COMPANION TO CONTEMPORARY ISLAMIC THOUGHT (8) The Blackwell Companion to Contemporary Islamic Thought reflects the variety of trends, voices, and opinions in the contemporary Muslim intellectual scene. THE FUTURISTIC THOUGHT OF ABUYA SYEIKH IMAM ASHAARI MUHAMMAD AT TAMIMI OF MALAYSIA The Messianism of Abuya Syeikh Imam Ashaari Muhammad At Tamimi Muhammad - 6Conclusion Abuya Syeikh Imam Ashaari Muhammad At Tamimis thought represents a unique blend of Sufi traditionalism and progressive reformism characteristic of modernist Islamic thought. While devoted to the practice of Aurad Muhammadiah, Abuya Syeikh Imam Ashaari Muhammad At Tamimis Sufism was not a separate discipline to be pursued for innate spiritual values and mystical experiences. Instead, Sufism is the vehicle to transform individual selves towards perfection as members of the Ummah actively implementing Islam as a comprehensive way of life. Abuya Syeikh Imam Ashaari Muhammad At Tamimis messianism rejects a complacent attitude towards the future, as had been feared by the modernists, but rather encourages economic activism as a preparation for the better times ahead promised by the advent of a mujaddid. Abuya Syeikh Imam Ashaari Muhammad At Tamimis educational background and doctrinal standpoints are avowedly traditionalist, yet, his views and actions in implementing them hardly subscribes to the traditionalist closing of the door of ijtihad doctrine. If we take two Indonesian organizations, Muhammadiyyah and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), as extreme and opposing poles in a spectrum of Southeast Asian Islamic thought, Abuya Syeikh Imam Ashaari Muhammad At Tamimi lies somewhere in the middle. He is neither a modernist in the manner of Muhammadiyyah, nor a traditionalist in the style of NU. But veering closer towards traditionalism, he is best described as a neo-traditionalist, just as Abdurrahman Wahid of NU has been called a neo-modernist.31 The cordial, if brief, meeting between Abdurrahman and Abuya Syeikh Imam Ashaari Muhammad At Tamimi in 1999, referred to above, adds substance to the existence of a confluence of ideas in contemporary Southeast Asian Islamic thought. The coming together of traditionalism and modernism may never have been closer than in the most recent times. Among Malaysian Islamic thinkers, Abuya Syeikh Imam Ashaari Muhammad At Tamimi distinguishes himself as being the most futuristic, in a peculiarly most Malaysian-oriented manner. Admittedly, futuristic thought has been part of the cultures of nations which strive to be progressive. It is in the spirit of Islam to be forward-looking, as shown by the Quran: The Romans have been defeated, in a land close by, but they, (even) after (this) defeat of theirs, will soon be victorious . (Ar Rum 30: 23). This spirit is a far cry from the romanticism that has developed in Muslim reflections on the history of the Ummah, contributing to its protracted decline. While this fact is accepted by Islamic scholars, hardly any have come forward with a critically futuristic perspective of the course of the Ummah. Abuya Syeikh Imam Ashaari Muhammad At Tamimi arguably offers such a perspective. Notwithstanding the political controversy it has aroused, Abuya Syeikh Imam Ashaari Muhammad At Tamimis futuristic thought should have been valued as an immense intellectual contribution to Islamic thought in general, and to Islamic eschatology in particular. Based on the huge body of eschatological hadiths, Abuya Syeikh Imam Ashaari Muhammad At Tamimi offers fresh interpretations, which, in legal matters, would have amounted to the practice of ijtihad. Very different from philosophers whose scholarly theories are left to successive generations to interpret and realize them, Abuya Syeikh Imam Ashaari Muhammad At Tamimi himself mobilizes people towards the accomplishment of his messianic theories. In doing this, he is able to make sure that the principles of his thought are adhered to without misrepresentation. His followers have been taught to strive for the qualities as mentioned in the hadith: There will always be a taifah (community) from amongst my Ummah, that will practice the way of truth, they will not be destroyed by their detractors, until the Day of Judgment. They are utterly convinced that theirs is the path of God. Combined together, futuristic thought and action by convinced devotees become potentially subversive, and find ready enemies within the existing political establishment. Ironically, since Abuya Syeikh Imam Ashaari Muhammad At Tamimis prolonged detention, scholars have come forward with ideas similar to Abuya Syeikh Imam Ashaari Muhammad At Tamimis theory of Malay leadership of the Ummah. For example, Hilmy Bakar Almascaty, an Indonesian formerly at Malaysias International Islamic University (IIUM), came up in 1994 with the book The Malay Ummah: The New World Power of the Twenty-First Century (Malay), which asserted the potential of Malay-Muslims and outlined the planning required of them to lead the Islamic resurgence in the coming millennium. Professor Hashim Musa of the University of Malaya, in a Berita Harian (April 24, 2001) article, Malays Should Bear the Duty of Preserving Islamic Civilization (Malay), argued: Malay-Muslims, almost half a billion in number, form the largest Muslim group in the East. In the history of Islamic civilization, the center constantly changes, from Arabia to Turkey, North Africa, Spain and Central Asia. Now signs show that the center has begun to shift to the East. Are we, the Malay-Muslims, as the biggest Muslim group in the East, prepared to bear the responsibility and trust in maintaining and contributing towards the rebuilding of an Islamic civilization of global standard in this third millennium? Similar remarks concluded his paper, The Empowerment of Malay Civilization as the Basis for Constructing a Malaysian Civilization (Malay), presented at the Second International Malay Studies Conference in Beijing, China, in October 2002. Within the Ummah, the feasibility of Abuya Syeikh Imam Ashaari Muhammad At Tamimis theory can be deducted from the following recognition of Southeast Asian Muslims by Muhammad Nejatullah Siddiqi, an eminent Saudi Arabian-based economist: The Muslims of South East Asia of Malaysia, Indonesia, and possibly the Muslim minorities in resurgent China are better equipped to lead the process of regeneration than the rest of the Muslim world. They are uncommitted to any powers. They are unconstrained by promises to keep and debts to repay. Their approach to Islam is simple and elementary something which besides its disadvantages also keeps them away from the strangulating hold of a scholarship unfit to lead in the modern world. They can learn. Many others can hardly so. And most important of all, they are already on the road to economic prosperity, security and strength something which may elude other Muslim countries for a long time to come. _________________________________________________________________ Get your free suite of Windows Live services today! http://www.get.live.com/wl/all
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