the road. Professional contacts become dispersed to new positions; mentors retire; valued coworkers move on to new jobs. It is up to you to maintain relationships, sometimes for years, with people who will remember your talents when you decide to return to full-time employment. It is also imperative that you relate to friends and associates in your off-work life as an educated professional who has chosen to take time away from her career to raise a family. Talk about more than the children; make sure your friends know what you do professionally as well.
- Stay Active in Professional Associations: Most career fields have professional associations that sponsor meetings, conferences, committees, training sessions and more for members. Stay active in your local association by attending meetings, writing for the newsletter, acting as a good will ambassador and attending national conferences. Volunteer for the activities that most closely match your career field and interests. Choose activities in which you’ll interact with many members to expand your network at the same time.
- Volunteer in Community, School and Civic Organizations: Challenging volunteer work can help to fill the gaps in your resume whether you return to your original career or create a career change in the future. Do invest thinking time in determining what kinds of volunteer work will be the most strategic for your longer term goals. Serving as president of the school board is likely worth more, when you return to work, than sewing costumes for the school play. Do both if you have the time and energy – they fulfill different aspects of your spirit. Do think about how the volunteer work will appear on the resume and stress contributing in volunteerism related to your future employment.
- Keep Your Resume File Updated: Keep track of new skills and activities you have developed and experienced during your time away from the workforce. Keep the resume file filled with notes about your volunteer work and other contributions. When you want to return to work, you’ll be happy you kept good records of the time you were unemployed.
- Create a Small Business and Work Even a Few Hours a Week: Think creatively. A mom I know just left the workforce to spend time with her eleven-year-old daughter. She is launching an Internet home baked doggie treat business. Active for years in Greyhound associations, she has identified her initial customer base and plans to expand from there. Write for newspapers, magazines and businesses; write and edit an About site; develop marketing materials for organizations; sell your professional expertise as a consultant; make candles or other crafts; design and maintain gardens; operate a daycare center or a home-based school; design and build websites; paint, wallpaper and decorate homes and businesses; cater special events; and provide virtual office assistant services over the web. Check Scott Allen’s Entrepreneur’s site for even more ideas.
- Keep Your Skills Current: Can you imagine a computer programmer finding a new position after five years outside of the workforce? Neither can I. Not unless she can demonstrate current skills. Fields such as banking, employment law, securities and financial planning change quickly. Attend school, take graduate seminars, participate in online learning and read to stay current in your field. Your local college may have classes you can audit if you can't pay tuition. No, a quick refresher class won’t help you out in most fields when you decide to return to work or change careers. Keeping abreast of your field every year is the best way to stay employable at something you’d like to do.
- Use the Time at Home to Change Careers: Maybe it’s time to try something new. A time away from work is perfect for pursuing career options and learning more about yourself and your interests. You may want to Create the Life You Want With a Mid-Career Crisis. If you decide to change careers, you can invest the time to earn a needed degree. Or, you can spend your volunteer or home-based business time on skills needed for the new career.
- Consider Part-time Work: Work part-time in your field, your career change field or just to keep your work record fresh. The money may also come in handy for the family or to fund your future goals.
- Consider Job Sharing: Many people have chosen to leave the workforce for periods of time. According to the Wall Street Journal, the percentage of mothers with a child under one-year-old who are working, dropped to 55 percent in 2002 from 59 percent in 1998. This reverses a thirty year trend according to the Census Bureau. Employers may have to consider creative ways to keep valued people working or to fill hard-to-fill positions. Job sharing, either half days, or splitting the week can work for both the employees and the employer if lines of communication remain open. And, the shared work may work best for all concerned when two talented people invest their energy in the same job.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Membangun Kesalehan Intelektual
Telah banyak orang berbicara tentang kesalehan ritual dan bahkan akhir-akhir ini muncul istilah kesalehan social. Mungkin agar menjadi lebih sempurna, perlu ditambah jenis kesalehan lainnya, misalnya kesalehan intelektual. Orang yang tertib menjalankan sholat lima waktu, puasa, haji dan banyak berdzikir, disebut sebagai orang yang saleh ritual.
Demikian pula, orang yang secara tertib dan disiplin selalu mengeluarkan zakat, infaq dan shodaqoh, suka menyantuni anak yatim dan orang miskin, membantu biaya pendidikan orang yang tidak mampu, dan seterusnya, disebut telah mencapai kesalehan sosial. Saleh ritual telah banyak orang meraihnya, tetapi kesalehan sosial masih perlu didorong lebih keras lagi.
