Setiap memasuki hari ke-19 sampai ke-23 bulan Ramadhan mayoritas umat Islam akan mengenang peristiwa besar yang terjadi pada tahun 40 Hijriah. Berikut ini kisah singkatnya.
Tulisan seni kaligrafi ‘Ali bin Abithalib’: sang Singa Allah
Mirip Nabi saw, akhlak Imam Ali bin Abithalib (as) sungguh luhur. Saat itu kepalanya baru saja ditebas pedang. Racun di badannya mulai menjalar. Dalam masa perawatan sebelum kematiannya, keluarga Ali memberinya susu. Ketika diberi semangkuk susu untuk menetralkan racun di tubuhnya, Imam hanya meminum setengahnya. Ia menyisakan separuhnya lagi. “Berikan (sisa) susu ini kepada orang asing yang ada di penjara. Perutnya kosong,” katanya. Seorang yang hadir di situ bertanya, “Siapa orang asing di penjara itu, wahai Imam?” Beliau menjawab, “Orang yang telah berusaha membunuhku, Ibnu Muljam.”
Mari mengenang sejarah sahabat Nabi saw. Sesungguhnya dari sekian banyak sahabat Nabi saw, yang paling banyak kita kenal adalah empat sahabat besar, yakni Abubakar ra, Umar ra, Usman ra dan Ali ra – yang keempatnya kemudian popular sebagai Khulafa’-ur- Rasyidin.
Dari ke-4 sahabat besar itu, tiga yang terakhir ternyata wafat terbunuh: Khalifah Umar ra, Khalifah Usman ra, dan Khalifah Ali ra. Sahabat Usman ra (memerintah mulai tahun 644 sd 656 M) dibunuh di rumahnya, di Madinah, oleh pemberontak dan pengacau, setelah sebelumnya dikepung selama 40 hari. Sayidina Usman, yang dikenal sebagai saudagar kaya yang dermawan (dan menurut sebagian sejarawan pernah menikahi dua putri Nabi saw) itu syahid pada hari Jumat 18 Dzulhijjah 35 H (656 M). Dampak peristiwa terbunuhnya Usman itu kemudian berjalan cukup pelik; terjadi fitnah di sana-sini.
Setelah Usman ra meninggal, pengganti beliau adalah Ali (ra). Sayidina Ali yang sepupu dan sekaligus menantu Nabi saw itu juga dibunuh saat melaksanakan solat subuh di masjid Kufah, Irak. (Ali yang dipukul pedang Ibnu Muljam pada 19 Ramadhan 40 H itu kemudian wafat tiga hari setelah peristiwa itu (pada 21 Ramadhan).
Berhubung tragedi pembunuhan Imam Ali berlangsung pada 10 hari-hari terakhir bulan Ramadhan ini, maka layak kiranya kita simak kisahnya berikut ini:
Anies with Christmas Carrol participants, Jakarta, December 2019. (Anies disambut umat Kristiani).
Benarkah, Anies harus lebih ke “tengah”? Ada sinyalemen bahwa, jika ingin meningkatkan elektabilitasnya dalam pemilihan presiden tahun 2024 mendatang, maka Anies Baswedan harus “bergeser” ke tengah. Sebagai disiratkan Direktur Eksekutif Parameter Politik Indonesia Adi Prayitno, Anies (yang pernah dituduh membiarkan dirinya dipakai oleh kelompok Islam tertentu untuk meraih kemenangannya dalam Pilkad DKI 2017 silam) agar bergeser lebih ke “tengah.” Tetapi banyak bukti menunjukkan bahwa sebenarnya Anies selalu berada di tengah: berbagai kegiatannya selama memimpin Jakarta memperlihatkan hal itu. Tulisan di The New Straits Times 4 September ini menjelaskannya.
The article has been published in The New Straits Times, Malaysia, 4 September 2022 under the title, “All’s fair in Indonesian presidential race.“ (click here).
Adi Prayitno, a political analyst and the Executive Director of Parameter Politik Indonesia, gave an interesting argument about the electability of Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan for the 2024 presidential election.
