Kaget
Gerbang pintu tahun baru menyentak
Dia mendekat
Tahun lama mendorongku
tersungkur aku di hadapan gerbang pintu itu
tahun lama siap menendangku
meninggalkanku dalam risau
Aku belum membersihkan halaman hidupku
Masih kubiarkan ceceran salah
dan noda-noda dosa menghias dan membusuk
dalam diriku
Aku belum siap menyambut tahun baru
namun dalam takdir aku tak kuasa
digilas waktu Sang Maha
Hanya pasrah dalam dekap rahmat-Nya
Semoga di ujung tahun lama
aku masih sempat membersihkan halaman hidupku
dan membuka gerbang tahun baru
dengan senyum cerah
dan jiwa gembira
karena aku ingin mengukir indah
dalam setiap gurat waktu yang kuhirup
dalam lembar tahun baru esok.
Melborune, 30 Desember 2007
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Selamat Datang Rasul
Sebuah sentuhan nasyid yang dibawakan oleh Mys Shalash mengenai kedatangan Rasul ke Madinah. Pujian terhadap kota Madinah pun disentuh dengan cukup syahdu. Eid Mubarak!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Residents uneasy amid opposition to Muslim school
Residents uneasy amid opposition to Muslim school
Posted
Muslim education: Students at another Islamic school. (AAP Image: Alan Porritt)
Tension is mounting in Camden in Sydney's far west as people take sides on a proposal to build a $19 million Muslim school in the area.
The riot squad was reportedly on hand at a public meeting last night. A decision on the school is still more than two months away.
The unease in the area has left locals wondering whether Camden will suffer the same fate as the beachside suburb of Cronulla, where riots broke out two years ago.
Islamic schools aren't exactly a new idea in Sydney. The Malek Fahd Islamic school, for example, was established in 1989 in Greenacre near Bankstown in Sydney's west with just 87 children. Now it has 1,700 students.
When the New South Wales HSC results were released yesterday, the school's year 12 students came in ninth in the state.
Not that any of that is likely to convince many in Camden to support a new Islamic school there, if comments from some gathered outside last night's meeting are any guide.
"I said it's not about racism, it's about doing the right thing for the community," one local said.
"If we go down to Lakemba, Bankstown... you walk through there, mate, they despise you, they don't want to talk to you."
Not everyone in Camden is against the school. But one young man says public support for it is being stifled by the council, which he says blocked his plans for a peaceful demonstration on the weekend.
"I basically just wanted to set up a store and talk about racial harmony in the area, considering the amount of unrest that we have at the moment," he said.
"Basically, I was told, due to the issue of the Muslim school, that I wasn't to go down at all, and if I was, I would be told to leave straight away and basically told that I shouldn't be causing trouble within Camden."
The young man asked not to be named for fear of retribution from others of the local community.
"There's eight Catholic schools, there's three Christian schools within the area, and if you're talking about one Muslim school, I don't see why there's so much unrest. It's quite confronting, really," he said.
He says it's possible the community anger will erupt into violence.
"If somebody stood up and said, 'Look, pro-Muslims, let's go for the Muslims,' I wouldn't be entirely surprised if something on a smaller basis of like the Cronulla riots erupted," he said.
"Because people have so much emotional relation to this project, that, like I said, it is confronting and a little bit scary."
Politicians up in arms
Others have seen a political opportunity in the growing local resistance to the project.
Charlie Lynn is a member of the NSW Upper House and he spoke at last night's meeting against the proposed school, as he explained to Macquarie radio earlier today.
"This is an attempt by social engineers to inflict culture shock, if you like, on Camden," he said.
"There are currently, I think, around 100 Islamic families in Camden, and they want to build the school for 1,200, plus 200 teachers.
"Now this is just being imposed on us without an discussion at all. This is what they're objecting about and the other thing is that the location of the school is totally in breach of the planning requirements for a school of this type."
Mr Lynn is not the only politician publicly opposing the school.
Another NSW Upper House MP, the Reverend Fred Nile, quoted from the Koran last night and accused Muslims of hating Christians.
That brought return fire today from the peak Muslim group, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, accusing Reverend Nile of fuelling misconceptions about the school's intentions.