Orang seringkali mengeluh, banyak orang hanya mengejar kesalehan ritual. Artinya, orang cepat tertarik tatkala diajak kegiatan yang bernuansa ritual, seperti dzikir bersama, istighosah, umrah, haji berkali-kali, dan sejenisnya. Kegiatan itu dianggap lebih utama dari jenis kegiatan keagamaan lainnya. Padahal keberagamaan yang bersifat ritual, harus disempurnakan dengan kesalehan sosial. Orang yang tidak memperhatikan anak yatim dan memberi makan orang miskin disebut mendustakan agama.
Selain kesalehan spiritual dan kesalehan social, masih ada lagi yang lebih perlu didorong lagi, yaitu kesalehan intelektual. Seseorang dikatakan telah meraih kesalehan intelektual manakala yang bersangkutan selalu menggunakan akal atau intektualnya untuk kepentingan kehidupan ini sebagai bagian dari ibadah kepada Tuhan. Intelektual bisa disalah gunakan untuk kerusakan. Orang yang merancang berbuat jahat, sehingga kehidupan menjadi kacau, demi kepentingan dirinya sendiri, golongan atau orang lain, maka yang bersangkutan tidak menggunakan akal atau intelektualnya secara saleh.
Orang-orang yang tidak mau menggunakan dan mengembangkan potensi pikiran atau intelektual sebagaimana mestinya, maka bisa disebut sebagai orang yang tidak saleh intelektualnya. Islam menganjurkan kepada kaum muslimin agar selalu membaca, berpikir, memperhatikan, menganalisis, meneliti untuk mengembangkan ilmu pengetahuan. Jika kewajiban itu ditunaikan sebaik-baiknya, maka artinya yang bersangkutan telah disebut sebagai orang saleh intelektualnya.
Membangun kesalehan intelektual dalam Islam bukan dianggap sebagai perkara sederhana. Ayat al Qurán yang pertama kali turun adalah berupa perintah membaca. Yaitu membaca dengan atas nama Tuhan. Perbuatan membaca, meneliti, menganalisis, memahami dengan mengatas namakan Tuhan Yang Maha Mulia, Yang Maha Benar, Yang Maha adil dan sifat-sifat mulia yang lain, yang dilakukan secara benar, obyektif, sungguh-sungguh, maka itulah yang disebut dengan saleh intelektual.
Orang yang telah meraih kesalehan intelektual akan menjadi kaya ilmu. Para ulama’ terdahulu, apapun bidang keilmuan yang ditekuni, mereka itu adalah orang yang telah meraih kesalehan intelektual. Mereka itu berhasil menelorkan karya-karya besar di berbagai cabang ilmu pengetahuan. Nama mereka menjadi sedemikian harum, karena buah pikiran dan karya-karyanya dipelajari atau dikaji dari generasi ke generasi di berbagai kalangan yang luas.
Kesalehan intelektual dipandang lebih penting daripada kesalehan ritual dan bahkan juga kesalehan sosial. Sebab kesalehan intelektual dianggap sebagai pintu untuk memasuki kesalehan lainnya. Al Qurán sendiri juga menegaskan bahwa Allah akan mengangkat derajat orang-orang yang beriman dan berilmu pengetahuan-----kesalehan intelektual, beberapa derajat lebih tinggi. Sedemikian mulianya orang-orang yang telah meraih kesalehan intelektual, sehingga disebut tinta para ulama lebih mulia dan berharga dari pada darah para suhadak.
Munculnya berbagai macam lembaga pendidikan hingga perguruan tinggi Islam di mana-mana adalah sebagai upaya untuk membangun atau mengantarkan orang-orang agar berhasil meraih kesalehan intelektual. Namun kesalehan intelektual yang dimaksudkan itu adalah kesalehan yang didasari oleh keimanan. Hal itu dapat dipahami dari kalimat perintah membaca hendaknya dilakukan atas nama Tuhan dan bukan sembarang membaca.