He argued that Anies needs to shift more to the “middle” to improve his electability, seen fair and affective in the eyes of the citizens, as found in the Parameter’s surveys.
Over the years, Baswedan has been accused for using religious sentiments to win the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election, beating incumbent Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, who then was jailed for blasphemy.
He was also labelled as an “inflexible leader”, leaning to certain Islamic groups to hold his electability. Yet, no compelling proof have been found on that innuendo. Instead, after five years in office, Anies exhibited tolerance by supporting diverse religious events in Jakarta.
It should be noted that recently Anies invited Ahok to his daughter’s wedding, where Ahok sent a congratulatory wreath at the reception in Ancol on July 29.
Political polls show that Anies ranks highest among the top three potential candidates for the 2024 presidential election. Two others are two-time candidate and Gerindra party chairman (and Defense Minister) Prabowo Subianto, and Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, from the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
Taking 1,200 respondents from 34 of Indonesia’s provinces, the Parameter survey found that 52.7 per cent picked a leader based on emotional or psychological connections, more than rational (30.1 per cent) or sociological (2.2 per cent). With the six simulations done, Ganjar, Prabowo, and Anies consistently topped the electability factor.
Based on the survey, Ganjar was presumed to be elected due to his performance as governor in Central Java (26.2 per cent), down-to-earth behaviour (24.4 per cent), and kindness (14.0 per cent). Prabowo was picked for his bravery and firmness (39.1 per cent); and Anies was picked based on his current leadership performance (42.9 per cent) and diligence (10.1 per cent).
Anies always strived to stay in the “middle” through his fairness and tolerance. He supported not only Islamic organisations, but also other religions’ activities through facilitations and funds.
To promote unity, Anies provided operational assistance funds for the houses of worship (known as BOTI), allocated in the city government grant budget. In 2022, Jakarta’s Regional Budget, 352 billion rupiahs were allocated for places of worship and religious institutions in the capital, showing an improved effort from the budgeted 140 billion rupiahs in 2021.
Anies’s government had collaborated with communities and citizens to hold Christmas celebrations in public spaces in 2019, and online in 2020 due to the pandemic. In 2021, the carols took place across the capital streets, involving 30 small and medium enterprises, as well as 30 performers from communities and residents.
Last year’s Christmas in Jakarta series took place from Dec 15, 2021, to Jan 1, 2022, in 15 locations, including Kota Tua, Hotel Indonesia’s Roundabout, Kendal Tunnel, Blok M MRT Station, and Semanggi’s interchange.
“I’ve been in Jakarta since childhood, but this is the first time I celebrate Christmas on the streets. Usually it’s only in our churches, at home or in hotels,” said one of the attendees in Kendal Tunnel, Menteng, Jakarta, on Dec 25, 2021.
In November 2019, Anies facilitated the first Deepavali Festival in Ancol, North Jakarta. In 2021, he even urged the capital’s enterprises to give Hindu workers a holiday to allow them to celebrate wholeheartedly.
Since his time in office, inter-community tolerance in the capital is strong. Credit to Anies for bringing a sense of equality and justice to all Jakarta citizens from all religious denominations.
Nevertheless, in a democratic contestation, choosing a leader invariably involves supporters, lovers, detractors, opponents, and haters.
Supporters and detractors are rational voters who base their decision on the measurable achievements of the candidate, whereas, lovers and haters measure through their limited perceptions and experiences, applying emotions as the foundation for their decision.
“This is one of the weaknesses in democracy and the cause for polarisation that cracks the nation’s unity,” said political analyst, Abdillah Toha in Kompas.com on August 1.
Anies has always been judged well by his proponents, yet his opponents tend to blame him for every fault that happens in the capital, like the accusation of relying on Islamic hardliners like Rizieq Shihab’s FPI, for his benefit.
Recalling the 2017’s Jakarta gubernatorial election between Ahok-Djarot Saiful Hidayat and Anies-Sandiaga Uno, Anies secured passage to the second run-off, having secured approximately 40 per cent of the vote on Feb 15, 2017, behind Ahok with 44 per cent, and well ahead of Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) with 16 per cent.