Education the key
The federation's president, Iqbal Patel, happens to be on the board of the Malek Fahd school.
"If the concern is about the behaviour of Muslims in Australia, then the only way to improve that behaviour is to educate the children in well-controlled environment, mainly under the auspices of various state education departments," he said.
"Then this is exactly what the community, the Islamic community behind this school are trying to do, I believe, in Camden."
Despite the 900 or so people at last night's meeting, a spokesman for the Qur'anic Society behind the school proposal, Jeremy Bingham, says he thinks most people in Camden aren't against the new school.
"I think what you've got is, number one, a relatively small group who are anxious about something that's unusual and different," he said.
"I think you've got a group of people who don't want this big growth of Camden that's going to happen, whether the school happens or not.
"And it seems as though we have a group of Christians who don't yet know that the crusades are over."
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/20/2124578.htm
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Yu Timah
"YU TIMAH" Dicuplik dari RESONANSI “ Republika, Desember 2006, oleh Ahmad TohariYu Timah adalah tetangga kami. Dia salah seorang penerima program Subsidi Langsung Tunai (SLT) yang kini sudah berakhir. Empat kali menerima SLT selama satu tahun jumlah uang yang diterima Yu Timah dari pemerintah sebesar Rp 1,2 juta. Yu Timah adalah penerima SLT yang sebenarnya. Rumahnya berlantai tanah, berdinding anyaman bambu, tak punya sumur sendiri. Bahkan status tanah yang di tempati gubuk Yu Timah adalah bukan milik sendiri.
Usia Yu Timah sekitar 50-an, berbadan kurus dan tidak menikah. Barangkali karena kondisi tubuhnya yang kurus, sangat miskin, ditambah yatim sejak kecil, maka Yu Timah tidak menarik lelaki manapun. Jadilah Yu Timah perawan tua hingga kini. Dia sebatang kara. Menginjak remaja Yu Timah bekerja sebagai pembantu rumah tangga (PRT) di Jakarta. Namun, seiring usianya yang terus meningkat, tenaga Yu Timah tidak laku di pasaran PRT. Dia kembali ke kampung. Para tetangga bergotong royong membuatkan gubuk buat Yu Timah bersama emaknya yang sudah sangat renta. Gubuk itu didirikan di atas tanah tetangga yang bersedia menampung anak dan emak yang sangat miskin itu.
Meski hidupnya sangat miskin, Yu Timah ingin mandiri. Maka ia berjualan nasi bungkus. Pembeli tetapnya adalah para santri yang sedang mondok di pesantren kampung kami. Tentu hasilnya tak seberapa. Tapi Yu Timah bertahan. Dan nyatanya dia bisa hidup bertahun-tahun bersama emaknya. Setelah emaknya meninggal Yu Timah mengasuh seorang kemenakan. Dia biayai anak itu hingga tamat SD. Tidak bisa melanjutkan sekolah karena tidak ada biaya. Anak itu pun harus cari makan. Maka dia tersedot arus perdagangan PRT dan lagi-lagi terdampar di Jakarta. Sudah empat tahun terakhir ini Yu Timah kembali hidup sebatang kara dan mencukupi kebutuhan hidupnya dengan berjualan nasi bungkus. Untunglah di kampung kami ada pesantren kecil. Para santrinya adalah anak-anak petani yang biasa makan nasi seperti yang dijual Yu Timah. Kemarin Yu Timah datang ke rumah saya. Saya sudah mengira pasti dia mau bicara soal tabungan. Inilah hebatnya. Semiskin itu Yu Timah masih bisa menabung di BPR syariah di mana saya ikut jadi pengurus. Tapi Yu Timah tidak pernah mau datang ke kantor. Katanya, malu sebab dia orang miskin dan buta huruf. Dia menabung Rp 5.000 atau Rp 10 ribu setiap bulan. Namun setelah menjadi penerima SLT Yu Timah bisa setor tabungan hingga Rp 250 ribu. Dan sejak itu saya melihat Yu Timah memakai cincin emas. Yah, emas. Untuk orang seperti Yu Timah, setitik emas di jari adalah persoalan mengangkat harga diri. Saldo terakhir Yu Timah adalah Rp 650 ribu.