Atas dasar pemahaman seperti itu, mestinya umat Islam di mana-mana, selain membangun kesalehan ritual dan kesalehan social, harus menyempurkan dengan membangun kesalehan intelektual. Umat Islam tidak selayaknya merasa ber-Islam secara kokoh dan sempurna, jika baru berhasil membangun kesalehan ritual dan kesaleahan sosial. Umat Islam selama ini menjadi lemah, sehingga dikalahkan oleh umat lainnya, disebabkan karena gagal dalam membangun pilar-pilar kesalehan intelektual.
Umat Islam semestinya mengembangkan pusat-pusat riset di berbagai cabang ilmu dalam rangka membangun kesalehan intelektual. Melakukan riset dalam berbagai ilmu adalah sama artinya memenuhi perintah al Qurán dan juga hadits Nabi. Al Qurán memerintahkan kepada manusia agar memikirkan dan mempelajari ciptaan-Nya baik yang dilangit maupun yang di bumi. Tidak selayaknya, perintah mengembangkan ilmu hanya dimaknai sebatas mengembangkan ilmu-ilmu fiqh, tauhid, akhlak, tasawwuf dan tarekh yang kemudian disebut sebagai Islamics Studies.
Islamics Studies tidak cukup dimaknai secara sempit seperti di muka itu. Islamics studies harus ditarik dalam kontek yang lebih luas, meliputi semua bidang ilmu sebagaimana al Qurán dan hadits nabi memerintahkan untuk menggali dan mengembangkannya. Jika Islamics studies hanya dipahami secara sempit, maka sampai kapanpun, umat Islam akan tetap tertinggal dari umat lain, karena gagal dalam membangun kesalehan intelektual yang sebenarnya. Wallahu a’lam.
uin-malang.ac.id
Demikian pula, orang yang secara tertib dan disiplin selalu mengeluarkan zakat, infaq dan shodaqoh, suka menyantuni anak yatim dan orang miskin, membantu biaya pendidikan orang yang tidak mampu, dan seterusnya, disebut telah mencapai kesalehan sosial. Saleh ritual telah banyak orang meraihnya, tetapi kesalehan sosial masih perlu didorong lebih keras lagi.
Orang seringkali mengeluh, banyak orang hanya mengejar kesalehan ritual. Artinya, orang cepat tertarik tatkala diajak kegiatan yang bernuansa ritual, seperti dzikir bersama, istighosah, umrah, haji berkali-kali, dan sejenisnya. Kegiatan itu dianggap lebih utama dari jenis kegiatan keagamaan lainnya. Padahal keberagamaan yang bersifat ritual, harus disempurnakan dengan kesalehan sosial. Orang yang tidak memperhatikan anak yatim dan memberi makan orang miskin disebut mendustakan agama.
Selain kesalehan spiritual dan kesalehan social, masih ada lagi yang lebih perlu didorong lagi, yaitu kesalehan intelektual. Seseorang dikatakan telah meraih kesalehan intelektual manakala yang bersangkutan selalu menggunakan akal atau intektualnya untuk kepentingan kehidupan ini sebagai bagian dari ibadah kepada Tuhan. Intelektual bisa disalah gunakan untuk kerusakan. Orang yang merancang berbuat jahat, sehingga kehidupan menjadi kacau, demi kepentingan dirinya sendiri, golongan atau orang lain, maka yang bersangkutan tidak menggunakan akal atau intelektualnya secara saleh.
Orang-orang yang tidak mau menggunakan dan mengembangkan potensi pikiran atau intelektual sebagaimana mestinya, maka bisa disebut sebagai orang yang tidak saleh intelektualnya. Islam menganjurkan kepada kaum muslimin agar selalu membaca, berpikir, memperhatikan, menganalisis, meneliti untuk mengembangkan ilmu pengetahuan. Jika kewajiban itu ditunaikan sebaik-baiknya, maka artinya yang bersangkutan telah disebut sebagai orang saleh intelektualnya.
Membangun kesalehan intelektual dalam Islam bukan dianggap sebagai perkara sederhana. Ayat al Qurán yang pertama kali turun adalah berupa perintah membaca. Yaitu membaca dengan atas nama Tuhan. Perbuatan membaca, meneliti, menganalisis, memahami dengan mengatas namakan Tuhan Yang Maha Mulia, Yang Maha Benar, Yang Maha adil dan sifat-sifat mulia yang lain, yang dilakukan secara benar, obyektif, sungguh-sungguh, maka itulah yang disebut dengan saleh intelektual.
