Akal adalah alat yang penting untuk mencapai kecemerlangan kerana melaluinya ilmu dapat dimanfaatkan. Bagi Imam Al-Ghazali, “Akal ialah kekuatan pemikiran semula jadi yang dikurniakan Allah kepada manusia agar dengannya manusia dapat mengenali hakikat sesuatu perkara... Akal ialah tempat lahir dan tertegaknya ilmu. Ilmu tumbuh dari akal sebagaimana terbitnnya buah-buahan dari pohon dan terpancarnya cahaya dari matahari. Akal amat mulia sehinggakan haiwan yang bertubuh besar lagi perkasa berasa bimbang dan takut ketika berdepan dengan manusia kerana menyedari manusia mempunyai helah dan upaya untuk melakukan sesuatu hasil dari kekuatan akal.” Hal ini disebutkan dalam Ihya Ulumuddin.
Sahabat Omar Al-Khattab pernah bertanya kepada sahabat Tamim Ad-Dari, “Menurut pandanganmu, apakah benda yang paling mulia?” Tamim Ad-Dari menjawab, “Akal.” Berkata Omar Al-Khattab, “Kamu benar. Aku pernah bertanya kepada Nabi soalan yang sama seperti yang aku ajukan kepadamu dan baginda menjawab, ‘Aku pernahbertanya Jibrail berhubung perkara yang paling mulia dan Jibrail berkata akal’.” Hadis ini diriwayatkan oleh Ibnul Mahbar. Dalam riwayat yang lain yangn diriwayatkan oleh Abu Naim, nabi telah berpesan kepada Ali bin Abu Talib, “Apabila manusia mendekati Allah dengan pelbagai kebajikan maka kamu dekatilah Allah dengan akalmu.”
Otak adalah satu organ istimewa yang dikurniakan Allah kepada manusia. Mengikut Making The Most Of Your Brain terbitan Reader’s Digest, ketika seseorang bayi berumur 7 minggu di dalam rahim ibu, struktur utama otak sudah dapat dilihat dengan jelas. Ketika bayi berumur 3 bulan, saraf tunjang (spinal cord) pula mula berkembang. Di dalam rahim ibu, pertumbuhan sel-sel otak berlaku dengan pesatnya. Lebih kurang 2.5 juta sel otak yang baru (neurones) tumbuh pada setiap minit. Ketika dilahirkan jumlah sel-sel otak ini mencecah 100 bilion, dan setiap sel ini pula mempunyai 1000 tempat di mana ia dapat berhubung dengan sel-sel otak yang lain. Ketika baru dilahirkan sel-sel ini tidak banyak berhubungan antara satu sama lain. Namun apabila bayi mula berinteraksi dengan alam, terutama di zaman kanak-kanak, sel-sel ini akan berhubungan dengan pesatnya. Semakin meningkat usaha dan pengalaman seseorang semakin rancaklah hubungan yang berlaku antara sel-sel ini.
Semua ini akan menentukan kematangan,kepintaran, sikap serta kebijaksanaan seseorang sekali gus mempengaruhikehidupannya. Apabila kesemua ini berlaku, manusia ketika itu tidak hanyamempunyai otak tetapi, yang lebih penting ialah, mereka juga mempunyai akal.Ketika seseorang bayi berumur lebih kurang enam tahun, jumlah sel-sel yang berinteraksi antara satu sama lain menghampiri jumlah yang terdapat pada orang-orang dewasa. Justeru, dalam Islam, apabila kanak-kanak mencapai umur tujuh tahun mereka dilatih untuk melaksanakan kewajipan-kewajipan agama kerana mereka telah sampai ke tahap umur mumaiyiz, iaitu, tahu membezakan antara buruk dan baik. Mengikut Imam Abu Daud dan Al-Hakim, nabi bersabda, “Suruhlah anak-anakmu bersolat apabila mereka berumur tujuh tahun.”
Apabila seseorang mencecah umur antara 20-75 tahun, lebih kurang 50,000 sel otak mati setiap hari. Justeru dia perlu aktifkan otaknya supaya ia tidak menjadi beku....
Monday, April 23, 2007
Rahsia Keunggulan Umat
Takwa mempunyai ciri-cirinya. Antara ciri-ciri itu ialah seperti yang di firmankan Allah dalam surah Al-Baqarah ayat 3-5 yang bermaksud, “Mereka beriman kepada yang ghaib, mendirikan solat serta menafkahkan sebahagian rezeki yang Kami anugerahkan kepada mereka.
Dan mereka beriman kepada kitab (Al-Quran) yang diturunkan kepadamu dan kitab-kitab yang diturunkan sebelummu, serta mereka yakin akan adanya kehidupan di akhirat. Merekalah orang yang mendapat petunjuk dari Tuhan mereka dan merekalah orang-orang yang beruntung.”
