SESSION 1: IMPORTANCE OF HISTORY

Praise be to Allah, who are not bound by time, and

who create a time-line for His Creation since the beginning of time until the end of time (Yawm alQiyamah) and inspires different people, group and nation to create histories throughout that time-line

 Salawat and Salam to Prophet Muhammad who had

created the most outstanding history of all in the history of humankind

 Salawat and Salam to his Sahabahs/Companions who

had set the foundation for the historically longestsurviving civilization human had ever known

 Salawat and Salam to those who maintained and expanded

the golden history of Islam until the fall of the Ottoman Empire fell in 3rd March 1924

 Salawat and Salam

to those who strive to re-create the 2nd Islamic Civilization after the fall of the Islamic caliphate We hope that we are qualified to receive this Salawat and Salam too The question is

HOW DID THEY DO IT?

and... HOW CAN WE DO IT?

But before that, answer these questions first

Are we satisfied with Muslims conditions right now?
What are Muslims condition right now in relation to

others
Politically? Economically? Socially? Educationally?

Spiritually?

Lets watch a 20-minute video

HOW DID THEY DO IT?

and... HOW CAN WE DO IT?

QURAN
We have to change the way we interact with the Quran

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF INTERACTING WITH THE QURAN

 Sir William Ewart Gladstone, four time Prime Minister

of Great Britain, is famous for telling the English Parliament, "As long as this Quran exists, Europe will never be able to conquer the Islamic East. Question: Is he paranoid? Or he is very serious? How can a book has such a huge power and miracle?

 Today, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is

broadcasting the readings of our Holy Qur'an! Are the British leaders no longer paranoid and realise that Quran is just a commen book? Or is it because they have just realised that they do not have to "physically" remove the Qur'an from the hands of the Muslims but instead "psychologically" remove the Qur'an from the mind and heart of the Muslims?

WE HAVE TO CHANGE OUR PSYCHOLOGY WHEN READING THE QURAN

COMPARE HOW QURAN PRIORITISE ISSUES

WITH HOW WE MUSLIMS PRIORITISE ISSUES

QURAN?
Touches the issue

of taharah/ purity e.g. water, najasah/impurities, wudu'/ablution, tayammum, ghusl/bath, only in ONE or two verses only(i.e. al-Qur'an, 5: 6)

 Obsessed on unnecessary

details & debates about taharah i.e. sah/ validity vs. batal/ nullification, wajib /obligatory vs. mandub/ optional), makruh /undesirable vs. haram/ prohibited), najasah (impurity) vs. taharah/ purity, etc.

WE?

QURAN?
Talks about jihad in numerous

verses e.g. in chapters in the Qur'an named with jihad themes e.g. Al-Anfal, al-Tawbah, al-Ahzab, al-Qital, al-Fath, al-Saf, al-Hashr, al-Hadid, al-`Adiyat, and al-Nasr; and in lenghty chapters e.g. al-Baqarah, Ali `Imran, and al-Nisa'

 Haven't really struggled for

the sake of Islam in terms of da`wah and tarbiyah, what more to be involved in war to defend Islam. Focused more on petty ritual issues.

WE?

QURAN?
Tells us about the

miraculous birth of Isa AS, the quite miraculous birth of Yahya AS, plus the birth of Maryam AS. Surprisingly, it never touches on the birth of Prophet Muhammad SAW!

 celebrate Mawlid al-Rasul a

lot; and sometimes add miraculous stories that are not even supported by Quran/Hadith Sahih

WE?

QURAN?
Tells us stories about events

e.g. Badr (al-Anfal), Uhud (Ali `Imran), Khandaq & Bani Qurayzah (al-Ahzab), Bani Nadr (al-Hashr), the treaty of Hudaybiyyah (al-Fath), and Tabuk & Hunayn (al-Tawbah), to name a few.

 Celebriate ceremoniously

events such as Maulidur Rasul (not mentioned) and Isra/Mi`raj (mentioned in one verse each)

WE?

QURAN?
Tells stories about Bani

Israil e.g. al-Baqarah, Ali `Imran, al-Nisa', al-Ma'idah, and al-A`raf (to name just a few)

 Not really concerned with

Israeli vs. Palestinian (or Zionisme vs. Islam) conflict

WE?

How can Quran be a miracle to us if we ourselves do not know what are our priorities?

COMPARE HOW SAHABAH (RAA) INTERACTE D WITH THE QURAN

WITH HOW WE MUSLIMS INTERACT WITH THE QURAN

QURAN?

read the Qur'an to get GUIDE

for them to live the life as human being

 read the Qur'an ONLY to

get REWARDS and barakah/ blessing of reading it

WE?

QURAN?
treated the Qur'an as

DECORATION of their SOULS and HEARTS with `aqidah/ creed, `ibadah/ worship, and akhlaq/ moral that Allah wants or pleases.

 treat the Qur'an as

DECORATIONS on my VEHICLE, WALL, and DESK (including FB wall and computer desktop).

WE?

QURAN?
read the Qur'an to make them

CLOSER to ALLAH

 read the Qur'an to make us

DISTANT from the SHAYTAN/ devil

WE?

QURAN?
When they read the Qur'anic

verses on kufr, fasiq, zalim, nifaq, etc., they psychologically reflected (muhasabah) THEMSELVES whether they have the same characteristics.

 When we read the Qur'anic

verses on kufr, fasiq, zalim, nifaq, etc., we usually point our finger to non-Muslims or worse to other Muslims.

WE?

QURAN?
read 10 verses of the Qur'an,

and would not continue reading until they UNDERSTOOD and PRACTICED the message hidayah

 read the Qur'an to FINISH IT

QUICKLY before khitan/ circumcision, before aqad nikah/ marriage, and before the month of Syawal during Ramadan

WE?

QURAN?
read the Qur'an to improve

their own AQIDAH, IBADAH, AKHLAQ, and as a guide for DAWAH and JIHAD in the society

 read the Qur'an in front of a jar

of water and then drink it to get inspiration before sitting for EXAMS, to get profit from my BUSINESS, or to get people to LIKE/LOVE me

WE?

How can we be like the Sahabah RAA if we dont interact with Quran be the way they interact with it?

SO, WHAT SHALL WE DO?