Orang yang telah meraih kesalehan intelektual akan menjadi kaya ilmu. Para ulama’ terdahulu, apapun bidang keilmuan yang ditekuni, mereka itu adalah orang yang telah meraih kesalehan intelektual. Mereka itu berhasil menelorkan karya-karya besar di berbagai cabang ilmu pengetahuan. Nama mereka menjadi sedemikian harum, karena buah pikiran dan karya-karyanya dipelajari atau dikaji dari generasi ke generasi di berbagai kalangan yang luas.
Kesalehan intelektual dipandang lebih penting daripada kesalehan ritual dan bahkan juga kesalehan sosial. Sebab kesalehan intelektual dianggap sebagai pintu untuk memasuki kesalehan lainnya. Al Qurán sendiri juga menegaskan bahwa Allah akan mengangkat derajat orang-orang yang beriman dan berilmu pengetahuan-----kesalehan intelektual, beberapa derajat lebih tinggi. Sedemikian mulianya orang-orang yang telah meraih kesalehan intelektual, sehingga disebut tinta para ulama lebih mulia dan berharga dari pada darah para suhadak.
Munculnya berbagai macam lembaga pendidikan hingga perguruan tinggi Islam di mana-mana adalah sebagai upaya untuk membangun atau mengantarkan orang-orang agar berhasil meraih kesalehan intelektual. Namun kesalehan intelektual yang dimaksudkan itu adalah kesalehan yang didasari oleh keimanan. Hal itu dapat dipahami dari kalimat perintah membaca hendaknya dilakukan atas nama Tuhan dan bukan sembarang membaca.
Atas dasar pemahaman seperti itu, mestinya umat Islam di mana-mana, selain membangun kesalehan ritual dan kesalehan social, harus menyempurkan dengan membangun kesalehan intelektual. Umat Islam tidak selayaknya merasa ber-Islam secara kokoh dan sempurna, jika baru berhasil membangun kesalehan ritual dan kesaleahan sosial. Umat Islam selama ini menjadi lemah, sehingga dikalahkan oleh umat lainnya, disebabkan karena gagal dalam membangun pilar-pilar kesalehan intelektual.
Umat Islam semestinya mengembangkan pusat-pusat riset di berbagai cabang ilmu dalam rangka membangun kesalehan intelektual. Melakukan riset dalam berbagai ilmu adalah sama artinya memenuhi perintah al Qurán dan juga hadits Nabi. Al Qurán memerintahkan kepada manusia agar memikirkan dan mempelajari ciptaan-Nya baik yang dilangit maupun yang di bumi. Tidak selayaknya, perintah mengembangkan ilmu hanya dimaknai sebatas mengembangkan ilmu-ilmu fiqh, tauhid, akhlak, tasawwuf dan tarekh yang kemudian disebut sebagai Islamics Studies.
Islamics Studies tidak cukup dimaknai secara sempit seperti di muka itu. Islamics studies harus ditarik dalam kontek yang lebih luas, meliputi semua bidang ilmu sebagaimana al Qurán dan hadits nabi memerintahkan untuk menggali dan mengembangkannya. Jika Islamics studies hanya dipahami secara sempit, maka sampai kapanpun, umat Islam akan tetap tertinggal dari umat lain, karena gagal dalam membangun kesalehan intelektual yang sebenarnya. Wallahu a’lam.
uin-malang.ac.id
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Das Geheimnis des Könnens liegt im Wollen!
Lebe, als würdest du morgen sterben.
Lerne, als würdest du ewig leben.
(Mahatma Gandhi)
Erfahrung ist wie eine Laterne im Rücken: Sie beleuchtet immer nur das Stück des Weges, was wir bereits hinter uns haben.(Konfuzius)
TIME
To realize the value of one year: Ask a student who has failed a final exam.
To realize the value of a month: Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of one week: Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of one hour: Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of one minute: Ask a person who has missed the train, bus or plane.
To realize the value of one second: Ask a person who has survived an accident.
To realize the value of one millisecond: Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.
Time waits for no one.
Treasure every moment you have.
Wer ein "warum" zum Leben hat, erträgt fast jedes "wie".
(Viktor Frankl)
Wir können im Leben höchstens eine große Erfahrung haben, und das Geheimnis des Lebens ist, diese Erfahrung so oft wie möglich wieder zu haben.
(Oscar Wilde)
Verstehen kann man das Leben nur rückwärts. Leben muß man es vorwärts.