On April 19, 2017, Anies and Sandiaga won the run-off election, with approximately 58 per cent of the votes. Anies was sworn in as governor on Oct 16, 2017, replacing interim governor, Djarot Saiful Hidayat. It was found that Anies and Sandiaga won the second round due to the additional support from AHY’s supporters.
According to Abdillah, this showed that the hardliners’ support was not enough to lead Baswedan to win in the first round. Moreover, the hardliners were also not able to lead Prabowo to win during the 2019 presidential election, proving the limited power they carry in these contestations.
Therefore, Abdillah disagreed with the accusation that Anies is an opportunist and orchestrating support from Muslim hardliners.
“I rather believe that the support from the hardliners is from their own will, and not Anies’ effort to prohibit Ahok in becoming the governor. Had the hardliners supported Ahok and Djarot last 2017, would they reject it?”
Commenting further, Giora Eliraz from University of Washington was quoted as saying:
“Politicians, including in evolved, matured democracies, use political freedom to play on sensitive racial and religious sentiments for electoral interests. In this way, candidates worldwide inflame intolerance, xenophobia, and discrimination, particularly during election campaigns,” stated Eliraz.
This November will be the fifth year of Anies Baswedan administration. Apart from being one of the strongest candidates in the next 2024 presidential race, the Jakarta governor has been watched closely by many who want to ascertain whether he has delivered as much as he promised during the 2017 Jakarta election campaign.
Anies: promoting public transport in Jakarta (photo: Kompas)
To name a few, there are many works, and creations delivered by this ex Minister of Education along the four years of his leadership.
Among others, Jakarta has begun the building of a new huge international sophisticated Olympic standard stadium, new flyovers, river and lake revitalizations, the restoration of 69 public parks and 40 child friendly playgrounds.
Apart from the above, one of Anies’ iconic achievements has been the way his government shifted the residentials for marginalized citizens into a more humane housing. This is what Anies called the realization of what Anies called kesetaraan, equality.
As we all know, some kampung (urban villages) in Jakarta often stigmatized of being slum and messy, or even illegal. Now, Anies has revitalized these kampungs, and made villagers much happier. There are not less than 20 kampungs — whose most of their inhabitants have had evicted during previous Jakarta administrator — have been revitalized.
One of them is the Kampung Akuarium in north Jakarta. Those who visited the Kampung Akuarium will notice how unique is this five-story towers with a capacity to be the home for 700 residents. Expected to be completed by end of 2021 with estimated total cost of 62 billion rupiah (more than US$ 4.3 million) the project is financed under a developer obligation funds from PT Almaron Perkasa, a subsidiary of PT Lippo Karawaci.
The collaboration between Jakarta government and the residents, who agreed on a split-level vertical housing with staggered floor levels, and the help of a professional consultant – resulted the realization of a building that allow living in close proximity, like a kampung. With green spaces and common areas such as park, basketball field, amphitheater, mosque and urban farms, each block of the Kampung Akuarium has a basement dedicated to various public services, such as clinic, library, local cooperative office and some warung (small shops).
We can say that the restoration of Kampung Akuarium could be an example for structuring villages with similar problems, especially in a dense city as Jakarta with almost 11 million inhabitants.With the government facilitating the development for the local residents, Anies believes that the principles of unity and social justice are fulfilled well, also as said during the inauguration exactly on the Independence Day.
Through the development, children in Kampung Akuarium can live comfortably and have a better future. In his speech Anies encouraged parents to assure their children to study well. “The government is ready to facilitate them. Uplift their dreams, work hard as their parents did. Then encourage them to go beyond the dreams,” said Anies who was also an ex-Minister of Education.
One of the residents – who is also the forum coordinator for — Kampung Akuarium, Diyani, feels grateful to the Jakarta government for realizing the residents’ dream to have decent home after a long struggle, leaving the ‘slum’ label to live better. She said the design offered a different concept from typical Jakarta’s low-cost subsidized flats, which were usually inhuman. The residents plan to allocate a mini gallery to showcase their struggle. “Perhaps our grandchildren will see that and prove a sustainable kampung susun does exist. We are capable to manage and develop it for our better prosperity,” said Diyani.