 UKHUWAH TERAS KEGEMILANGAN

We start small

But, slowly, we will build an empire and become leader of the world rahmah lil alamin

ANY QUESTION?

SESSION 2:

THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING SEERAH OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD

There are many situations on the life of the Prophet

Muhammed (SAW) that would help in our mission to change ourselves, change the people, and change the world. Its just not a biography; Its the history of Islam.

 Muhammed bin Saad bin Abi Waqas (R), said, Our

father would teach the seerah of Rasoolullah (SAW) and he would tell us these are the traditions of your father, so study them. Ali bin Hussain bin Ali bin Abi Talib, said, We were taught the seerah like we were taught Quran The Sahabah would study like they would study Holy Quran.

Description
Psychologically (and perhaps more Islamically), I am more

interested on the event prior to the event of Isra and Mi`raj - it may lead me to a more important type of hidayah to me. Firstly, Prophet Muhammad is experiencing a painful and trying period. His protective uncle Abu Talib died. His loving wife Khadijah bint Khuwailid RA died. But he still perform his da`wah (ask ourselves if we would do the same thing). He tried to perform da`wah at Taif with his adopted son Zaid ibn Harithah RA, but they were mocked, belittled, and thrown with stones. Even the angels are very angry with the people of Taif.

Questions
Dont we feel psychologically angry with people who hate

Islam? Dont we feel psychologically angry with people who declare war to Islam? Dont we feel psychologically angry to people who prevent others from performing da`wah? Further, dont we feel sympathise to those who voluntarily perform da`wah (things that we do not want to perform)? Dont we want to donate to those who are performing da`wah (to Muslims and non-Muslims)? Dont we want to contribute to the efforts of spreading Islam, correcting the misunderstanding of Islam, and train people about Islam?

Prophet Muhammads Emotion

But, being a human being, Prophet Muhammad SAW, though

was convinced that Islam will win and be spreaded all over the world, still need to be entertained and diverted from the psychological difficulties that he is facing. Thats when Allah brought him to Bayt al-Maqdis in Palestine (Isra) and the 7 heavens until Sidrat al-Muntaha (Mi`raj) using super-transportation mode called Buraq that human being can only create nowadays but only virtually (in movies). In reality though, even the fastest rocket cannot compete with this Buraq, masya-Allah. But, the shameful thing is; It is the non-Muslims who are creative enough to create these rockets, these awesome movies, and these superfast communication using internet. Arent we the one who are supposed to be more inspired to create those things when we read the event of Isra Mi`raj?

 Sadly, Muslim are more creative in `ibadah by performing

rituals not asked by the Prophet SAW rather than be creative in worldly matters (e.g. science and technology). And whats makes it sadder is (if the report is true), on July 20 1969, when Neil Armstrong first set his foot on the moon, there were Islamic scholars who said that those who believe that man can set foot on the moon is kafir! We need entertainments and diversion that will make us feel happy, motivate us to be scientists and technologists, and at the same time increase our iman further Where can you get this?

Salat: The Re-charger for Mumins

One of the most important psychological lessons of Isra and Mi`raj is

the salat/prayer as our virtual mi`raj to Allah. Have we conducted survey on Muslims (adults and teenagers) whether they perform their salat regularly and properly? Are they performing the prayers not because they have to, but because they want to? To talk about the psychology in salat may need another posting altogether. But sometimes, we are more obsessed on the mechanistic aspect of salat (e.g. the finger movement in tahiyat, the specific way to perform sujud, where to put our hand during salat, etc.) and force people to accept our fatwa just because we believe that it is based on hadith sahih and label other practices as bid`ah or religious innovation - without realising that different madhhabs have their own dalils or religious evidences to support their practices. This is different from creating and `ibadah during Isra Mi`raj out of nowhere or using hadith da`if and mawdu`.

 But, we may have forgotten one more significant place and masjid i.e.

Masjid al-Aqsa at Bayt al-Maqdis, Palestine. There must be a lesson for Muslims why Allah chose Masjid al-Aqsa (instead of Masjid al-Haram and Masjid al-Nabawi) as the jumping point for Mi`raj. One obvious lesson that I can think of is that we have to free Palestine from tyrannical power (which currently happened to be the Zionists). If we do not do anything to bring back Masjid al-Aqsa to its rightful status, we have been defeated, not only physically but also psychologically.

 The Jews/Christians have always have a special connection

to Muslims. Have you ever wondered why Quran is full of stories about the Jews and the Christians? Many readers would just read about it at superficial level and had some negative psychological feelings towards the Jews and the Christians. But, how many of us read about it and felt psychologically positive about ourselves. If we do, why arent we the leader of this world? Leaders that will bring world peace? Instead, Muslims are not the leader of the world. And Muslims are perceived as world terrorists!

 We have to start by psychologically change our attitude towards

our own religion and therefore confident and motivated to make it relevant and spread it to other people. We should also start by psychologically change our attitude toward science and social science and therefore confident and motivated to Islamise them and apply them to help people. Allah has promised that the Muslims will one day win over the Jews in the (near or distant) future. But are we going to be part of the winning team, by contributing something now? Or are we just going to watch as spectator? Or we are going to be those who will delay the victory?

 I believe that the War of Badr is psychologically important because

the day is labelled by the Quran as the Day of Furqan (the Criterion between Truth and Falsehood) (Al-Anfal: 41). This is the day where Truth is clearly differentiated with Falsehood: Islamic ideology vs. polytheistic/shirk ideology, Islamic rituals vs. bid`ah (innovation in rituals), Islamic akhlaq vs. culturally-based morality, Islamic servanthood vs. slavery to human, and Islamic way of life vs. lust-based way of life. It is the ahl al-Badr (the Muslim armies of Badar) that have helped us in differentiating all these. No wonder they received immense rewards (and pardons) from Allah. If I were to live during those era, am I confident enough to join them to war? Or worse, would I join the polytheist Quraysh instead (Allah forbid!) to attack the Muslims?