(Sören Kierkegaard)
Das ganze Leben ist ein ewiges Wiederanfangen.
(Hugo von Hoffmannsthal)
Die Zukunft hat viele Namen. Für die Schwachen ist sie das Unerreichbare. Für die Furchtsamen ist sie das Unbekannte. Für die Tapferen ist sie die Chance.
(Victor Hugo)
Man kann nur verstehen, was man erlebt hat.
Das Schlimmste im Leben ist es zu verpassen.
Das Leben der Eltern ist das Buch, in dem die Kinder lesen. (Spiegel)
Es muß anders werden, wenn es gut werden soll.
Die Welt wird nie gut, aber sie könnte besser werden.(Zuckmayer, Carl)
Was ich habe, will ich nicht verlieren,
aber wo ich bin, will ich nicht bleiben,
aber die ich liebe, will ich nicht verlassen,
aber die ich kenne, will ich nicht mehr sehen,
aber wo ich lebe, will ich nicht sterben,
aber wo ich sterbe, da will ich nicht hin.
Bleiben will ich da, wo ich nie gewesen bin.
(Thomas Bratsch)
Lerne, als würdest du ewig leben.
(Mahatma Gandhi)
Erfahrung ist wie eine Laterne im Rücken: Sie beleuchtet immer nur das Stück des Weges, was wir bereits hinter uns haben.(Konfuzius)
TIME
To realize the value of one year: Ask a student who has failed a final exam.
To realize the value of a month: Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of one week: Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of one hour: Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of one minute: Ask a person who has missed the train, bus or plane.
To realize the value of one second: Ask a person who has survived an accident.
To realize the value of one millisecond: Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.
Time waits for no one.
Treasure every moment you have.
Wer ein "warum" zum Leben hat, erträgt fast jedes "wie".
(Viktor Frankl)
Wir können im Leben höchstens eine große Erfahrung haben, und das Geheimnis des Lebens ist, diese Erfahrung so oft wie möglich wieder zu haben.
(Oscar Wilde)
Verstehen kann man das Leben nur rückwärts. Leben muß man es vorwärts.
(Sören Kierkegaard)
Das ganze Leben ist ein ewiges Wiederanfangen.
(Hugo von Hoffmannsthal)
Die Zukunft hat viele Namen. Für die Schwachen ist sie das Unerreichbare. Für die Furchtsamen ist sie das Unbekannte. Für die Tapferen ist sie die Chance.
(Victor Hugo)
Man kann nur verstehen, was man erlebt hat.
Das Schlimmste im Leben ist es zu verpassen.
Das Leben der Eltern ist das Buch, in dem die Kinder lesen. (Spiegel)
Es muß anders werden, wenn es gut werden soll.
Die Welt wird nie gut, aber sie könnte besser werden.(Zuckmayer, Carl)
Was ich habe, will ich nicht verlieren,
aber wo ich bin, will ich nicht bleiben,
aber die ich liebe, will ich nicht verlassen,
aber die ich kenne, will ich nicht mehr sehen,
aber wo ich lebe, will ich nicht sterben,
aber wo ich sterbe, da will ich nicht hin.
Bleiben will ich da, wo ich nie gewesen bin.
(Thomas Bratsch)
Friday, March 26, 2010
Qoutes of this day
- "I'm an Indonesian and I'm proud of it" - Myself :)
- "Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today." - Malcolm X
- "I am for truth, no matter who tells it. I am for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I am a human being first and foremost and as such I am whoever benefits humanity as a whole." - Malcom X
- "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter." - Martin Luther King Jr.
- "We must be the change we wish to see" -- Gandhi
- "Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French. It is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs. What is going on in Palestine today cannot be justified by any moral code of conduct." - Gandi
- "Let me say, at the risk of seeming ridiculous, that the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love.” - Che Guevara
- “It is better to die standing, than to live on your knees." - Ernesto 'Che' Guevara
- "Every Man Dies; Not Every Man Really Lives" Sir William Wallace
- "I am not a terrorist, but neither am I a pacifist. I am simply a regular guy from the Palestinian street advocating only what every other oppressed person has advocated—the right to help myself in the absence of help from anywhere else." - Marwan Barghouthi
- " Philosophy is instructing the world in theory " - Cuvier , read it in Edward Said's Orientalism book
- “I come bearing an olive branch in one hand, and the freedom fighter's gun in the other. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.” - Yasser Arafat
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
It is not impossible!
