Kerabat yang budiman, a.w.:
Ini menarik untuk diketahui. Bung Usman dan bung Reza (kedua mahasiswa
Ina di Maine, USA) diminta menjadi speakers di salah satu elementary
school di kotanya. Kudos untuk kedua ikhwan ini.
wassalam,
/w/
=============================
Assalamu'alaikum Wr.Wb.
salam sejahtera,
Siang tadi, pukul 12:45 -01.45, saya dan tiga orang dari
Muslim Student Association [MSA], University of Maine diminta
berbicara tentang Islam di hadapan anak-anak kelas 7-8, dan
kelas 6.
Sejak peristiwa Sept 11, MSA kebanjiran permintaan untuk
mengisi satu jam mata pelajarang "Social Studies" di beberapa
sekolah. Tahun lalu, beberapa High School meminta Asian Student Association
bicara tentang South East Asia pada mata kuliah
yang sama. Tahun lalu, saya bicara tentang Indonesia di
beberapa HSs.
Tahun ini agak beda dengan tahun lalu. Guru pengarah
menekankan kepada kami --MSA-- agar dapat memberikan
gambaran tentang Islam, kaitannya dengan Kristen, dan
bagaimana Islam melihat kasus Sept 11.
Karena murid yang hadir itu masih sangat kanak-kanak [kelas
6 SD, hingga 2 SMP] maka kami harus memilih metode yg pas
agar mereka mudah memahaminya. Saya dan Reza [juga dari
Indonesia] kebagian anak-anak sixth Graders. Kammal
[Egytptian] dan Hussein [Lebanese] kebagian 7th+8th
graders.
Saya mulai dengan pertanyaan siapa yang mengenal "Adam
and Eve". Hampir semua anak tunjuk jari. Pertanyaan
selanjutnya, "siapa yang tahu di mana Adam and Eve berada?"
Salah seorang siswa menjawab "In the garden of Eden".
o Jesus
"What happened to them?" tanya saya mengejar.
"They ate the forbidden fruits," jawab salah seorang siswi.
"What next?"
"They were expelled from the Garden of Eden."
"Why?" tanya saya. Tidak ada yang menjawab. Saya
lanjutkan, "Because they disobeyed God." Anak-anak
mengangguk-angguk mengiyakan.
"Do you know where will we go after we die?" tanya saya
selanjutnya. Salah seorang siswi mengacungkan tangan,
"We're ganna go to the Heaven."
"Are you sure?" tanya saya selanjutnya. "What make you
think we will go to the Heaven?"
Anak-anak itu looked puzzled. Ketika saya minta tunjuk
jari untuk bicara, tak ada yang angkat tangan.
"Yeah, we are sure that we're going to go to the Heaven
-when die- because we are good people. Because we follow
the teaching of God."
Mendengar apa yang saya katakan, anak-anak itu pada menarik
nafas lega. "Now, what is the teaching of God?" tanya saya.
Anak-anak itu tengok kanan-tengok kiri.
Saya pun melemparkan umpan. "Siapa yang mengenal Jesus."
Hampir seluruh kelas [nearly 40 murids] mengacungkan jari.
"Siapa yang rajin ke gereja?" tanya saya. Hanya beberapa
yang mengacungkan tangan. Beberapa anak yang tak mengacungkan
tangan berbisik "I used to".
"Yang diajarkan Jesus itulah the teaching of God," kata saya.
"If you want to go the the Heaven, as a Christian, you should
study what Jesus teaches, understand them, dan follow them."
Beberapa anak menggut-manggut, beberapa anak hanya nyengir
kuda. Saya tak mengapa mereka meringis. Yang manggut-manggut
itu anak-anak yang tadi tunjuk jari, ketika saya tanya siapa
yang rajin ke gereja.
o Moses
Saya tanya siapa yang mengenal Moses, hanya beberapa orang yg
angkat tangan. Tapi ketika saya tanya "The Ten Commandment",
semua anak tunjuk jari. Saya naik, nanya siapa yang mengenal
Abe [Abraham]. Hampir semuanya tunjuk jari.
"Do you know that Abraham had two sons?" tanya saya. Anak
-anak itu tidak ada yang tahu. Gurunya yang menjawab. "Yes,
they were Isaac and Ishmael."