 Can you imagine Muslims before the War of Badar had been

oppressed in Makkah? They were boycotted, tortured, and some of them were even killed! (compared this to us now) During that period, the whole focus of da`wah and tarbiyah is just to build the true `aqidah, to stay patience, and to unite the ummah NOT to physically attack the Musyrikun Makkah (compared this to us now) Suddenly, with just a few months after the establishment of the new Islamic state at Madinah, 313 (or so) Muslim armies have to face 1,000 enemies, the very people that tortured and boycotted, them, killed their family members, and stolen their properties! And sometimes, these very enemies are their own family members and relatives! Would you join them in war? But, the Sahabahs/Companions RAA did!

 This is even when the Companions RAA secretly wished

that the Muslims would be the larger group (who doesnt?) compared to the Musyrikin (polytheists) Makah (al-Anfal: 5-8) (compare this to the number of Muslims now) In other words, their confidence of winning is not that strong. But why did they stick to this mission of da`wah and jihad? I believe this was due to the psychological tarbiyyah that Prophet Muhammad SAW had instilled before i.e. focusing on `aqidah, patience, and unity. That is a very strong foundation of a great army. Numbers are just secondary (though still quite important). Where can we get this now?

 Imagine us Muslims nowadays. We are still confused about `aqidah (about Allahs attributes,

about Prophets role, about the concept of hereafter, about Qada and Qadr, and about various man-made ideologies). We are also still not well-trained in terms of patience (reactive rather than pro-active, shouting rather than planning, saying without researching, and blaming without reflecting). We are definitely not united (with various madhhab fiqhiyyah, various political parties, and various Islamic organisations without proper co-ordination, or worse with ta`asub/fanaticism). Are we ready if we were to face the new modern-time Badar war (physical or psychological wars)?

 The War of Badr should also give us Muslim some psychological

confidence that we can be a strong nation if we follow the path of Prophet Muhammad SAW. Reading the sub-events in this war is not like watching a war movie. Definitely not like watching fantasy war movie where magics and miracles are abound. Although it is mentioned that the angels descended upon earth to help the Muslims armies, their roles are just to give some psychological boosts and confidence in a spiritual way (Al-Anfal 9-14). Just like the presence of syaitans near us gives some psychological doubts (waswas). But at the end, this war is all about Muslims physical, psychological, and spiritual efforts. No magic wand. Not even Moses/Musas AS magic stick or even Jesus/Isas extrasensory perception. Do we have that kind of psychological confidence nowadays? We need tarbiah that aims to boost our psychological confidence.

 The War of Badar was preceded by the revelation of surah

al-Rum: 1-7, that informed the Muslims that one day the Roman (Christians who believe in revealed religion) will defeat the Persian (Zoroasters who are polytheists). This had given some psychological boosts to the Sahabahs/Companions RAA that revealed religion will one day overcome polytheists. Do we Muslims today have faith that Islam will one day prevail over all religions and also all ideologies/isms? Are we going to be part of it? Or are we just going to watch it happens? We need tarbiyah programme that increase our faith in this.

 Of course, the Sahabahs/Companions RAA were not aware that this

verses are part of the pre-Badar tarbiyah/training because it was revealed in Makkah/Mecca, not Madinah/Medina. Do you know that the Sahabahs/Companions RAA were not even aware that Allah had given them - in the same verses - some psychological strength, that He will help whoever He wants to, and that His promise is true. Only after they won the War of Badr that they realised (and internalise) the meaning of these verses. Isnt that amazing? I wish I would have read all the Quranic verses, tried to understand their meaning, and then suddenly the meanings dawn to me when Im facing a specific events (happy, sad, etc.) in my life. That would be a powerful iman booster - just like the iman of the Sahabahs/Companions RAA. I should read the Quran more often then, and try as hard as I can to understand it, though the real meaning (to me) may not be revealed yet, until much, much later.

 You may need feel the importance this programme

right now. But one day, when you achieve successes, you may understand the content of speech better and appreciate it more. It is important that you read the Quran beyond tajweed. Studying the translation and classical tafseer will help. But it is the discussion that is more down to earth during halaqah/usrah that will make the Quran a personalised guide, motivator, and counsellor to your heart.

 Do you know that even Prophet Muhammad SAW, being a prophet

and still a normal human being, was also feeling very worried during the War of Badr (although Allah has always promised that Islam will prevail). Prophet Muhammad SAW kept on praying and praying for the success of Islam to the extent that he felt that if Muslims lose this battle, no single soul on earth will submit to Allah (thats why it is called the Day of the Furqan)! Compare this to us who also believe that Islam is a true religion but expect it to work itself magically to convert as many non-Muslims to Islam. By the way, it does work that way too. Al-Quran as a mu`jizah/miracle had already converted many non-Muslims (on their own efforts of reading its translation) to Islam without the help of Muslims. But the Sahabahs/Companions does not wait until miracle happens. We Muslims on the other hand, expect the Quran to work as a miracle by increasing the volume of the recitations of the Quran or Islamic talk at the masjids/mosques expecting the listeners - from the surrounding neighborhood or from several blocks of apartment - to miraculously receive hidayah/guidance to convert to Islam or become better Muslims.

 You know the results. The Muslims won the battle.

The Sahabahs/Companions are given the highest honours

Radiya Allahu `anhum (may Allah be please with them) not just because they performed a lot salat/prayers or performed a lot of dhikr (as in meditation/chanting), but because they performed a lot of da`wah and jihad as the manifestations of salat and dhikr (as in rememberance). Who knows? Maybe well even be one of the modern-day Ahl al-Badr who are able to show the difference between the Truth and Falsehood and receive the same high honour of the Sahabahs/Companions RAA. Amin.

 After winning the War of Badr, surely the Muslims

were psychologically excited to defend themselves again in the War of Uhud (Ali `Imran: 142), right? But they had to learn some important lessons: those elements of psychological traits such as hypocrisy, undisciplinary, and lack of faith are important factors in winning/losing a battle.

 Can you imagine having only 1000 Muslim armies facing

3000 Mushrikun Quraysh? That is a totally unfair battle for the Muslims, doomed to lose. But the Muslims had already learnt a lesson that numbers do not really matter. After all, they won the War of Badar a year before with only 313 (according to the most popular account) armies facing 1000 Mushrikun Quraish! But, to have 300 (out of 1000) armies withdrawn even before the battle started? In other words, to have 30% of the armies withdrawn from war? That would be psychologically demotivating. In fact, the other 70% might have been psychologically influenced too (wishing that they withdraw too) as Allah mentioned in the Quran, Ali `Imran: 122 & 154. Imagine if some of the participants said: we dont buy this historical ideas , we dont buy this dawah/tarbiah ideas. Would you be influenced by them?