Yu Timah biasa duduk menjauh bila berhadapan dengan saya. Malah maunya bersimpuh di lantai, namun selalu saya cegah.
''Pak, saya mau mengambil tabungan,'' kata Yu Timah dengan suaranya yang kecil.
''O, tentu bisa. Tapi ini hari Sabtu dan sudah sore. Bank kita sudah tutup. Bagaimana bila Senin?''
''Senin juga tidak apa-apa. Saya tidak tergesa.''
''Mau ambil berapa?'' tanya saya.
''Enam ratus ribu, Pak.''
''Kok banyak sekali. Untuk apa, Yu?''
Yu Timah tidak segera menjawab. Menunduk, sambil tersenyum malu-malu.
''Saya mau beli kambing qurban, Pak. Kalau 600 ribu saya tambahi dengan uang saya yang di tangan, cukup untuk beli satu kambing.''
Saya tahu Yu Timah amat menunggu tanggapan saya. Bahkan dia mengulangi kata-katanya karena saya masih diam. Karena lama tidak memberikan tanggapan, mungkin Yu Timah mengira saya tidak akan memberikan uang tabungannya. Padahal saya lama terdiam karena sangat terkesan oleh keinginan Yu Timah membeli kambing qurban.
''Iya, Yu. Senin lusa uang Yu Timah akan diberikan sebesar 600 ribu. Tapi Yu, sebenarnya kamu tidak wajib berqurban. Yu Timah bahkan wajib menerima qurban dari saudara-saudara kita yang lebih berada. Jadi, apakah niat Yu Timah benar-benar sudah bulat hendak membeli kambing qurban?''
''Iya Pak. Saya sudah bulat. Saya benar-benar ingin berqurban. Selama ini memang saya hanya jadi penerima. Namun sekarang saya ingin jadi pemberi daging qurban.''
''Baik, Yu. Besok uang kamu akan saya ambilkan di bank kita.''
Wajah Yu Timah benderang. Senyumnya ceria. Matanya berbinar. Lalu minta diri, dan dengan langkah-langkah panjang Yu Timah pulang.
Setelah Yu Timah pergi, saya termangu sendiri. Kapankah Yu Timah mendengar, mengerti, menghayati, lalu menginternalisasi ajaran qurban yang diwariskan Nabi Ibrahim? Mengapa orang yang sangat awam itu bisa punya keikhlasan demikian tinggi sehingga rela mengurbankan hampir seluruh hartanya? Pertanyaan ini muncul karena umumnya ibadah haji yang biayanya mahal itu tidak mengubah watak orangnya. Mungkin saya juga begitu. Ah, Yu Timah, saya jadi malu. Duhai Yu Timah. Kamu yang belum naik haji, atau malah tidak akan pernah naik haji, namun kamu sudah jadi orang yang suka berqurban. Kamu sangat miskin, tapi uangmu tidak kaubelikan makanan, televisi, atau pakaian yang bagus. Uangmu malah kamu belikan kambing qurban. Ya, Yu Timah. Meski saya dilarang dokter makan daging kambing, tapi kali ini akan saya langgar. Saya ingin menikmati daging kambingmu yang sepertinya sudah berbau surga. Mudah-mudahan kamu mabrur sebelum kamu naik haji.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
The Voice Within - Christina Aguilera -
Young girl, don't cry
I'll be right here when your world starts to fall
Young girl, it's all right
Your tears will dry, you'll soon be free to fly
When you're safe inside your room you tend to dream
Of a place where nothing's harder than it seems
No one ever wants or bothers to explain
Of the heartache life can bring and what it means
When there's no one else
Look inside yourself
Like your oldest friend
Just trust the voice within
Then you'll find the strength
That will guide your way
If you will learn to begin
To trust the voice within
Young girl, don't hide
You'll never change if you just run away
Young girl, just hold tight
And soon you're gonna see your brighter day
Now in a world where innocence is quickly claimed
It's so hard to stand your ground when you're so afraid
No one reaches out a hand for you to hold
When you're lost outside look inside to your soul
When there's no one else
Look inside yourself
Like your oldest friend
Just trust the voice within
Then you'll find the strength
That will guide your way
If you will learn to begin
To trust the voice within
Yeah...