Kampung Akuarium in north Jakarta: Equality
Perhaps this is what Anies called as “just” and “equality” for all Jakarta population. More than just preventing the eviction of villagers, what is more interesting is the process of how the kampung revitalization went on.
In addition, what’s also special about the village revitalization process is how the land and the units above it will be managed by the community cooperatives.
Works and buildings must be developed not only by emphasizing their numbers, but by the value behind them. Anies believes that city development paradigm has moved from old concept that treated citizens residents, consumers, and participants into co-creators. Because of this change, city government now must transform their function based on this paradigm from administrator (in City 1.0), service provider (City 2.0) and facilitator (City 3.0) into “collaborator” which what is called by Anies as the government paradigm of “City 4.0”.
In meeting the demands from the citizens Anies always emphasizes that all the bureaucrats in Jakarta administration have to observe the following ideas in all their works: collaborative, integrity, innovative, accountable, and just.
The importance of values.
Here we talk about values, the principles on which a person views something as important in this life. Values make us see something worthy, important, and meaningful to do. That’s because values contain ideas, meaning, and purpose.
The visible value of the urban village revitalization policy in Jakarta is that villagers are no longer treated as residents or consumers but as participants and furthermore co-creators. At this point, the government functions more as a facilitator and collaborator rather than an administrator and service provider.
Anies other policy that show values can be seen when he prioritizes the development of wide pedestrian areas on Jakarta’s protocol streets and bicycle lanes.
Traffic in Jakarta: transformation
In addition, a significant value can be observed from the policy of intermodal transportations, such as in the “Jak Lingko” scheme. It also has the value of collaboration between the government, private bus owners, drivers, and city-trains — the policy that strives to transform the streets of cities for pedestrians and cyclists for a better quality of life by prioritizing pedestrian areas and bicycle lanes.
Both policies are not only for reducing the traffic jam. More than that, this policy exposes social segregation that has been going on without the citizens of DKI Jakarta realizing it.
With the tightened of space for private vehicles on the streets of the capital, pedestrians and public transportation areas became spacious where residents from all socio-economic segments can meet and even interact.
Professor of psychology at Duke University, US, Dan Ariely, has conducted distinctive research at an Intel company.
Dan Ariely: Values.
According to Ariely, humans are more motivated by value than external rewards. Values that contain ideas, meaning, and purpose in life are what make people able to survive to complete works and creations even though they’re in difficult and poor situations. For Ariely, values give humans meaning, reason, and purpose that extend beyond the span of their lives.
Another writer, Ken Mogi (“The Book of Ikigai”) said that values made the Japanese so obsessed with details in their work or creation. Money or external rewards alone couldn’t be able to produce persistence in the work or creation of high quality.
This value in Japanese tradition often called as ikigai or ‘reason to live’. Values are also important because only values that can be inherited through narratives to the next generation. Work may be incomplete and may take time beyond a period of political leadership. Creation could be ruined over time. However, the values inherited through narratives could inspire many people throughout history, so that our work and creation could be passed on to the future generations.
So, if we discuss about the leader’s legacy, then the legacy is a value that contains ideas, meaning, and purpose. At this point, Anies has his own expertise in showing the values that move him to build Jakarta.
Syahdan suatu waktu, ulama ternama Allamah Sayed (atau Sayid)Muhammad Husayn Thabathabai, (1903-1981) penulis kitab Tafsir al Mizan, di rumah sakit karena menderita suatu penyakit (yang kelak “menyebabkan” beliau meninggal dunia).
Beliau dikenal sebagai satu dari sedikit ulama terbaik, mungkin paling saleh, pada zamannya, seorang sufi sekaligus filosof, ahli tafsir dan hadis. Kitab Tafsir karyanya, Al-Mizan, yang penulisannya memakan waktu puluhan tahun (antara tahun 1954 and 1972) dikenal di dunia Arab sebagai buku “Tafsir al-Quran yang menginterpretasikan al-Quran dengan (melalui) ayat Qur’an juga.”