Carol Cassella, M.D., anesthesiologist, spouse, mother (two sets of twins ages 13 and 14) and author of the 2008 debut novel Oxygen, seems to personify the 21st century ideal of the woman who does it all, has it all and is it all, balancing her many roles with grace and ease.
“ It’s not true,” she says, denying the role model image. “There is no balance. It’s like being on a Bongo Board; there’s never a static point. I’m always adjusting, seeking equilibrium — which isn’t there. The last year has been the most stressful of my life.”
Most of us, even while leading active lives ourselves, would find the 15 years Cassella spent prior to the release of Oxygen somewhat chaotic. In that time she moved from Texas to Seattle and completed residency in internal medicine, got married, changed medical specialties and completed residency in anesthesia, gave birth to four children within 15 months, built a house (husband Steve is in construction), rebuilt (they needed more room than planned) and moved from Seattle to Bainbridge Island.
“Shock and awe” are the only words Carol and her husband could find to describe the realization that they would be the parents of a second set of twins not long after the birth of their first set. “We discovered quickly that it was impossible to take care of four babies without help. Luckily we found the greatest nanny in the world — she is still a part of our lives and a close family friend,” she says.
Although apparent bedlam seemed to be the norm for Cassella, I was curious about what made 2008, the exciting year of Oxygen’s release, the most stressful of her life. As it turns out, it wasn’t the combination of obvious factors before the book was released that gave it that designation: having to meet stringent deadlines while parenting four adolescent children, coping with the illnesses of both her mother and father-in-law, exposing her inner thoughts and writing to readers’ appraisal, and concerns about her colleagues’ reaction to her heretofore secret writing career. It was the additional demands for her time that came after the book was published that amped things up: the frenzy of the book tour, numerous requests for speaking engagements, an abundance of e-mail from enthusiastic readers who wanted a reply, and then the proverbial “straw,” a new set of demanding deadlines imposed by a contract to write a second novel. ”My already crazy life became geometrically crazier. I realized any semblance of balance was a fantasy. I started to have doubts about what I was doing, where I was heading.”
In contrast to Oxygen’s lengthy incubation, Cassella had only 12 months after it hit the shelves to finish her second novel, which is planned for release in July 2010. From her experience with Oxygen, she knew exactly what her reading audience expected from her: “entertainment and engagement, immersion in the practice and culture of medicine and anesthesiology, a journey where larger questions about values are addressed, challenge and stimulation, and emotionally real characters.”
“Before, writing Oxygen,” she says, “I was just hoping to be published. Now I know I will be published. I signed a contract for the second book along with the first. The pressure is on. I do want to please people. I want to meet readers’ expectations, of course, so that contributes heavily to the stress I’m still experiencing. Plus I have my own beliefs and desires about writing — to use the English language well and rise to the heights of possibility.”
The ideas for Oxygen germinated during the early days of Cassella’s anesthesia residency. The main character in the novel, Marie, is a single anesthesiologist with the same kind of career and relationship questions many women in their mid-thirties have. Has she made the right decision, pursuing a career that leaves little time for men, marriage or children? Does she fear commitment or has she just not met the right man? Is she negligent or in denial about the needs of her family for her attention?
When professional trauma strikes early in the book, Marie’s concerns are immediately displaced by all-out fear, anxiety, doubt, grief, insecurity and a demoralizing sense of aloneness. The complexity in both her personal and professional relationships increases as the consequences of her situation broaden. She becomes a different person, estranged from herself and others, as she struggles to make sense out of what has happened to her.
Cassella acknowledges some autobiographical connection with Marie, but fortunately has experienced less drama and more enjoyment in the medical profession than has her protagonist. The Library Journal declared her story one of the ten best debut novels of 2008. Oxygen is a national best seller according to the publisher who is releasing the paperback in June 2009.
Cassella envisioned herself a writer from childhood and majored in English at Duke University despite her parents’ admonition that writing might not be the pathway to financial independence. She ultimately followed their counsel and went to medical school, yet she knew in her heart that she would always be a writer. When her four children started school, Cassella began a connection with Field’s End, the writers’ community on Bainbridge Island, to fulfill her childhood and early adult craving to write. She was first in line on the doorstep of the Bainbridge Island Library when Field’s End founders Nichole Vick and David Guterson presented their initial class offerings. She took them all, participated in roundtables and conferences, and met writers who supported each other in their common mission.