Life is a journey
It can take you anywhere you choose to go
As long as you're learning
You'll find all you'll ever need to know
You'll make it
You'll make it
Just don't go forsaking yourself
No one can stop you
You know that I'm talking to you
When there's no one else
Look inside yourself
Like your oldest friend
Just trust the voice within
Then you'll find the strength
That will guide your way
If you will learn to begin
To trust the voice within
Young girl don't cry
I'll be right here when your world starts to fall
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
From Iran’s Fiery Leader, a Slightly Tamer Blog
Newsha Tavakolian/Polaris, for The New York Times
Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a former vice president who updates his own blog daily, is not impressed with Mr. Ahmadinejad's blog, calling the president’s site “just a formality.”
TEHRAN, Dec. 10 — Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran, is not the first name that comes to mind when thinking of net surfers and instant messages. Yet, it turns out, the man is a blogger. 
Ben Curtis/Associated Press
Ben Curtis/Associated Press
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has a blog.
Equally surprising for a leader known for a kind of thundering public presence, his blog is not especially tough. He condemns Washington’s policies, but writes infrequently and more ponderously than in his confrontational speeches. Yet the reader comments posted alongside his own seem far less censored and harsher than one might expect.
“I think you are an evil leader,” one comment posted by an American reader said. “Freedom and tolerance are necessities in this day and age, and the fact that your country kills intellectuals, journalists, minorities is horrible and deeply disturbing.”
Another reader said his claim at Columbia University in September that there were no gays in Iran was absurd and called his domestic policies “brutish.” Still another wrote: “Shut up please, would you? I get headaches reading your nonsense stuff.”
Those comments run along with supportive ones, including postings that seem to refer to the new American intelligence estimate that Iran is not actively pursuing a nuclear weapon, something Mr. Ahmadinejad had repeatedly asserted.
“I knew you were telling the truth,” wrote a Canadian.
The exchanges are available at ahmadinejad.ir in Persian, Arabic, English and French. The president has been keeping the blog for more than a year and promises to spend 15 minutes a week updating it.
“He has a very keen understanding of publicity,” said Karim Arghandehpour, a political scientist and journalist in Tehran. “His Web log shows how he believes in modern publicity instruments and wants to use them.”
In his most recent piece, Mr. Ahmadinejad has provided a “Guideline for Islamic Governance” and writes about how an official should consider his duties as his “responsibilities before God” to help the people. “It is in this view that the smile of an orphan is more important than the contentment of greedy rulers,” he writes.
There is a political irony to Mr. Ahmadinejad’s blogging, since other Iranian bloggers, including reporters who worked for news Web sites, came under more pressure after his election. Hundreds of Web sites and blogs that were critical of the government have been blocked. Censorship has been so wide that the president’s blog was once blocked mistakenly along with Google for a day.
In fact, blogging has become common among former officials, especially reformist politicians who do not have a platform to express their ideas.
The first official who became a blogger was Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a vice president to former President Mohammad Khatami. Mr. Abtahi has remained an active blogger, updating his Web site every day for the past four years.
“I thought it was exciting when the president first launched his blog,” Mr. Abtahi said. “But it looks like it is just a formality. The computer is one of the many items on his desk which he does not use very often.”
However, the president’s Web log highlights the unusual techniques he uses, like the trucks that follow him on provincial trips for collecting people’s letters to him appealing for help, to promote his populist agenda.
Mr. Ahmadinejad has tried to touch on most issues that concern him. He has written about freedom in Iran, referring to the protest of students against him a year ago at Amir Kabir University in Tehran as an example of its existence in Iran. “It was a joyous feeling to see a small group insult the elected president of people fearlessly amid a majority,” he wrote, without referring to the fate of the students, many of whom are in prison now.
In a letter to an American mother whose son was killed in Iraq, he calls the United States a “warmonger” but he says he respects all people of the world, including American people. In another article, he condemns the fingerprinting of passengers, like Iranians, by American customs officials and says it has caused hatred toward the American government.
Although comments posted on the Web log are screened, the ones on the English version are more hostile than the ones in Persian.