Di papan tulis, saya buat chart, Abraham: Isaac + Ishmael.
Dari Isaac saya turunkan: Moses + Jesus; dari Ishmael saya
turunkan Muhammad. Pada Moses saya beri tanda "David Star",
pada Jesus saya beri tanda "Cross", pada Muhammad saya
beri tanda "Bulan Sabit."
Dari situ saya mulai masuk informasi tentang Islam. Kepada
kelas, saya tunjukkan hubungan antara Islam-Kristen-Jahudi.
Saya tunjukkan kepada kelas, itulah serangkaian "the Teaching
of God". God memberikan Torah kepada Moses, Gospel kepada
Jesus, dan Qur'an kepada Muhammad. Teaching itu diturunkan
untuk menuntun manusia supaya bisa kembali ke Heaven.
"If you read Bible, any good teaching you find in it, you
will also find it in the Koran," kata saya. "The only major
differences between Christianity and Islam are that Christian
see Jesus as the Savior, we -muslim- see him just as a Prophet.
And we respect him. And that we -muslim- do not believe in
the sin for newly born baby. All babies are born innocent,
in Islam."
Saya tidak menjelaskan bahwa Islam tak mengenal konsep
Trinitas.Menurut saya, konsep itu terlalu komplek untuk
diangkat buat anak-anak kelas 6 SD.
Menurut saya, cukuplah buat mereka jika mereka tahu bahwa
Islam dan Kristen-Jahudi itu berasal dari the same root.
Dan, moral teaching yang didapati di Bible juga ada di
al Qur'an.
o Islam
"If the Islamic teachings are just like the Christian
teaching, then, why some muslim do bad thing, like the Sept
11 -supposed the people who did it were Mr. Laden and his
gangs?" tanya saya selanjutnya.
Memasuki daerah ini, anak-anak mulai rame. Mereka pada
tunjuk jari ingin mengajukan pertanyaan. Tapi guru pengarahnya
minta mereka bersabar, agas saya dapat selesaikan 'speech'
yg akan selesai sekitar lima menit lagi.
"The truth is I don't know why some people do bad things.
What I could tell you, though... Islam forbids the killing
of innocent people."
"So, what happened last Sept 11 was totally wrong. There is
no teaching in Islam to justify that action. And, I believe
those who did it should be brought to justice."
"I also ask you to remember this...please, make distinction
between the guy who did bad things from the teahing of their
religions. There are some bad guys out there, and they could
be Moslems or Christians. There also some good guys out
there which happen to be Moslems or Christians, like you
and I."
Itulah pengantar 'speech' yang saya sampaikan kurang
lebih dalam dua belas menit. Waktu selanjutnya, adalah
tanya jawab.
Pertanyaannya buanyaaaaaak sekali. Baik tentang Indonesia,
Islam, maupun September 11. Reza dan saya team up menjawab
pertanyaan murid-murid dan guru pengarah. Gurunya ada empat
orang. Saya tak bisa tulis semua pertanyaan itu, di bawah
ini hanya saya sampaikan beberapa yang relevan dengan topik-
nya "Islam and September 11."
Pertanyaan:
Q: "Why did they do the September 11?" tanya salah seorang
siswi.
A: "I don't really know. And, I don't want to make any
judgement on this. Let's wait what the FBI find out."
Q: "Do you know the guys who did it? You're moslem."
A: "Yes I am a moslem. But, I don't know them. What I know
about them is based on what the media told us."
Q: "Does Sept 11. have a special meaning in Islam?"
A: "Not that I know off. To tell you the truth, The Sept 11
is nothing to do with Islam."
Q: "Do you pray before going to bed? and how?"
A: "We pray when doing anything good, like eating, studying,
taking a bath, helping friends, and going to bed.
My prayer before going to bed is very simple, 'God,
please take care everything while I am dead during my
sleep. And, if you decide to take me tonight, please
bring me to the Heaven.'
Other than that, we have an obligatory prayer, which
is done five times a day."
Q: "Do the women in Islam have to wear veil?" tanya salah
seorang siswi sambil memperagakan, pakaian wanita
Arab yang hanya nampak matanya.