Cassella is definitely made of the writer’s cloth. “I certainly wanted to write long before I wanted to be a doctor,” she says, “so the writer has lived inside my mind ever since I learned to read. I don’t think I could have felt complete at the end of my life if I hadn’t given writing a dedicated and serious effort. But I also can’t imagine having missed out on my career as a physician. It is such a unique type of work, presenting so many intriguing intellectual, scientific and technological challenges, along with the strong emotional component of the patient relationships.”
Cassella began writing Oxygen in 2001. Through Field’s End she developed a writer/coach relationship with author Michael Collins who acted as her touchstone, helping her sustain her commitment to writing. After three years of intensive spurts of writing followed by no moments to write, she came to a “can’t stop” point. “I had too much invested in the book to stop for anything beyond the minimal essentials of work and family. I could never have completed Oxygen without my husband Steve’s support; he shouldered the majority of responsibilities when I had to intensify my focus on writing.”
Sometimes fulfilling all of the responsibilities that come with working two or three days a week at the hospital, co-parenting four teens, co-managing a household, writing 30 minutes here and 10 minutes there, while still making time to sleep, eat and stay healthy, feels unattainable to Cassella. When thinking about it all she sometimes wonders, “Should I have added writing to my already crazy life? Have I invited a beast into my house?” And when referring to the demands of writing a second novel, one she finds more difficult than the first, she asks herself, Should I still continue on this path? Will I have regrets? Am I being selfish by writing? Am I missing family events and experiences that I’ll be sad about forever? Is what I’m doing good for the children? Or at least not bad for them?”
She answers herself by saying, “Ultimately I have to believe that the children know they are loved as unique individuals, and the consequences of such a busy, crowded childhood will be made up for in other ways. I hope they grow up to be as close to one another as I am with my two sisters. I only wish their childhood could pass a little more slowly, with more chance to savor the five or six years we have left together.”
Many parents in dual career relationships would probably share Cassella’s sentiments about raising children well while working full time. Although she aspires to high achievement in all aspects of her life, with her family as the “center of her universe,” she has accepted, with poise and relief, that she is not, cannot and never will be perfect — or attain more than a second or two of equilibrium on life’s big Bongo Board.
“ It’s not true,” she says, denying the role model image. “There is no balance. It’s like being on a Bongo Board; there’s never a static point. I’m always adjusting, seeking equilibrium — which isn’t there. The last year has been the most stressful of my life.”
Most of us, even while leading active lives ourselves, would find the 15 years Cassella spent prior to the release of Oxygen somewhat chaotic. In that time she moved from Texas to Seattle and completed residency in internal medicine, got married, changed medical specialties and completed residency in anesthesia, gave birth to four children within 15 months, built a house (husband Steve is in construction), rebuilt (they needed more room than planned) and moved from Seattle to Bainbridge Island.
“Shock and awe” are the only words Carol and her husband could find to describe the realization that they would be the parents of a second set of twins not long after the birth of their first set. “We discovered quickly that it was impossible to take care of four babies without help. Luckily we found the greatest nanny in the world — she is still a part of our lives and a close family friend,” she says.
Although apparent bedlam seemed to be the norm for Cassella, I was curious about what made 2008, the exciting year of Oxygen’s release, the most stressful of her life. As it turns out, it wasn’t the combination of obvious factors before the book was released that gave it that designation: having to meet stringent deadlines while parenting four adolescent children, coping with the illnesses of both her mother and father-in-law, exposing her inner thoughts and writing to readers’ appraisal, and concerns about her colleagues’ reaction to her heretofore secret writing career. It was the additional demands for her time that came after the book was published that amped things up: the frenzy of the book tour, numerous requests for speaking engagements, an abundance of e-mail from enthusiastic readers who wanted a reply, and then the proverbial “straw,” a new set of demanding deadlines imposed by a contract to write a second novel. ”My already crazy life became geometrically crazier. I realized any semblance of balance was a fantasy. I started to have doubts about what I was doing, where I was heading.”
