KHUTAB XI: 21. FADLAN GRAMATAN (3)

21. FADLAN GRAMATAN (3)

Br. Fadlan said: “If you read the whole Bible carefully, you will find information there that a prophet would come who would be taught a book and would be asked to read, but he would say ‘I cannot read.’[1] He then asked him to open Proverbs 15:29, and it said: “The Lord is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous.” So, the Lord hears the prayer, whereas Jesus prayed when he was on the cross, saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”[2] This indicates that as he prayed he was not God, as God accepts prayers, and He does not pray.

          The dialogue lasted till 2.00 a.m. and the clergyman suggested ending the dialogue, as he had to go the Church the morning of the next day. They went to bed. Apparently, the clergyman did not sleep, but was trying to hypnotise Br. Fadlan, praying while moving his hands towards him. Br. Fadlan did not keep silent under his bed cover; he cited āyat al-kursī and then blew towards him. Br. Fadlan woke up for fajr (dawn) prayer, whereas the clergyman overslept.

          After performing the fajr prayer Br. Fadlan woke him up. He woke up, took a bath, got dressed, but with normal clothes, not ministry gown with long sleeves, and went to the church. In the church he said: “Brothers, servants of God, this is the last time you will see me standing in this place,” then he ran away.

           Br. Fadlan contacted his friends, took every precaution to protect him and his family, and then they fled from Biak to Jayapura, and then they flied to Jakarta. From there they went to the Islamic Village at Tangerang where they pronounced the shahādah[3] before Br. Yunan Nasution.  Then he was sent to Egypt to study for six years. When he returned he and his wife performed the ḥajj (pilgrimage to Makkah). Upon his return Br. Fadlan took him to Makassar for sight-seeing. From there they board on ship to Biak.

          When they arrive at Biak, the former clergyman Alexander, endowed 2 hectares of his land where a mosque to be built. After the completion of the mosque, he said that along the road, a gate should be made to stop all vehicles from passing when the adhān was being called until it was over.

Br. Alexander passed away while prostrating in the fajr prayer. It was the time he was closer to Allah. The Prophet said:

أَقْرَبُ مَا يَكُونُ الْعَبْدُ مِنْ رَبِّهِ وَهُوَ سَاجِدٌ فَأَكْثِرُوا

الدُّعَاءَ (رواه مسلم و أبو داؤد و النسائي(

The servant is closest to his Lord when he is

prostrating (in prayer). So, make more supplications in

it. (Reported by Muslim, Abū Dā’ūd and al-Nasā’ī)

After the prayer, he was buried through funeral procedure. Three of his children were being sent to Sudan and Baḥrayn to learn about Islam there. After their return they would assist Br. Fadlan propagating Islam in West Papua.

In propagating Islam in West Papua Br. Fadlan faced many problems and dangers, among which is as follows: In 1994 between Mapenduma and Timika he came with eight dā‘īs (Islamic propagators) to a village for propagation.  Suddenly an arrow hit his hand, without knowing why he was shot with an arrow. He removed the arrow, burned a knife and applied it to the wound to neutralize the poison from the arrow. Then he went to the doctor in Timika, four days away on foot. The man who shot him with his arrow eventually became Muslim.

 Besides local dā‘īs, some of them come from Garut, Tasikmalaya (West Java), Lamongan, Gresik (East Java), Makassar, and other places.  About 220 tribes there have converted to Islam. The language of communication was Indonesian, although it would be better to communicate with local languages, but there are 234 languages in West Papua. Br. Fadlan himself miraculously can communicate in 49 languages, including the languages of Kokoda, Kaimana, Waimena, Asmat, Babo, and Irarutu. This apparently hard to believe, but unlike Western languages which have complicated grammar, these languages like Indonesian and other tribal languages they have simple grammar, so that they can be learned easily.

An Islamic propagator from East Java would like to join Br. Fadlan in his da‘wah (call to Islam) in Wes Papua.  After walking 12 days they reached their destination. But after three months, nobody converted to Islam. Br. Fadlan told him, that it might be because he did not have right intention when he started the journey. He admitted and tried to improve his intention. Br. Fadlan suggested him to marry a local girl. He said that first he would make ṣalāt istikhārah.[4] After one week of praying istikhārah, he said that he got guidance through a white light. Br. Fadlan said that it was an indication that he had to marry a local girl. He found a girl, took her to Java, where she learned about Islam, got married there and returned to West Papua.

Br. Fadlan established a social-propagation institution called Al Fatih Kaafah Nusantara (AFKN) at Bekasi, Jakarta. Among its program in the field of propagation are:

- Constructing Muslim settlements where Islamic shari’ah would be implemented at Kaimanja, South Sorong, Teluk Bintuni and Teluk Wondama. Suitable houses, bridges, mosques, electricity, clean water, and toilets will be provided, as well as free health services, and means for economic activity.

-    Building mosques in the hinterlands of Nu waar (West Papua). Until now, more than 300 mosques have been built from donations of Muslims through AFKN.

 Among AFKN’s programs in the field of education are:

–  Sending children of poor people and converts to educational institutions outside West Papua, so that they would get rid of their old bad habits.  

–  Giving routine guidance to children sent to school by AFKN. There are now 2200 of them, from elementary schools to universities.

-  Giving scholarship from donations by Muslims though AFKN.

-  Giving opportunity to study abroad, such as in the Middle-East and Asia. There are now 24 students from West Papua who are studying in Makkah and Madinah.

In the field of Social Welfare the AFKN’s programs are:

-   Sending every three months: usable clothes, the Qur’ān, Iqra’ booklets (for learning to read the Qur’ān), books on Islam, bulletins, bath soaps, Islamic propagation, toothpastes, toothbrushes, shampoos, sewing machines, domes for mosques, water pumping machines, pipes, etc. They are all sent to Muslim communities in West Papua who live in hinterlands through the representatives of the AFKN in these areas.