 Do you know who were these culprits? They were the

munafiqin/hypocrites who do not have any intention to defend Islam in wars. And the War of Uhud had revealed their true selves led by a person named Abdullah ibn Ubayy, a supposedly leader of the Madinah (but failed to be one when the Medinan peoples chose Prophet Muhammad SAW as the leader after Hijrah). See how psychological diseases like jealousy and vengeance can make us a munafiq?

The Psychology of The Undisciplined Muslims

Even with very few armies i.e. 700 facing 3000, the iman of the

Muslims became their best defense and attack at the same time, chasing the Mushrikun Quraish away from the Hill of Uhud. Unfortunately, the 62 Muslims archers (except a few like Abdullah ibn Zubayr) who were supposed to guard the Hill of Uhud thought that the Muslims had won the battle and therefore ran down the hill to compile the war booty (ghanimah). After all, Allah is always with them and promise them victory right? Why not just leave the hill and celebrate the victory? Dont you think it is a small matter indeed? Well, hold your thought. Do you know what had happened?

 Two war geniuses among the Mushrikun Quraish (who,

interestingly, became Muslims later on) i.e. Khalid ibn Walid and `Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahal managed to regroup their armies, regain their strength, and re-attack the Muslims from behind. Everything became chaotic. Many Muslims were killed and injured. Even rumour had spreaded that Prophet Muhammad SAW was killed. Can you imagine the psychological effect it had on the Muslims upon hearing this news? After all, where is Allahs promise that Islam will eventually win? Psychologically, all hopes seem to be gone. [Do you feel the same way nowadays that youve gone hope that Islam will one day rule the world?] Thats when Allah mentioned that winning is not awarded, but gained, in the Quran, surah Ali `Imran: 140-144. A number of them ran away from the battlefield losing their faith and hope, forgetting Allahs reminder a year before during War of Badr on not running away from the battlefield (al-Quran, surah al-Anfal: 15-16). Compare this to us who do not even voluntary join tarbiyah programme and train ourselves to become better duat

 The scary thing is about the archers case is: those were

good Muslims, but had just psychologically decided that theres no more harm in leaving the hill. But at what cost? 70 Muslims were killed and 70 others were badly injured. I mean, we make psychological decision everyday, right? We always thought what we decided everyday will not affect other people, will not affect the society, will not affect the world, and will not affect the future generation and the future of Islam. Who knows what negative effect we may have caused to Muslims with decisions we made everyday! So think, Islamically, before we decide. Your ustaz/ah, naqib/ah, murabbi/ah can guide you on this. This message is for the good guys among you. For those of you who think you are not good enough, the message is much more important to you

The Psychology of the Core Defenders of the Prophet

Alhamdulillah, some of them were not psychologically

weakened by the unexpected attack and the rumours of the death of the Prophet (Ali `Imran: 146). These were the peoples who had psychologically brought back the faith, the motivation, and the discipline of the other Muslim armies. These are the people who usually save the Muslim organisations and Muslims societies. I hope you and I are among this type of Muslims too.

 At the most crucial point, Prophet Muhammad SAW was left with only

two Muhajirin: Talhah ibn `Ubaydillah and Sa`ad ibn Abi Waqqas. And then came 7 Ansarites to defend the Prophet. Can you imagine the scenario? Hundreds of arrows all fired toward the Prophet? Alhamdulillah, these defenders of the Prophet had created positive psychological effects: an awareness that Prophet is still alive, and an awareness of where is the exact location of the Prophet. More people who had been fighting endlessly nearby came to defend the Prophet. They were Abu Bakr, Abu `Ubaydah al-Jarrah, Abu Dujanah, Mus`ab ibn `Umayr, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Sahl ibn Hanif, Malik ibn Sinan, Ummu `Ammarah Nusaybah bint Ka`ab (yes, a female) and her husband Abu `Ammarah plus their two sons, Qatadah ibn Nu`man, `Umar al-Khattab, Hatib ibn Balta`ah, Abu Talhah, and others. Although we may perceive that these are only a few individuals compared to the whole population of Muslim armies (700), the psychological effects that they brought upon are more powerful than a thousand armies. Thats why they were promised Jannah/Paradise because it is not easy to perform what they had performed. So, dont feel bad if there are only a few students involved in dawah/tarbiyah. You are a very special group of Uhud core-defender!

 After this horrifying and unexpected event (e.g. the death

of some significant peoples like Hamzah ibn Abi Mutalib, Mus`ab ibn `Umayr, etc. and the Prophets injury), and after learning a lot of psychological lessons (on hypocricy, discipline, and faith), the best lesson still needs to be learn i.e. that Allah will never give constant winning to Muslims. Sub-issues such as faith, discipline, and internal enemies are ever-emerging issues and need to be addressed to understand the natural law of winning-losing in battles. Allah had given a sort of post-mortem report on the psychology of Uhud war later in the Quran, Ali `Imran: 152-159 for them and for us to learn from their mistakes.

 And the three types of psychological personality (munafiqin, the

muminin who lacks faith and discipline, and the muminin who have total faith to Allah) are mentioned within this report in the Quran (Ali `Imran: 154-155). All these three types of people will always be here among us: (1) those who have total faith and discipline to Islam and the Muslim leaders, (2) those who have faith in Islam and are in general obedience to the Muslim leaders, but disobey some direction due to decisionmaking mistakes, and (3) those who do not have any intention to help the Muslim leaders and purposely disobey the directions. No wonder Muslims are still in a weak and low position, easily defeated by our enemies, not only physically but also psychologically. The question is: which one are we?

Question:
In a series of competition, if you won, and then you lost,

what would you do? You would fight back, right? The problem is, sometimes we are not aware that we Muslims had lost and still keep on losing hence, sometimes we do not fight back in this psychological battle that decrease (or even distort) Muslims iman and `amal. The Sahabah/Companions RAA, after winning the Badr War and losing the Uhud War, they fought back! They didnt feel hopeless with the loss during Uhud War, and they didnt feel overly-proud with the victory during Badr War. They fought back! The question is: Will we?

