ziarah

dear readers,

last year during eid, my family and i decided to have pilgrimage visits to some waliyullah, especially those in east java. the pilgrimage visits specifically called ziarah. to me ziarah is an experience that is difficult to describe every time visiting people who are lovers of God. since then, my habit of ziarah has continued to become a routine that i do with or without my family. you read them right, i still practice ziarah even if i am only alone by myself. this habit seems to have become a part of my character, even every time i pass a cemetery area, i consciously always take some times to pray for those who have preceded me by at least sending fatehah.

in my belief, there are only three benefaction that we will take with us once we die. they are useful knowledge, charity, and prayers from their children. as i do not think i am capable of the three that much, now i am thinking who will pray for me later. am i going to be alone there for i could not bring much good deeds as friends who will accompany me until the appointed time? the more often i do ziarah, to my grandparents, to my ancestors, to waliyullah, the more i feel that i am getting closer to this fana’. my interest in ziarah was actually commonly done especially by the javanese. before i have written about nyekar in this post. nyekar is a unique javanese tradition of paying respects and honoring ancestral graves. this practice is thought to have spiritual significance and is typically carried out during specific times of the javanese calendar, such as the month of safar or the day of jumat kliwon. revisiting my old writings, i just realized that i have this strange connection mainly in writing about the dead, you can read here, here, and here. to me, writing about them is a strange education. there are always things to learn only by remembering the deceased. It could be about their good deeds, their teachings, and the most important is, to be reminded that all the things with us are not going to be last. until here you may now find me boring for contemplating too much!

the strangest spiritual experience i felt was when i went to the tomb of the prophet Muhammad SAW. it was strange for i got to experience peace i have never described. it was also when i saw gua hira where the first verse of Quran given to the Prophet. i studied the role of sayyidah Khadijah supporting her husband two times a day to bring him foods during his tafakkur in mount hira. i really cannot imagine myself on how she could brace herself climbing and descending the mount hira at times when the trail was not as easy as it is now. only by God grace, i wish i had a tiny bit of her respect, obedience or kindness towards her husband, in this case, the Prophet Muhammad saw.

read the biography of the Prophet to welcome ramadhan

as you may already know about my love for reading, especially biography, i just realized that i have never read biography book of the Prophet. what i meant by historical book is sirah nabawiyah. sira nabawiyah is the arabic term for the Prophet Muhammad’s biography (peace be upon him). it’s a detailed account of his life, teachings, and actions as told by his companions and followers. the sira nabawiyah is regarded as a primary source of islamic history, and muslims all over the world study it to gain a better understanding of the Prophet’s life and teachings. many significant events in the Prophet’s life are covered in the sira nabawiyah, including his birth, childhood, marriage to khadijah, the revelation of the Quran, the migration to medina, and his leadership of the early muslim community. It also includes battle and military expedition accounts, as well as the establishment of Islamic laws and practices. the only biography book about the Prophet i read was written by karen armstrong titled Muhammad. luckily, my dad has lot of religious books so it was easy to find that one of the most reference sources of sirah nabawiyah in one of my dad’s collection.

my father’s interest in spiritual islam made him collecting several books which i later realized what i really liked had actually been passed down from him. so the saying that the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree seems to be quite illustrated by how my interests were actually influenced by my own father. right now, i’m at a point where i really enjoy the time i have to read and further explore my interests and passions in many things that can still be further developed in the future. and because soon we will enter the holy month of Ramadhan, my next writings will probably talk more about the lessons and readings that i chose to accompany me during my ramadhan.

of all the books i have read,i take biography as the genre i read most. this reminds me about three books which are quite changing me in term of both reading and writing. the three are ajib rasidi on his hidup tanpa ijazah, soe hok gie on catatan seorang demonstran, and the last is ahmad wahib’s pergolakan pemikiran islam. those three books are like their personal diary about things they have been through yet also with their own contemplation along by adding their philosophical thoughts and insights. i read the three during my freshman at my uni and right after reading those three, i decided to start my own writing. Beside ajib rasidi the two authors died young, but their writings inspired so many people including me. and as someone who have too many hobbies, it is through their writing, i’ve always taken both reading and writing with passions.

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