The ones in Persian express more sympathy and admiration for the president, but a little sarcasm has been allowed. Ibrahim Sadegh-al “thanked” the president for creating more jobs with economic policies that have led to a black market for goods. He said there were only two gas stations in his town before gasoline was rationed in late June.
“One of the two was always closed back then, but now we have 3,000 people selling petrol,” he wrote, referring to people selling their rations in the black market.
In his autobiography, Mr. Ahmadinejad writes about his childhood in a small town; the poverty of his family; excessive spending of the previous government, which put further pressure on the poor; his love for the late Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the revolution; and his memories of the Iran-Iraq war. He portrays himself as a pious, studious young man who also had to work as a teenager because of the poverty of his family.
The blog has been hacked several times. In August, a group called Yahoo Underground hacked his site and posted a sarcastic message saying, “We thank you on behalf of all Iranian hackers for defending the right of Iranian people against all the countries in the world.”
“We hope that you defend the irrefutable right of Iranian people to nuclear energy until your last breath,” it added.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/11/world/asia/11blog.html?ref=world
Monday, December 10, 2007
Perjalanan Seorang Salik (2)
Dieke yang berjiwa berandal, bandel dan pantang menyerah terus saja mencoba untuk kembali lagi ke tanah kebebasan, Australia
*****
Sesekali dia menggeleng-gelengkan kepalanya ketika teringat masa jahiliyah dalam kehidupannya. “Andai saja aku mati pada saat itu ya Allah…”, katanya lirih sambil pandangannya menerawang menatap langit. Semburat penyesalan memang memancar jelas dari sinar wajahnya. Kemudian dia bercerita tentang awal mulanya dia bertobat dan meninggalkan dunia kelamnya itu. Suatu hari di pertengahan tahun 2000, Dieke bermaksud menengok keluarganya di
Tak disangka, salah seorang anggota jamaah tabligh itu mendekati dirinya. “Apakah Anda tidak ingin kembali ke jalan Allah?”. Dieke terkejut, “Maksud Anda apa?”. Orang berjubah dan berjanggut itu melanjutkan, “ucapkanlah la ilaha illal lah, maka dosa Anda terampuni dan Anda akan masuk surga Allah SWT.”. Dieke terdiam dan mendengarkan lagi kata-kata orang tadi. Dieke tak tahu mengapa dia bisa membiarkan orang asing ini menasihati dirinya. “Andai Anda mau, ikutilah kami untuk berkeliling ke Aceh melihat saudara-saudara Muslim kita. Insya Allah hati Anda akan tenang, Kalau mau besok kita pergi dari
Dieke merasa bersyukur bahwa ia telah mendapatkan nur Allah kembali. Dia bercita-cita hendaknya umat Islam bisa bersatu menancapkan kalimat Allah yang maha mulia. Dia berpesan agar dalam percakapan janganlah orang berbicara tentang khilafiah (perbedaan mazhab), politik, dan dunia. Berbicaralah tentang keagungan Allah dan keimanan melalui jalan hikmah. Membawa seseorang menuju manisnya iman, baginya, tak harus melalui jalan debat dan pemaksaan. Ia yakin bahwa mengajak orang sholat dengan dua kata, “Shalat yuk” adalah hikmah tanpa harus melukai perasaan orang yang diajak. Pandangan Dieke ini merupakan buah dari perjalanan spiritualnya. Selama bergaul dengan jama’ah tabligh, Dieke merasa bahwa mereka sangat memanusiakannya. Dia tak pernah dihina dan dikucilkan meski kali pertama dia bergabung dengan mereka, dia masih berpenampilan preman yang masih nol pemahaman ibadah dan keislamannya. Ada lagi yang membuatnya yakin bahwa do'a ibu lah yang membuatnya dia bisa menerima Islam kembali. Dia berpendapat, andaikata sang bunda tak pernah mendo'akan dia dalam setiap shalatnya, maka dia mungkin tak akan lagi mendengar alun panggilan Allah. Semoga saja kita bisa mereguk manisnya iman dan takwa hingga nafas terakhir lepas dari badan kita. Aamiin.