Penulis puluhan buku yang pernah belajar di Najaf, Iraq, ini pernah berdialog dengan professor Henry Corbin (1903-1978). Hasil diskusi dengan filosof, theologian dan guru besar Islamic studies dari Ecole University, Perancis, itu ditulis dalam sebuah buku tebal yang diterjemahkan ke beberapa bahasa. (Lebih jauh tentang Henry Corbin dan Thabathabai bisa juga dibaca di sini.)
Henry Corbin pernah menjadi murid teolog Kristen, Karl Barth. Pengagum pemikiran filsafat Martin Heidegger itu juga pernah belajar pada sarjana Katolik terkemuka yang mendalami Qur’an, Louis Massignon (wafat 1962). Menguasai bahasa Arab, Persia, Turki, dan Sanskerta, Corbin bekerja untuk membantu Massignon menelusuri teks-teks Yunani dalam banyak kitab klasik Muslim masa lalu, antara lain pada karya-karya Ibnu Sina. (Baca juga tentang Corbin di sini.)
Henry corbin (kanan) dengan Carl Gustav Jung: keduanya dianggap pemikir dalam perkara “active imagination” (baca di Wikipedia ini).
Seorang perawat wanita yang merawatnya berkata kepada Sayid Thabathabai, “Tuan yang mulia, saya berharap Anda sudi mendoakan saya dalam solat Anda, khususnya solat malam Anda.”
Thabathabai balik bertanya, “Apakah Anda pernah ‘begadang’ satu malam karena merawat orang sakit yang menderita?”
Perawat itu menjawab, “Ya hal itu sering, dan berkali-kali (saya lakukan).”
Beliau pun menimpali, ” Apakah Anda mau menukar pahala semua solatku sepanjang hidupku dengan pahala begadangmu untuk merawat orang sakit pada malam-malam itu?”
Tautan video 6 menitan ini berisi puisi Henri Corbin yang diambil dari Rumi. Isinya sangat universal, merupakan pengejawantahan Cinta Tuhan kepada hamba-Nya.Simaklah: musik nan syahdu dan teduh mengiringi kata-kata indah penuh makna dalam slide foto-foto yang sebagian di antaranya mungkin diambil dari Indonesia.
Wow, pidato 3 menit sutradara kenamaan, Oliver Stone, ini amat menyentuh. Juga dalam. Renungkan saja, apa yang dikatakan ayah Sean Stone ini dalam video berikut. (Stone bicara dalam forum penghargaan bagi para penulis, Writers Guild Awards di AS, tahun 2017 lalu.)
Oliver Stone dan Penghargaan Writers Guild Award, 2017
Seteleh mengkritik sistem yang dianut banyak orang (dan pemerintahan) di dunia, khususnya bagaimana pemerintah AS ‘merekayasa’ berbagai perang di dunia, Stone menyarankan agar semua pihak ‘pulang’ ke dalam diri mereka. Dan diam. Seolah mengingatkan kita pada Rumi, simaklah ringkasan yang dikatakan Stone ini:
“Sangat penting untuk memperhatikan, apabila Anda yakin dengan apa yang Anda katakan, sebenarnya Anda bisa membuat perubahan.
Temukan jalan untuk sendiri saja, dengan diri sendiri, mendengarlah dalam ‘sepi’, berusaha mendapatkan bukan apa yang diharapkan orang ramai agar Anda berhasil, tetapi dapatkan makna sebenarnya dari dalam (diri) mengenai apa arti hidup Anda di dunia.
Jangan sampai hati Anda, tetaplah berjuang untuk perdamaian, harga diri (integritas) dan mengatakan kebenaran.”
Benarkah kesederhanaan seorang pemimpin penting artinya bagi sebuah bangsa? Tentu saja.
Mendiang Nelson Mandela: sederhana
Banyak bukti untuk itu. Yang paling kentara, pada masa kita adalah para pemimpin sekelas Nelson Mandela. Juga ada Hugo Chaves, Ahmadinejad, dan beberapa lainnya (lihat 10 Pemimpin Negara Paling Sederhana di Dunia, dalam tautan berikut). Mereka terbukti menjadi pemimpin yang bukan saja dikagumi rakyatnya, melainkan juga diperhitungkan di dunia.