 In this battle, Muslims were facing 10,000 enemies consisting of a

coalation (Ahzab) of 10,000 Musyrikun (Polytheists) Makkah, various Arab qabilahs/tribes, the Jews, and the Munafiqin (Hypocrites). In other words, enemies from outside Media and within it. Compare to nowadays,:facing psychological war from the coalation (Ahzab) of atheistic scientists, Zionist Jews, Christian Crusaders, and materialistics/secular Western and Muslim leaders, what did we do? Sometimes we just sit back and enjoy the materialistic life we are having, thinking that it is a gift/ni`mah from Allah - and it should stay that way. And sometimes we think that a couple of individual ritualistic `ibadah can balance or preserve my iman and `amal in the hereafter. So why bother involved in da`wah, tarbiyyah, and jihad? Sometimes, we do not even give an effort to build new psychological ditch (Khandaq) as defense to protect Muslims iman and `amal because we think it is enough to perform salat, zakat, sawm, hajj, dhikr, sadaqah, etc. What did the the Sahabahs/Companions RAA do? They defended the purity of their `aqidah, and the validity of their `ibadah, and the morality of their akhlaq in the Battle of Khandaq/Ahzab.

 During the Khandaq War the Musyrikun could only wander

around the ditch not being able to find the weak spot in the Muslims defense. I wish that I can strive to build strong psychological defense to Muslims `aqidah, shari`ah, and akhlaq to prevent the enemies of Islam from penetrating the mind and the soul of Muslims with their secular ideas, ideas that will make us far from Allah, doubt about Islamic system, or worse, doubt about Islam as a religion. Unfortunately, the strong psychological defense had been destroyed during the Western colonialisation. And unfortunatately too, Muslims inherited the independence carrying with them destroyed and weak psychological defense. We need to start building up this psychological defense so that Muslims will one day be true Muslims with pure creed (`aqidah salimah), valid form of worship (`ibadah sahihah), and virtuous ethics (akhlaq karimah) plus other Islamic worldly characteristics such as critical and creative thinking, good management, etc. This is what this programme is all about.

 Throughout the history of Islam, the strongest

psychological defense that manage to prevent Muslims from losing is the Islamic thought and jihad, NOT really the Islamic rituals. In fact, a number of hadiths show preference of an `alim (a scholar or scientist) over an `abid (a ritualistic devotee). I pray that Muslims nowadays, in addition to focusing on ritualistic `ibadah, should focus on the scientific/`ilmiyyah aspects of Islamic tradition (turath) and worldly matters (natural and social sciences) for us to be respected again. You dont have to be an ustaz/ah to be a better dai or murabbi or to contribute to Islam.

 The creative idea of burying a ditch and its management during

war was given by an outsider Muslim from Persia called Salman al-Farisi. Imagine an Arab nation famous for having frequent wars, proud of their war tactics, and of course proud of their own tribes (even over Arab as a race/nation). Compare this to some of us who are overly proud of being Malays forgetting the potential that Chinese, Indian and other ethnic minorities can also contribute to dawah/tarbiyah and perhaps even better than us. Logically, it must be psychologically offensive to be given a new unconventional, untraditional, untried, alien (from a Magian/Majusi-tradititional society) ideas from Salman al-Farisi - an invidivual, not even a group. They could have said Who is this new Muslim (an outsider some more) who wants to teach us on things that we know better? but they didnt. The Prophet and the Companions/Sahabah RAA are truly noble people.

 Sadly, we ourselves, with our stereotypes and prejudices,

sometimes reject outrightly unconventional (though not necessarily unIslamic) ideas that come from Muslims not from my own race (Malay - a majority in Malaysia) especially ideas that contradict the majority Malays traditional Islamic culture. Whats worse, sometimes I didnt even consider an unconventional (though supported by Islamic and scientific evidences) ideas that come from my own race. History has shown that sometimes people who hold authority or have power in controlling/influencing the majority are sometimes envious/jealous of creative ideas from young generation from their own race. One of the famous stories being Hang Nadim of Temasik (now Singapore).

 Muhammad al-Ghazali RH is surprised to see why

some Muslims are so creative in the field of `ibadah (by introducing innovative practices or bid`ah) rather than be creative in science and technology which are much more needed by Muslims nowadays. Ritualistic `ibadah especially the wajib/obligatory should be simple, pure, and inspiring to iman. And for the more initiated, they are numerous nawafil rituals mentioned in the hadith sahih for those in needs of more. That should be more than enough. But, sometimes we try impose more for the Muslims to do. We claim that it is nawafil but without strong Islamic evidences. We claim that it is nawafil but we are angry with those who refuse to do it.

 If we read the Islamic history, we will realise that the point

where Islamic empire is at its most prosperous is when Muslims scholars (both in the field of religion and natural/social sciences) are creative. Although, Muslims are not allowed to be creative with the Revealed Knowledge (`Ulum al-Wahy) e.g. Quran, Hadith, and Shari`ah which are an absolute Truth (with a capital T), they are very scientific and creative with the Islamic Heritage (al-Turath al-Islami) e.g. tafsir, sharah hadith, fiqh, and da`wah which are relative truth. In other words, they perform ijtihad and tajdid. At the same time, they are also very scientific and creative in the field of science and technology and the science of human (psychology, sociology, etc.) as long as the usul/foundation is in line with Islam.

 Nowadays, when we talk about being scientific, we

always think of the Westerns. And when we talk about being creative, we always think of the Japanese. When are Muslims going to be the leader in science and social science? Even Islam nowadays may not be perceived as a leading religion, if judged by Muslims behaviours. Isnt that enough reason for us to start standing up and perform dawah/tarbiyah?

 In the War of Khandaq, we may think that things are easy

for the Muslims. All that the Sahabahs/Companions RAA have to do is relax behind the ditch and they are safe (are they?) because there was no major physical attack. But it was in actuality, a psychological war. The Companions/Sahabah RAA really felt psychologically anxious. They have to spent days and nights building the ditch. They cannot go anywhere outside Medina for more than a month! And they have to wait in ambiguity not knowing their fate. In fact, their iman is really being tested (Al-Ahzab: 10-11).

