Ucapkanlah "La Adri" (aku tidak tahu)

Dalam karya agung Hujatul Islam al-Imam Ghazali ada menyebut dalam bab pertama kitab Ihya Ulumuddin mengenai perilaku dan kenyataan ulama.

Menurut beliau ulama terbahagi kepada dua golongan yakni ulama dunya atau ulama suuk dan ulama akhirah. Ulama dunya adalah ulama yang menggunakan agama demi sedikit kepentingan keduniaan seperti habuan wang ringgit, anugerah dan pangkat.

Kebiasaan ulama jenis ini akan mendampingi para penguasa bagi memastikan matlamat mereka tercapai, malah kadang-kala mereka sanggup mengeluarkan fatwa demi membenarkan tindakan penguasa meskipun ianya adalah jelas salah di sisi syarak.

Manakala antara ciri utama para ulama akhirat adalah tidak tergesa-gesa dalam mengeluarkan fatwa. Mereka akan sentiasa berdiri teguh dan sentiasa mencari jalan melepaskan diri daripada memberikan fatwa.

Kata Imam Ghazali, "Jikalau mereka ditanya mengenai hukum yang benar-benar jelas ada dalam al-Quran dan Sunah, ijmak dan qias maka berfatwalah mereka.

Dan apabila ditanya kepada mereka sesuatu yang diragukan, maka mereka akan menjawab, 'La adri (aku tidak tahu)', jika mereka ditanya mengenai sesuatu yang hampir diyakininya, berdasarkan ijtihad dan tekaan mereka, maka mereka akan berhati-hati, mempertahankan diri dan menyerahkan penjawapan kepada orang lain, jika ada kemampuan tersebut pada orang lain." (Ihya Ulumuddin, jidil 1) Kerana ulama akhirat adalah berhati-hati sifatnya, dalam perbuatan mahupun kelakuan.

Pada mereka al-hazmu yakni berhati-hati besar manfaatnya, kerana mereka tahu andai ijtihad itu dilakukan tanpa suatu kajian dan ilmu khusus ia menjadi fatwa ikut-ikutan dan pastinya besar implikasinya kepada diri mereka khususnya masyarakat yang mengambil fatwa mereka sebagai pegangan.

Rasulullah SAW pernah berpesan: "Ilmu itu ada tiga bahagian: Kitab yang berbicara, Sunah yang berdiri tegak dan la adri (aku tidak tahu)". (Hadis direkodkan oleh Abu Daud dan Ibnu Majah daripada Abdullah bin Umar, hadis marfu').

Jelas di sini bahawa kemuliaan seorang ulama itu bukan sahaja kepada ketinggian ilmu mereka namun sikap berhati-hati dan tawaduk mereka. Akhlak sebegini mungkin akan mendatangkan telahan yang pelbagai dalam kalangan masyarakat namun mereka sedar bahawa walaupun mereka berilmu pastinya diri mereka juga punya kelemahan.

Para ulama salafus soleh antara ulama yang mempunyai kualiti ilmu, iman dan takwa yang tinggi di sisi Allah taala. Namun mereka jua dalam keadaan tertentu lebih selesa berkata la adri bagi sesuatu hukum dan perkara yang mereka tidak tekuni.

Japanese People

''Japanese people never want to make friend with people from other countries. They always gather around other Japanese, even when they areaway from home''. This statement made me think, was it true? I have always thought that the Japanese are the politest and friendliest people in the world. However, after some careful consideration, I recognized the truth in the observation. The Japanese do tend to stick to themselves and therefore, they do not easily make friends with the people of the cultures.

What are the factors that cause this behaviour in the Japanese? One of them is the fact that most Japanese student are extremely self-conscious about the English they speak. They feel they are not sufficiently competent. Despite the fact they are studied the language in school, they lack conversation and listening skills, although their knowledge of vocabulary and grammar is good. Thus, when they go to the United States, for examples, they lost and disappointed. The fact that they had studies the language in Japan for more than six years and got good grades does not help. They discover that it is because of their pronunciation that Americans often do not understand what they say. They therefore find it hard to express their ideas. This causes them to lose much of their confidence especially since they come from a culture that emphasizes perfection. As a result, they tend to avoid those situations that would require them to speak to non-Japanese people.

Another factor is the role of the student in the Japanese educational system. Japanese student are taught not to talk during class and rarely is there a class that allows students to discuss and express their opinions. It is expected that they will remain silent in class and listen carefully to what is taught. This is what the teachers prefer for they feel that a student’s silence indicates respect. This explains why it is difficult for a Japanese person to speak up in class.

Yet another factor to explain the Japanese tendency to keep to themselves is that the Japanese are a reserved people. They are not good at talking to other especially to complete strangers. For example, passengers on a bus in Japan would very rarely strike up a conversation with the driver of the bus. It is just not done in Japan.

One final explanation for the Japanese tendency to keep to themselves is that they are used to a homogeneous society. In Japan, for example, almost everyone is the same- the same race, the same language, the same culture and even the same religion. This does not mean to say there are not foreigners in Japan. Koreans and Chinese live there but they are always regarded as foreigners and treated as outsiders. No effort is made to mix or make friends with them. Japanese tend to feel uncomfortable in the presence of foreigners. In fact, some Japanese feel that Japanese culture is superior to foreigners. This explains why they are not comfortable mixing with people of other cultures and customs.