TAMAT
TAMAT
Melbourne, 10 Desember 2007
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Perjalanan Seorang Salik (1)
Pendar sinar mentari masih redup tertutup awan tipis. Seolah jemari surya enggan menyingkap tabir waktu di ujung fajar. Kelopak baru kehidupan mulai mekar menebar pesona di sebuah pagi di pucuk bulan Desember. Cicit burung masih terdengar satu dua di atas atap dan dahan pepohonan di sekitar masjid Westall seakan menyapa hangat kumpulan hamba yang sedang mengais ridlo-Nya. Pengajian bakda Shubuh terasa berbeda dibanding hari biasanya. Jamaah Shalat Tahajjud dan Shalat Shubuh nampak lebih semarak memakmurkan rumah Allah yang suci ini dibanding hari Ahad lainnya. Saat itu aku hitung sekitar 35 orang menghadiri kegiatan yang telah berlangsung sejak tahun 2004 ini. Alhamdulillah, gumamku. Atas pertolongan Allah pula, pengajian fajar ini terus saja berlangsung. Semoga hanya keikhlasan untuk mencari ridlo-Nya lah yang bisa mendorong kami memakmurkan perut dan jiwa masjid.
Di pagi itu, ada pemandangan lain yang menyita perhatianku. Mataku tertumbuk pada sosok kurus yang berkerudungkan sorban Arafat. Janggutnya panjang memutih dan air mukanya menampakkan kebahagiaan batin seorang Muslim. Aku taksir usianya sekitar 50 tahunan. Dia duduk bersilah di baris sebelah kiriku. Mukanya tertunduk dan nampak tekun mendengarkan uraian mengenai kematian yang diambil dari Kitab "Tanbîh al-Ghâfilîn" karya seorang ulama sufi abad ke 10 dari Samarkand Bandung
Selepas pengajian, aku mencoba mendekatinya dan bertanya tentang ihwalnya. Aku salami dia dan memperkenalkan diriku. Kemudian dia memperkenalkan dirinya dengan nama Dieke Rijal. Tapi saat itu dia sudah memiliki nama “Islamnya”, yakni Muhammad Rijali. Ada kebahagiaan ketika dia menceritakan siapa dirinya, terutama ketika dia tak henti-hentinya bersyukur atas kesembuhan yang dia peroleh. Dia bercerita tentang penyakit kanker limpa yang dideritanya selama hampir setengah tahun lamanya semenjak Januari 2007. Asal muasalnya, menurut dia, penyakitnya itu baru diketahui ketika dia melakukan olah raga sit-up. Ketika dia sedang melakukan gerakan sit-up, tiba-tiba dia merasakan kram pada perutnya yang luar biasa. Seorang kawannya, Indra, menduga bahwa hal itu terjadi karena Dieke kurang melakukan pemanasan sebelum bersit-up. Tak dinyana dan tak diduga, ketika Dieke pergi ke dokter, dokter mendiagnosa adanya kanker limpa yang berbahaya. Mendengar hal itu, Dieke hanya pasrah meski dia tak percaya dengan apa yang dia dengar itu.