 Imagine 10,000 enemies which are most probably more

than the whole adult population of City of Medina are surrounding us! In addition, there are enemy within, the Munafiqin/Hypocrites, who tried to further decrease the Muslims faith in Allah and His Prophet and weakening the defense from within (al-Ahzab: 13-20, and al-Nur: 62-63). It is `amal jihad (which include da`wah and tarbiyyah) that can really differentiate the Believers/Muminin and the Hypocrites/Munafiqin. Are we Muslims unconsciously feel nice NOT doing da`wah and tarbiyyah because we are afraid that we will fail this test (of iman and nifaq)?

 Who says that it is an easy job? Prophet Muhammad SAW had

invested 13 years in Makkah on building the `aqidah, `ibadah, and akhlaq of Muslims plus some real torture as training and small scale da`wah and tarbiyyah. Years in and years out, the tarbiyah syllabus keeps on growing and developing with continuous reveletion of the Quran. In Medina, Prophet SAW had invested in uniting the Arab tribes of Medina to form al-Ansar and uniting the Ansar with the Muhajirin. He also had to deal with the Jews who are supposed to be Muslims potential supporters, and the Munafiqin who are supposed to be Muslims real supporters. Similarly, different context and events lead to changes in the tarbiyah syllabus together with the continuous revelation of the Quran. And at this point, the success of the tarbiyah was partly tested during the psychologically horrifying War of Khandaq. Why cant we invest some of our study years for dawah and tarbiyah that can determine the choice (good or bad) that we are going to make perhaps 13 years from now?

 How can I as a Muslim stay relax? When Muslims are not united in even basic issues. When our Islamic education syllabus failed to protect our

generation to be true Mumins? Who are the true mumins? Mumins who avoids big sins, mumin who are close to Allah, and willing to defend and promote Islam (Islam in its pure comprehensive definition). Mumin who will gain voluntary respect from the rest of the world. Mumins who constantly protect the rights to preserve their iman and to practice Islam (as a religion and as a system). Mumins who are immune to attacks from outside and inside that try to promote secular ideas and materialistic way of life in our religion and our system.

 Mumins who will not feel threatened when the non-

Muslims want to build large synagogues, churches, and temples at our residences or workplace - because our iman is high Mumins who will not feel overly sensitive with the sight of sacred books of other religions in local languages, or even pictures of pork/pig/liquor in books/magazines because our iman is high Mumins who are kind and protective of their non-Muslims friends but firm and fierce with the real enemies of Islam. Do we really know our real enemies (from outside and within)? Do we realised that the enemies are constantly attacking the Muslims psychologically? Do we feel relax when we are constantly losing our iman and `amal?

 Muslims have had their chance of leading the world Islamically

(i.e. peacefully and prosperously) before. But now Muslims are at the losing end. It is the Western who leads the world now (and it is not really peaceful and prosperous - not just talking about war here, but also morality and crimes). Will I feel hopeless because it seems that success for Muslims is very far and even unreachable? But the Companions/Sahabah RAA always had faith in Allah (AlAhzab: 22). And because of that, Allah helped them by sending strong wind where the enemies tents collapsed and their belongings were flung in the air. This happened for more than two weeks. The Khandaq war ended in an unexpected manner considering that there was no major physical attack. The Muslims won! But remember, before they won i.e. before Allah sent help, they fought back. Will we Muslims nowadays receive Allah helps? Will the Muslims nowadays fight back in this modern psychological War of Khandaq?

 Most of us Muslims feel quite safe nowadays, right? Especially those who are living in a majority-Muslim

countries. Safe here means that we can perform our salat/prayers, pay our zakat/alms-giving, perform our sawm/fasting, perform our hajj/pilgrimage, and perform our individual/collective ritualistic `ibadah activities that do not require or burden us to think or perform da`wah, tarbiyyah, and jihad. Note: Actually, Muslims are more free to do all these activities in some minority-Muslim countries, how weird is that? In some countries like Malaysia, some aspects of Islam are even protected by the law, perhaps over-protected if it is involved khilaf issues making Malay-Muslims feel more psychologically safe about their iman/faith.

 Compare this to the Sahabah RAA who never felt safe

and continuously involved in da`wah, tarbiyyah, and jihad. They only felt a little bit safe during the Battle of Hunayn and Allah already gave them a painful lesson during the war. Are we Muslims nowadays actually playing safe by not performing da`wah, tarbiyyah, and jihad to avoid such painful lesson and to avoid improving ourselves as real Muslims just because our law forbids nonMuslims from doing this and that?

 Remember, this war happenned after the event of Fath

al-Makkah, the event that indicate the victory of Muslims over polytheist of Makkah, an important city in Arab in terms of business, arts, and religion. Any Muslim would feel very proud at that time. Arab tribes from all over Arab Peninsula came to Makkah to declare their conversions to Islam.

 So, what would a small tribe of Hawazin be compared to

12,000 Muslim armies including new Muslims from Makkah? Logically and statistically, Muslims should win the war, right? This is how the Muslims felt at that time and they have every psychological right to feel so. But Prophet Muhammad SAW was quite displeased with these kind of feelings. After all, pride what makes Iblis/Devil went astray (forever), pride what makes a seemingly religious person to enter the Hellfire, and pride what prevents Prophets uncle Abu Talib from accepting Islam as his religion. I am very afraid of having pride/`ujub because sometimes we like to hide behind the term `izzah or self-esteem and still think were on the right path.

 And this was true in the case of Hunayn war. Allah shocked them with a psychological lesson because

of their pride. What the Muslim armies didnt know is: the enemies had arrived at Hunayn earlier than them and hidden quietly in the surrounding area of Hunayn. Unexpectedly, the Muslim armies were ambushed with arrows from various directions. Well, as most psychological theories would predict, majority of them ran for their life. I myself (with my weak iman compared to the sahabah) am not confident if I would stay in the battlefield if I live at that particular time though I really I would stay if I do.