Pemimpin AS seperti Benjamin Franklin dan George Washington juga dikenal sederhana dan rendah hati. Awalnya Washington dikenal kelewat ambisius dan suka membanggakan diri. Tapi belakangan secara bertahap ia memperbaikinya. Bagi Washington, greatness at any price is not real greatness — kecongkakan pada keagungan bukanlah kejayaan yang sejati.
Tulisan ini aslinya dipublikasikan di portal liputanislam.com ini.
Alih-alih dari menuruti ambisinya, termasuk meraih kekuasaan absolut saat di puncak karir, Washingtonjustru menyadari bahwa, semakin banyak ia melayani orang lain dan menjunjung keadilan, makin bermaknalah kesuksesan yang diraihnya. Kian berkurang ambisinya terhadap ketenaran, kian layak ia meraih kehormatan. Dan di situlah ia meraih nilai kemuliaan, persis sebagaimana ia memperjuangkan kemuliaan itu sendiri.
BILA Anda berkunjung ke Solo pada akhir Desember ini, Anda akan menyaksikan ramainya orang di sekitar jalan Gurawan, Pasar Kliwon. Berpusat di Masjid Riyadh, yang berada di selatan keraton Solo itu, ribuan orang datang dari berbagai kota, guna menghadiri peringatan wafatnya (khaul) Habib Ali bin Muhammad Al-Habsyi, ulama kenamaan asal Hadhramaut, Yaman, yang menulis kitab maulid Nabi SAW berjudul Simtud-Dhirar.
Artikel ini aslinya dimuat dalam Kompas.Com, 31 Desember 2018 (klik di sini).
Tak jauh dari situ, dahulu bermukim habib Muhammad bin Abdullah Alaydrus, yang namanya dikenal luas di Solo. Banyak tamu datang ke rumahnya setiap hari, pagi sampai malam. Mereka selalu dijamu makan minum; tamu dari luar kota sering menginap di kediamannya, seberang RS Kustati, di kota batik itu. Muhammad Alaydrus sengaja membangun semacam paviliun kecil di bagian depan rumahnya,lengkap dengan kamar mandi, yang khusus diperuntukkan bagi para tetamu yang menginap. Kediamannya berlokasi di Jalan Kapten Mulyadi, seberang agak ke selatan RS Kustati.
Haul Habib Ali bin Muhammad Al-Habsyi Ke-107 1440 | 29 Desember 2018. (Tangkapan layar Youtube/Majelis Ar-Raudhah)
Hujan deras menggerojok. Langit tumpah. Di luar rencana, akhirnya saya harus ikut di mobil Anies Baswedan agar bisa ngobrol dengannya. Sabtu malam akhir Februari lalu itu Jakarta kuyup. Basah. Dan tak kunjung reda. Tetapi perjalanan dengan Anies membuat saya lupa pada apa yang terjadi di luar mobil. Seperti biasa, bincang-bincang dengan pendiri gerakan ‘Indonesia Mengajar‘ itu Anies selalu mengasyikkan – pengetahuan dan wawasannya dalam berbagai hal sungguh memukau.
Anies saat mengunjungi wilayah yang banjir di Cipinang-Melayu, Jakarta Timur (Foto: Viva.co.id)
Anies Baswedan bersama Jokowi dan anak=anak sekolah.
Sejak perombakan kabinet 27 Juli lalu, masih ramai respons bermunculan dari sana-sini. Di antara yang paling ramai, yang paling banyak dikomentari adalah penggantian Anies Baswedan.
Dicopotnya Menteri Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan (Mendikbud) itu ditanggapi secara beragam. Yang paling menyentuh adalah protes para relawan dan peminat pendidikan, orang-orang muda yang bergelut membantu membenahi ruwetnya masalah pendidikan tanpa pamrih.
Tulisan ini aslinya dimuat pada Koran Sindo, Jum’at 5 Agustus 2016 (klik di sini).
Sembrani 