In contrast to Oxygen’s lengthy incubation, Cassella had only 12 months after it hit the shelves to finish her second novel, which is planned for release in July 2010. From her experience with Oxygen, she knew exactly what her reading audience expected from her: “entertainment and engagement, immersion in the practice and culture of medicine and anesthesiology, a journey where larger questions about values are addressed, challenge and stimulation, and emotionally real characters.”
“Before, writing Oxygen,” she says, “I was just hoping to be published. Now I know I will be published. I signed a contract for the second book along with the first. The pressure is on. I do want to please people. I want to meet readers’ expectations, of course, so that contributes heavily to the stress I’m still experiencing. Plus I have my own beliefs and desires about writing — to use the English language well and rise to the heights of possibility.”
The ideas for Oxygen germinated during the early days of Cassella’s anesthesia residency. The main character in the novel, Marie, is a single anesthesiologist with the same kind of career and relationship questions many women in their mid-thirties have. Has she made the right decision, pursuing a career that leaves little time for men, marriage or children? Does she fear commitment or has she just not met the right man? Is she negligent or in denial about the needs of her family for her attention?
When professional trauma strikes early in the book, Marie’s concerns are immediately displaced by all-out fear, anxiety, doubt, grief, insecurity and a demoralizing sense of aloneness. The complexity in both her personal and professional relationships increases as the consequences of her situation broaden. She becomes a different person, estranged from herself and others, as she struggles to make sense out of what has happened to her.
Cassella acknowledges some autobiographical connection with Marie, but fortunately has experienced less drama and more enjoyment in the medical profession than has her protagonist. The Library Journal declared her story one of the ten best debut novels of 2008. Oxygen is a national best seller according to the publisher who is releasing the paperback in June 2009.
Cassella envisioned herself a writer from childhood and majored in English at Duke University despite her parents’ admonition that writing might not be the pathway to financial independence. She ultimately followed their counsel and went to medical school, yet she knew in her heart that she would always be a writer. When her four children started school, Cassella began a connection with Field’s End, the writers’ community on Bainbridge Island, to fulfill her childhood and early adult craving to write. She was first in line on the doorstep of the Bainbridge Island Library when Field’s End founders Nichole Vick and David Guterson presented their initial class offerings. She took them all, participated in roundtables and conferences, and met writers who supported each other in their common mission.
Cassella is definitely made of the writer’s cloth. “I certainly wanted to write long before I wanted to be a doctor,” she says, “so the writer has lived inside my mind ever since I learned to read. I don’t think I could have felt complete at the end of my life if I hadn’t given writing a dedicated and serious effort. But I also can’t imagine having missed out on my career as a physician. It is such a unique type of work, presenting so many intriguing intellectual, scientific and technological challenges, along with the strong emotional component of the patient relationships.”
Cassella began writing Oxygen in 2001. Through Field’s End she developed a writer/coach relationship with author Michael Collins who acted as her touchstone, helping her sustain her commitment to writing. After three years of intensive spurts of writing followed by no moments to write, she came to a “can’t stop” point. “I had too much invested in the book to stop for anything beyond the minimal essentials of work and family. I could never have completed Oxygen without my husband Steve’s support; he shouldered the majority of responsibilities when I had to intensify my focus on writing.”
Sometimes fulfilling all of the responsibilities that come with working two or three days a week at the hospital, co-parenting four teens, co-managing a household, writing 30 minutes here and 10 minutes there, while still making time to sleep, eat and stay healthy, feels unattainable to Cassella. When thinking about it all she sometimes wonders, “Should I have added writing to my already crazy life? Have I invited a beast into my house?” And when referring to the demands of writing a second novel, one she finds more difficult than the first, she asks herself, Should I still continue on this path? Will I have regrets? Am I being selfish by writing? Am I missing family events and experiences that I’ll be sad about forever? Is what I’m doing good for the children? Or at least not bad for them?”
She answers herself by saying, “Ultimately I have to believe that the children know they are loved as unique individuals, and the consequences of such a busy, crowded childhood will be made up for in other ways. I hope they grow up to be as close to one another as I am with my two sisters. I only wish their childhood could pass a little more slowly, with more chance to savor the five or six years we have left together.”
Many parents in dual career relationships would probably share Cassella’s sentiments about raising children well while working full time. Although she aspires to high achievement in all aspects of her life, with her family as the “center of her universe,” she has accepted, with poise and relief, that she is not, cannot and never will be perfect — or attain more than a second or two of equilibrium on life’s big Bongo Board.
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