Selang beberapa lama kemudian dia merasakan tubuhnya semakin lemas dan semakin kurus. Ada rasa sakit yang menusuk di dalam perutnya yang terus menerus menghujam. Dokter memutuskan agar Dieke harus menjalankan operasi penyembuhan kanker. Selama sakitnya, Dieke telah menjalani tiga kali operasi dan beberapa terapi kimia dan nuklir untuk penyembuhan kanker yang dideritanya. Ntah tak terhitung berapa banyak injeksi obat dan treatment kimiawi yang bertubi-tubi bersarang di tubuhnya ketika dia merasakan sakit yang luar biasa itu. Dalam bulan ke enam, dia merasakan bahwa badannya sudah tak kuat lagi menopang penyakit yang dideritanya. Dalam pikirannya sang malaikat maut seolah sudah teramat dekat hendak menjemput ruhnya ke alam baka. Lintas kepasrahan membawakan rasa rindu kepada tanah kelahirannya. Dia hanya berharap bahwa dia bisa menghembuskan nafas terakhirnya dan dikubur di tanah kelahirannya,
Dia memutuskan untuk pulang ke Indonesia meskipun dalam keadaan sakit dan harus ditopang kursi roda sekalipun. Dia sudah pasrah bahwa dalam benaknya kematian adalah yang terdekat dari segala sesuatu. Tiada jalan yang akan ditempuh dalam lorong hidup ini kecuali berakhir pada terminal hakiki, yakni maut. Dia berfikir bahwa kepulangannya ke Indonesia hanyalah untuk mengantarkan nyawa seorang pendosa. Di Jakarta dia bertemu sahabat lamanya, Bangun Sugito alias Gito Rollies, mantan penyanyi rok terkenal di Indonesia yang sudah bertobat. Gito menyarankan agar dia meminum jinten hitam dan madu. Gito bilang bahwa jinten hitam atau dalam bahasa Arabnya "khabbah sauda" adalah obat dari segala penyakit, apalagi kalau dicampur dengan madu. Dieke mengikuti saran Gito yang saat itu juga lagi menderita kanker getah bening. Mukjizat itupun terjadi. Hanya dalam waktu tiga minggu, Dieke merasa ada perobahan setelah meminum cairan khabbah sauda dan madu. Tubuhnya kembali normal dan dia bisa tegak berdiri dan berjalan. Padahal sebelumnya kaki dan tangan kanannya sempat lumpuh total. Hanya Allah saja yang tahu mengapa Dia memberikan kesembuhan atas penyakitnya itu. Dieke merasa bahwa Allah masih memberinya waktu untuk menebus semua dosa-dosanya yang terlah menggunung. Ketika dia merasa bahwa kondisi tubuhnya kian membaik, Dieke balik lagi ke Melbourne. Ketika berjumpa dengan dokter langgangannya, doktertersebut terheran-heran dengan kondisi kesehatannya yang maju pesat. Namun Dieke tak ingin bercerita tentang khabbah sauda dan madu sebagai media penyembuh penyakitnya. Dia khawatir kalau dokter di Melbourne tidak pernah akan mudah percaya terhadap terapi itu.
*****
Aku semakin ingin tahu tentang hal ikhwal dia. Di sela-sela pembicaraannya yang sarat nasihat hidup. Dia membuka kisah hidupnya yang berawal ketika dia baru berusia 21 tahun. Di saat usia belia itu, dia sudah memutuskan untuk berhijrah seorang diri ke Negeri Kanguru pada pertengahan tahun 1973. Kota yang dipilihnya adalah kota Melbourne. Dia menggunakan visa turis untuk datang ke
Janji Dieke terbukti bahwa selang setahun berikutnya, dia datang lagi ke
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Cinta Indonesia
Meski perasaan sebagai orang Indonesia ada dalam ruang imajiner kita, namun setidaknya kita perlu menyatakan bahwa imajinasi kita tentang Indonesia tak akan hilang meski tubuh kasar kita berpindah dari satu tempat ke tempat lain. Hal yang paling menyedihkan bagi bangsa Indonesia adalah ketika anak cucu kita sudah tak ingat lagi tentang Indonesia karena kita secara sengaja menghapus imajinasi itu. Kita mengubur Indonesia melalui ketidakpercayaan diri kita tentang Indonesia. Untuk menjaga agar Indonesia dan keindonesiaan tetap terpatri dalam sanubari anak bangsa, maka hidupkan terus api nasionalisme dalam jiwa kita. Wariskan kobaran api itu itu kepada anak-anak kita, generasi penerus bangsa. Api itu tak akan padam bila dibentengi semangat bersatu dalam kebhinekaan dan bhineka dalam kesatuan.
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Semoga Indonesia akan tetap jaya dan kokoh tegak berdiri di atas jantung kebanggaan manusia Indonesia.
Melbourne, 6 Desember 2007
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Semoga Indonesia akan tetap jaya dan kokoh tegak berdiri di atas jantung kebanggaan manusia Indonesia.
Melbourne, 6 Desember 2007
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Pondok Pesantren
Pondok Pesantren sebagai institusi pendidikan tertua di Indonesia ternyata mampu menjaga eksistensinya.