A: "Veil is a must in Islam. There is verse in the Koran about
that. But, you have to differentiate between culture and
the teaching of Islam. The veil in Islam is like when you
see a nun in the church. All body, except face and your
palms, is covered."
Q: "Are all Arab are moslems?" tanya seorang Guru.
A: "Not all Arab are moslems. Some Arabs are Christians
like Khalil Gibran, some are Jewish, or else. Likewise,
not all moslems are Arab. Almost 905 of Indonesians
are moslems, and there are about 210 M of Indonesians."
Q: "Do you people of Indonesia also have holiday for Chiristmas
and Easter?"
A: "We do have those. We also have a holliday for other religious
holidays, like for the Hindus, Budhists, and of course for
the Islamic holidays."
Q: "How did you react when you saw the Sept 11.?" tanya bu
guru.
A: "I was angry, sad, and terrified. My first thought was
the world is no longer safe. If they could do it here,
in the USA, they could do it anywhere else. I was
angry at the guy who did the brutal action. I was
sad for knowing there would be lots of life loss.
Children lost their dads or moms, husband lost
their wives, wives lost their love ones. We should
take an action to prevent thing like this from heppening
in the future."
Q: "How does Islam see women. Are women alloed to
work or to go to school?" tanya bu guru lain merefer
to situasi di Afghanistan.
A: "In Islam, women do not have to work. It's the responsibility
of the husband to support the family. If the women happen
to have a job, the money belong to her. The husband can
not touch that money. It's up to the women to spend the
money. However, if she decide to spend the money for
the family, she will get the reward from God.
I would like to make a point here. In the eye of religion,
it's okay for the women do not work. But, if the husband
do not go to work, it's considered a sinner. He do not
fulfill his responsibility. So, women are not forbidden
to work.
Islam does not forbid women to get education. There
in no teaching in the book...Koran.. or the tradition of
the Prophet forbiding women from getting education.
They don't have to work, yes, but to raise children,
we need smart moms too." [audience tertawa..]
I don't know what is the reason for women in
Afghanistan were not allowed to work or go to
school. I have read some information about that
too in www.RAWA.org [saya menulis di papan].
I have also read the speech one of Thaliban
leader in California last March.
He said, in the beginning of Thaliban administration,
women are indeed not allowed to work and go to
school. The reason was the situation was too
dangerous for women to go out, because every
man had a gun, and tribal rivalry was still high.
But, after Thaliban disarmed the people, now,
women go to work, and girl are going to school.
And Thaliban just open medical school in every
province, most of the students are girl.
[saya juga menambahkan, siswa laki-laki dan
perempuan dipisahkan, demikian juga dengan
pekerja laki-laki dan perempuan; It's just like
in Iran].
Q: "Do all women in Indonesia wear veil?" tanya seorang siswi.
A: "Not all of them."
Q: "Why?"
A: "I don't know. It's just like in Christianity, not all
Christians follow the teaching of Jesus."
Q: "You said that it's about 6 M of moslems are Americans."
A: "Yes about that number. And four thousands of them are
serving in the military. They become moslem right after they
get contact with Islam either during or after the Gulf War,
and when they were sent to Somalia."
[itulah sebagian pertanyaan yang saya ingat baik di dalam
kelas maupun di luar kelas setelah speech; kepada para Guru
saya tinggalkan fotocopy tulisan:
-Karen Armstrong "The True, Peaceful Face of Islam" [Time]
-Ira Rifkin "One Nation, Under Islam" [Time]
-Charless Kimball "Q&A: Islamic Fundamentalism"
[Christian Science Monitor]
Wassalam,
=Usman Maine=
"Lord opens
our eyes to see what is beautiful, or
our minds to know what is true, or
our hearts to love what is good"
--------------------------------------------
Usman Kris Joko Suharjo
Dept. of Applied Ecology and Environmental Sciences
University of Maine
Deering Hall, Orono, ME 04469
USA
phn: 207-866-5935
fax: 207-581-2999 [off]
207-866-5935 [home]
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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We still need many more leaders who can be more helpful, justifiable, wise,
honest and considerable not only to their people but also to the world.
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