 Here we are today, feeling very safe because the Muslim

government will always protect us by creating law to prevent non-Muslims to perform da`wah to Muslims, to prevent non-Muslims for using certain Arabic words that may confused Muslims, and dozens other rules that were unheard of during Prophet SAWs and the Sahabah RAAs time And Allah let us all continue feeling safe and we are still not promoting His religion. How very far our iman and `amal are compared to the Sahabah RAAs who had also felt safe during the War of Hunayn, but at least, they perform da`wah, tarbiyyah, and jihad - unlike majority of us Muslims.

 But, they were still given a painful lesson from Allah. Perhaps, the psychological reason we Muslims nowadays

prefer to focus on rituals (in fact, further create more bida`ah rituals) so that we do NOT have to receive painful lesson from Allah. If we perform da`wah, tarbiyyah and jihad, we may think that we will face a lot of tests from Allah! But deep in our heart we do not trust our children (and our own) iman when exposed to other religion - yet we do not want to involved in tarbiyah of the Muslim society, da`wah to non-Muslim, and jihad to enemies of Islam. How irony is that?

 The truth is, some Muslims had already converted to various

pseudo-religions in the form of secular ideologies with different prophets (founders and promoters) and sacred books (classic and best-selling books). And in fact, a number of our teenagers had already converted to Christianity and other religion but we like to keep it quiet because we like to continue feeling safe unless it happened to our family members and children, right? But, most Muslims would like to continue feeling safe by relying on the government to create more rules and regulations. And that is the image of Islam nowadays, full of rules and regulations not only to Muslims but also non-Muslims. Rather than the image of kindness, mercy, justice, simple, scientific, and universal, and comprehensive.

 Back to the War of Hunayn, in the midst of chaos,

close family members and a few Muhajirin still stayed put to defend the Prophet SAW. Among them Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith and Abbas ibn Abdil Muttalib. But do you know why it is easy for the Muslims at that time to be reunited again? I believe it is because of their tarbiyah imaniyyah or imanic education they received at Makkah and Madinah. This is way halaqah/usrah comes in.

 When the people who had performed Bay`ah al-Ridwan

were called upon, they quickly came to their iman and reassembled. When the people of Ansar were called upon, they quickly came to their sense and reassembled. These are the people whose iman is unquestionable, whose commitment to da`wah and jihad is so high. But, worldly factor in Hunayn war had temporarily led them astray. But it is their iman that had quickly brought them back to the straight path of Islam, da`wah, and jihad. Would we do the same thing? We are easily influenced by worldly matters. But when reminded about our role as `abid and khalifah in this world, do we quickly respond to that call?

 Alhamdulillah, after that, the Muslim armies won the

war but now with humility, NOT pride. It is only when Muslims are humble, NOT arrogant or proud in their da`wah and jihad (IF we are performing da`wah and jihad at all) that Allah will really help the Muslims (al-Tawbah: 25-26).

 Would we Muslims be psychologically ready to defend

ourselves and psychologically confident of winning, if a powerful country with huge armies and sophisticated weapons is planning to attack us? What if it happens when the weather and environmental conditions are unbearable, the weaponry is not as sophisticated as the enemy, the lacking of logistic preparation, the distance of the war field, the scarcity of resources, and on top of that, the season where youll be receiving the resources (e.g. food/money) is approaching? This is the scenario faced by the Sahabah/Companions RAA before the War of Tabuk took place.

 This is the superpower Roman empire we are talking

about (imagine a superpower country during our time) not just the Meccan people or just any Arab tribes. Are we psychologically prepared for that? It is timely for us to psychologically prepare/train ourselves in various tarbiyah programme

Are we psychologically prepared?

Some of you may have answered yes to the above

question, alhamdulillah. I would too - conceptuallyspeaking. But when reviewing what some Sahabahs/Companions did before - operationally-speaking, it makes me feel fearful that I may not have that strong iman to join the war myself. The War of Tabuk is also known as Ghazwat al-`Usrah (the physically and psychologically difficult/burdening war!) but they still went for the war.

 Imagine this:
They have to leave their plantation which fruits are

visually ripening in front of their very eyes, ready to be picked/harvested and eaten or sold; they have to endure a difficult journey through blistering cold and scorching desert for nearly two months, risking life and limb to defend their iman/faith.

 The evil mouth of the Munafiqin/Hypocrites who tried

all psychologically persuasive techniques to lure the Sahabahs/Companions NOT to join the troop did not help either. In fact, they met Prophet Muhammad SAW and came up with all silly excuses they could find not to join the troop. It is a psychological peer-pressure indeed for the Sahabah/Companions, when Prophet Muhammad SAW, knowing that they are the hypocrites all along grant their wishes not to go to war!

 In fact, some very good Sahabahs/Companions did not go

to the war without strong/acceptable reasons (i.e. Ka`ab ibn Malik, Murarah ibn Rabi`, and Hilal ibn `Umayyah RAA). And they are very good Muslims/Mumins! You get the psychological picture, right? These are not just ordinary Companionos/Sahabah. They are among the earliest to embrace Islam and high-ranked Companions/Sahabah too. Ka`ab RA was among those who participated in Bay`ah Aqabah whereas Murarah RA and Hilal RA partcipated in the War of Badr! How could they NOT participate in the War of Tabuk?

 From educational psychology perspective, I would

personally be thankful that the historical account of the Companions/Sahabah are as realistic as we are human. If they behave like angels without performing any mistake, we might either be extremists without sincerity or rejectionists who are against Islam, God-forbid. The most important things - as you would have known the Companions/Sahabahs RAA accepted that they made a mistake and repented. The question is: will we learn from our mistakes , or we choose to become arrogant about our mistakes? Be careful: sometimes we are being arrogant (not humble) when we said we are not qualified to join dawah/tarbiyah.

 From industrial and organisational psychology

perspective, all these series of wars is like one huge sophisticated human resource or personnel system consisting of series of selection stages that enable Prophet Muhammad SAW as an excellent leader to screen out those who are not really sincere to Islam.