Banyak perubahan yang merefleksikan watak akomodatif pesantren atas berbagia perubahan zaman. Meskipun demikian, nilai-nilai lama pesantren tetap dipertahankan sebagai bentuk kemandirian dan kepercayaan diri institusi ini.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Cartoons and the globalisation of protests
| By Paul Reynolds World Affairs correspondent, BBC News website |
The spread of protests against the cartoons of Muhammad is another manifestation of globalisation.
Even moderates are angry at what they see as an attack on Islam
Just as Dr Edward Lorenz of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology asked in 1972: "Does the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?" (he originally mentioned a seagull's wings, but a butterfly is so much more poetic), so these days cartoons in an obscure newspaper have set off demonstrations which cross continents.
The phenomenon is fuelled by the growth of the Islamic influence in Western societies, the sense of Islamic anger not just at the cartoons but at world events and the precarious nature of relations between the West and the Muslim world.
Then and now
Compare the recent crisis with what happened to the author Salman Rushdie in 1989.
Then, the protests were directed largely at one person.
Now they are directed at a whole country, in this case Denmark, and more than that, against large parts of Western society and its traditions.
Equally, the cartoons are seen as attacks on Islam itself, not just by an author but by a society.
And in places, the issue has been exploited for local purposes.
In northern Nigeria, the protests went beyond the original issue. They developed into anti-Christian riots, as anger at the drawings was exploited in a part of the world where Islam from across the Sahara meets Christianity which has moved up from the missionary-influenced coast.
Teachings questioned
Rushdie's sin in The Satanic Verses was to exploit some notorious lines in an account of the Prophet's life which told how Muhammad was tempted by Satan to suggest that three goddesses worshipped in Mecca might find a place in the new religion he was proclaiming. These are the "Satanic Verses" themselves.
They are absolutely rejected by Islamic tradition. Rushdie, however, used them to construct a fable in which he questioned the whole basis of Muhammad's teachings.
Radical groups are trying to exploit the conflict
It was on 14 February 1989 that the then Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini proclaimed: "The author of the book entitled The Satanic Verses, which has been compiled, printed, and published in opposition to Islam, the Prophet and the Koran, as well as those publishers who were aware of its contents, have been sentenced to death."
The book was burned, in Britain and elsewhere. Protests followed outside US and British buildings in India and Pakistan, and people died.
But the main anger was directed against Rushdie himself who had to go into hiding. The Ayatollah's fatwa against him is still technically in force.
Iran alone
In the West, the protest was seen largely as a product of the Iranian revolution rather than a mass movement in Islam. At the time, Iran was seen as the great threat.
The Rushdie affair can be seen as the precursor of the cartoon crisis 
Saddam Hussein's Iraq was even regarded by some Western leaders as a bulwark against the fervour of Iran. Ten years previously he had attacked Iran and the West barely blinked. An incredibly bloody war ensued in which Iraq used chemical weapons and Iran hurled its only-too-willing youth against Iraqi lines.
There was no Osama bin Laden and no al-Qaeda. And there had been no 9/11, no invasion of Iraq. It was only Iran which declared that the United States was the "Great Satan".
There was also a much less influential Islamic presence in Western societies. In Britain, there were indeed protests but they were small and politically not that influential, though the Conservative government did make noises about the need not to offend religious sensitivities. A minister tried to placate Iran, which was seen as the problem.
The Rushdie affair can be seen as the precursor to the cartoon crisis.
Great debate
But now things are different.
The Muslim leadership in the West is far stronger. Muslim leaders in Denmark were instrumental in transforming their local row into a global confrontation.
They did this by taking their case to gatherings of Islamic scholars and politicians in the Middle East where they found a ready audience. From there, it went onto the streets.
We are also in the middle of, and perhaps only at the beginning of, a period in which the West and Islam are in conflict (it is not just Iran any more), or at least are trying to establish rules of conduct.
The West is having to reconsider what it means by freedom of speech and to justify, for example, why the historian David Irving is locked up in Austria for denying the Holocaust. In fact, that has to do with Austrian history. The law on holocaust denial applies there and in Germany because of their special responsibilities.
And within Islam there is a great debate between moderates and radicals, the outcome of which will perhaps determine the outcome of the wider conflict.
Into such an atmosphere came these drawings. The tinder box was ready to be lit.
Paul.Reynolds-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4740020.stm
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