-  Providing facility in building houses, having clean water and electricity for Muslim settlements left behind.

-  Working side by side with Waqf al-Qur’ān body in building a micro-hydroelectric generator for settlements which have no electricity. 

          Among the donations received by AFKN are: A ship from Jakarta, a ship bought from donations in Tangerang, a ship from Malaysia, a ship from the Netherlands, a plane from Qatar, and in 2009 there were 6 million jilbabs (long, flowing outer garments) to be distributed among people in the hinterlands.

          Among the achievements of Br. Fadlan and his AFKN are:

- Teaching ṭibb nabawi (Medicine of the Prophet) in the hinterlands, so that malaria infection became decreased.

-   Building boats in Tangerang and sending them to West Papua for fishing.

-  A leader of the separatist movement PM (Papua Merdeka) after listening to the da‘wah became Muslim.

- After 19 years of preaching many people of West Papua converted to Islam, 45 % of its local population, and 65 % if new comers are included.

-   There are over nine hundred mosques in West Papua.

-  Br. Fadlan sent soaps, sarongs, mukena (white cloak covering a woman’s head and worn at prayer), copies of the Qur’ān, prayer rugs, and clothes to West Papua. There are about 29 tons of clothes sent to West Papua in a year.

-   Sending over 1,400 children from West Papua to schools free of charge. They were sent to pesantrens (Islamic religious institutions) in Java, Sumatra, and Sulawesi. They continued their studies in universities in the country as well as abroad, and 29 of them have obtained master’s degree.

-    The Department of Religious Affairs has appointed personals to give information about Islam in West Papua.

-    In February 2012, a tribal chief of Asmat village and his wife embraced Islam; 1800 heads of family in his village also become Muslims. Br. Fadlan went there with his team to conduct mass circumcision for about 8 000 people.

-    In 2010 Br. Fadlan walked from Weimena to a hinterland   to bring clothes which takes ten days to reach it.

        It is Br. Fadlan Gramatan’s wishes that by 2020 the vast majority of the inhabitants of West Papua become Muslims, so that the area would be nicknamed “serambi Madinah” (“the veranda of Madinah”) competing Acheh in North Sumatra nicknamed by the Indonesians “serambi Makkah” (“the Veranda of Makkah”).

                                                          (CIVIC, 3 February, 2017)

Sources:

Dakwah di Bumi Papua, a video lecture published on July 4, 2013

 5/inspiration-day-berdakwah-lewat-sabun-mandi

https://dakwahafkn.wordpress.com/tentang-kami/program-kerja-afkn/ 

http://www.santripos.com/2014/03/ust-fadlan-garamatan-berdakwah-ke.html

https://jejakrina.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/berdakwah-di-papua-luaarr-biasa-nikmatnya/         

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[1] He was referring to Isaiah 29:12 which reads, “Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, ‘Read this, please,’ he will answer, ‘I don’t know how to read.’” (Holy Bible, New International Version). This was what Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. said   (مَا أنَا بِقَارِئ , مَا أَقْرَأ) when he was told by the archangel Gabriel to read when he was in the cave of Ḥirā’.  Then it was revealed to him, اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ . خَلَقَ الْإِنْسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ. اقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الْأَكْرَمُ. الَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ . عَلَّمَ الْإِنْسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ (العلق:1-5)   “Read! In the Name of your Lord Who has created (all that exists). He has created man from a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood). Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous. Who has taught (the writin) by the pen. He has taught man that which he knew not.” (Q. 96:1-5)

[2] Jesus said this after his being 9 hours on the cross. See Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34.

[3] The testimony that “there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah” pronounced by the person who converts to Islam.

[4] It is a kind of prayer where we ask Allah to guide us on something we are not sure in our choice. The Prophet said: , “If anyone of you thinks of doing any job he should offer a two raka‘āts prayer other than the compulsory ones and say (after the prayer): اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْتَخِيرُكَ بِعِلْمِكَ وَأَسْتَقْدِرُكَ بِقُدْرَتِكَ وَأَسْأَلُكَ مِنْ فَضْلِكَ الْعَظِيمِ فَإِنَّكَ تَقْدِرُ وَلَا أَقْدِرُ وَتَعْلَمُ وَلَا أَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتَ عَلَّامُ الْغُيُوبِ اللَّهُمَّ إِنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أَنَّ هَذَا الْأَمْرَ خَيْرٌ لِي فِي دِينِي وَمَعَاشِي وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمْرِي فَاقْدُرْهُ لِي وَيَسِّرْهُ لِي ثُمَّ بَارِكْ لِي فِيهِ وَإِنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أَنَّ هَذَا الْأَمْرَ شَرٌّ فِي دِينِي وَمَعَاشِي وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمْرِي فَاصْرِفْهُ عَنِّي وَاصْرِفْنِي عَنْهُ وَاقْدُرْ لِيَ الْخَيْرَ حَيْثُ كَانَ ثُمَّ ارْضِنِي بِهِ ‘O Allah! I ask guidance from Your knowledge, And Power from Your Might and I ask for Your great blessings. You are capable and I am not. You know and I do not and You know the unseen. O Allah! If You know that this job [i.e., the marriage] is good for my religion and my subsistence and in my Hereafter–(or said: If it is better for my present and later needs)–Then You ordain it for me and make it easy for me to get, And then bless me in it, and if You know that this job [i.e., the marriage] is harmful to me In my religion and subsistence and in the Hereafter–(or said: If it is worse for my present and later needs)–Then keep it away from me and let me be away from it. And ordain for me whatever is good for me, and make me satisfied with it. The Prophet added that then the person should name (mention) his need.