 Have you noticed that in most Ghazawat/Wars, the

underlying motives of the Munafiqin/Hypocrites became apparent via their observable behaviours (e.g. War of Uhud, War of Khandaq, Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, etc.) Via the War of Tabuk, Prophet Muhammad SAW was able to observably or operationally detect the remaining few hypocrites (see Surah al-Tawbah: 74). Of course, being human being, well bound to make mistake in our conclusion, for example, some of us might labeled the three Companions RAA as munafiqun/hypocrites, God-forbid! But notice how Prophet Muhammad SAW deal with this managerial issue effectively

 Those who gave silly excuses were actually among the

Munafiqun/Hypcrites. In fact, they had used both religious arguments (e.g. rukhsah) and psychological arguments (e.g. capabilities) to avoid going to war (see Surah al-Tawbah: 49, 81). Can you imagine being absent for such an important event that even the Prophet for the first time ever made a serious plea for donation. You know the stories `Uthman donated 100 camels, `Umar RA donated half of his belongings whereas Abu Bakr RA donated his whole wealth! Its that serious!

 As for the three good and sincere Companions/Sahabahs

RAA (Ka`ab, Murarah, and Hilal RAA), they did not give excuses. They accepted they have made a mistake and willing to be punished. And as mentioned in the Quran, they were punished and it was psychologically punishing indeed (Surah al-Tawbah: 118). And you know what? The Munafiqin/Hypocrites? They were not punished at all! Unfair, dont you think?

 This is where Prophet Muhammad SAW had applied

important psychological principles in punishment i.e. punishment will be MOST effective if the person understand his wrongdoing and most importantly accepted that he/she is wrong. Therefore, punishing the Munafiqin/Hypocrites may backfire because they might rebel against the Prophet and create more chaos/fitnah because they do not have any intention at all to change their behaviours. But the three Sahabahs RAA? They understand and accepted that they were wrong and willing to be punished for the sake of learning/training. They did NOT give excuses and they were NOT trying to influence others to be absent from the war - like the Munafiqun/Hypocrites.

 In a very lengthy hadith narrated by Bukhari and

Muslim, Ka`ab ibn Malik RA gave a personal account on the punishment. He did have the psychological intention to join the war but he kept on psychologically procrastinating, thinking that he could prepare in the last minute. Unfortunately, he did not go. He psychologically felt ashamed observing that only the munafiqin/hypocrites and very old/weak people did not join the war. When the armies returned to Medina, his psychological tension increased leading to the intention to lie and to give excuses, but saved by his strong iman, he eventually chose not to give excuses.

 Do you know what was the punishment? Remember, Prophet Muhammad waited for Allah Himself

to decide the punishment not to decide by himself And the punishment was: social isolation! Nobody (including their wives) was allowed to speak/communicate with the three Companions/Sahabahs RAA - a very psychologically punishing sentence indeed for a nation well-known for its ukhuwwah/brotherhood ties. It was more psychologically punishing indeed for Ka`ab because the other two Companions/Sahabahs RAAs wives were allowed to take care of them because of health reason - plus Ka`ab was also psychologically lured to accept and offer by the King of Ghassan to betray the Prophet SAW which of course he rejected. And imagine this: the social isolation punishment took place for 50 days!

 Dont worry. Allah loves his servants who have iman and are

sincere. The punishment was lifted and the mistake was pardoned by Allah (see al-Tawbah: 118). Imagine being pardoned directly by Allah via al-Quran! And unlike some of us nowadays who like to look down on those who had made mistakes, Ka`ab and the other two Companions/Sahabah RAA were cheered and congratulated! All those psychologocally punishing experience became psychologically rewarding and as a result too, their iman increased. I can imagine how psychologically jealous the Munafiqun/Hypocrites were of these three. Perhaps, if they were patience like Ka`ab, they would have gotten the same privilege. But then again, maybe not - voluntary insincerity can sometimes prevent you from showing certain behaviours not matter how hard you try.

 Ironically for the Munafiqun/Hypocrites, their attempt to

avoid punishment ended up them being psychologically punished. Their iman were questioned and as individuals they were not respected anymore by other Muslims. After all, even if the Munafiqin/Hypocrites did join the war, they wouldve created more harm than benefit (see alTawbah: 47). So, I guess its better to leave them unpunished - they already felt psychological punishment much worse than the one faced by Ka`ab - people now know that they were hypocrites!

 Anyway, to those Sahabahs/Companions who had gone to

the War of Tabuk and endured physical and psychological difficulties (including starvation), all their sins have been pardoned by Allah SWT (al-Tawbah: 117) because of perseverance in the punishment (or rather, tarbiyyah and training) process. Imagine, *we* who have lots of sins, being pardoned by Allah directly from Him! That would be the best psychological rewards indeed. But are we qualified to receive this kind of rewards judging by our faith, our understanding of Islam, our practices of shari`ah, our ukhuwwah/brotherhood ties, and our spiritual connection to Allah?

 The reasons why the Sahabahs/Companions were able to

endure such difficulties are their IMAN, which were developed not in a few seconds of uttering the shahadah, and not in a few days of motivational camp, but throughout 13 years in Makkah/Mecca plus 9 years more in Madinah/Medina. If we want to have that same behaviour and mind-setting, we should start focusing on developing the iman of our young generations that will lead to strong belief in Islam, correct practice of shari`ah, strong brotherhood ties, and close spiritual connection to Allah. This is way halaqah/usrah comes in.

 And to those three Sahabahs/Companions who had a great

opportunity to be trained (via punishment) directly by the Prophet and pardoned directly by Allah, they were highly respected and hailed by Muslims from every generation as the ones who had dealt with mistakes with high iman and end up having higher iman to Allah. In fact, it is a psychologically rewarding punishment to them because it shows that Allah SWT and His Prophet love them and care for them rather than being ignored like the Munafiqins/Hypocrites. So, remember punishment can be a manisfestation of love and being left unpunished can mean that people dont care with you anymore.

Other Important Events

Hijrah
Change of Qiblah Battle of Khaybar

Fathul Makkah
Battle of Mutah Farewell Hajj You may refer to my blog <blogs.iium.edu.my/alizi>

Lessons
To achieve the golden era of Islamic empire, we must

start with the golden people of duat and murabbi during Prophets time: their psychology, their behaviour, their mind, their spirituality

Conclusions
Start with the Quran (and hadith sahih)
Read the translation Try to understand it in the context of modern society

Discuss how to practice it in modern society

May Allah makes you one of those who contributed to

the 2nd Islamic civilization which will rule the world in peace where non-Muslims will like Islam either as a religion or at least as a system