Apabila di amati ayat-ayat ini, kita akan mendapati bahawa ciri takwa yang terpenting ialah “beriman kepada perkara yang ghaib.” Sahabat Abdullah bin Masud berkata, “Tidak beriman seseorang dengan sesuatu yang lebih afdal dari beriman kepada perkara yang ghaib.”Imam Abul Aliyah mentafsirkannya sebagai “beriman kepada Allah, para malaikat, kitab-kitab Allah, Rasul-rasulNya, hari akhirat, syurga, neraka, kebangkitan selepas mati, serta pertemuan dengan Allah.” Imam Zaid bin Aslam mentafsirkannya sebagai “beriman kepada qadar.” Hal ini disebutkan dalam Tafsir Al-Quran Al-Azim oleh Ibn Kathir.
Kepercayaan kepada alam ghaib bertunjangkan keimanan kepada Allah menjadikan umat Islam satu umat yang luar biasa kegagahan serta kehebatannya. Kepercayaan inilah yang membuat umat Islam mampu mengharungi penderitaan ketika dikenakan pemboikotan ekonomi selama tiga tahun di Mekah. Ia juga menjadikan mereka sanggup meninggalkan harta benda di Mekah untuk merentasi padang pasir berhijrah menuju ke Madinah. Ia menjadikan mereka berani menghadapi musuh walaupun jumlah musuh lebih ramai dari mereka. Sebagai contoh, di Badar tentera Islam berjumlah hanya 313 orang berbanding tentera Quraisy 1,000 orang.
Di perang Khandak tentera Islam berjumlah 3,000 orang dan tentera Ahzab 10,000 orang. Di Yarmuk tentera Islam berjumlah 39,000 orang dan tentera Rom 240,000 orang. Di Qadisiyah pula jumlah tentera Islam ialah 41,000 orang dan tentera Parsi 200,000 orang.
Berbekalkan keyakinan kepada Allah tentera-tentera Islam berjaya mengalahkan musuh-musuh mereka dalam kesemua peperangan ini. Kepercayaan ini juga berjaya melahirkan insan seperti Amir bin Abdul Qais yang begitu beramanah untuk mengembalikan sebuah kotak kepunyaan seorang yang bukan Islam selepas kejatuhan kota Madain ke tangan orang Islam.
Ia menjadikan khalifah Omar ibn Khattab sering menyoal mereka yang datang menemuinya dari wilayah-wilayah Islam yang jauh mengenai keadaan golongan yang bukan Islam, kerana tidak mahu umat Islam menzalimi mereka. Ia menyebabkan seorang wanita, di zaman khalifah Omar, tidak mahu mencampurkan susu binatang yang dijualnya dengan air walaupun dengan cara demikian dia akan mendapat keuntungan yang lebih. Dia sekadar berkata, “Jika khalifah Omar tidak nampak perbuatanku, Allah melihat segala perbuatanku.”
Kesemua ini menunjukkan tentang betapa besarnya pengaruh kepercayaan kepada Allah dan alam ghaib ke atas umat Islam. Ia melahirkan amal salih, ia juga melahirkan sikap yang betul. Kepercayaan ini mampu menghilangkan perasaan kecewa dan putus asa. Mengapa? Kerana di tengah-tengah ketidakadilan dan kekejaman dunia, umat Islam meyakini bahawa keadilan dan pertolongan Ilahi tetap ada. Lantas kes-kes pembunuhan diri jarang berlaku di kalangan umat Islam.
Kajian oleh Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia (WHO) menunjukkan, peratus kes membunuh diri meningkat dari tahun 1950-1995. Peratus kes bagi golongan lelaki meningkat sebanyak 49% dan bagi wanita 33%. Jika trend ini berterusan, pada tahun 2020 Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia menganggarkan 1.53 juta orang akan mati kerana membunuh diri dan kes-kes percubaan membunuh diri akan meningkat 10-20 kali ganda dari jumlah itu.
Ini bermakna satu kes membunuh diri akan berlaku bagi setiap 20 saat dan 1 percubaan membunuh diri akan berlaku bagi setiap 1-2 saat. Peratus kes membunuh diri yang tertinggi berlaku di Eropah terutamanya Eropah Timur yang melibatkan negara-negara seperti Estonia, Latvia dan Lithuania.
Seperkara yang mengejutkan ialah, peratus kes membunuh diri didapati amat rendah di negara-negara orang Islam. Sebagai contoh, di Kuwait kes yang terlibat menghampiri sifar (0.1 per 100,000 orang penduduk). Bagi negara-negara yang majoriti penduduknya beragama Hindu dan Kristian, kadarnya ialah 10 bagi setiap 100,000 orang penduduk (Hindu: 9.6; Kristian: 11.2). Bagi negara-negara yang penduduknya beragama Budda pula, seperti Jepun, kadarnya ialah 17.9 bagi setiap 100,000 orang dan bagi negara-negara ateis seperti China, kadarnya ialah 25.6 bagi 100,000 penduduk. Fakta-fakta ini dilaporkan oleh World Health Organisation, Figures and Facts About Suicide, Geneva, WHO, 1999.
Dan mereka beriman kepada kitab (Al-Quran) yang diturunkan kepadamu dan kitab-kitab yang diturunkan sebelummu, serta mereka yakin akan adanya kehidupan di akhirat. Merekalah orang yang mendapat petunjuk dari Tuhan mereka dan merekalah orang-orang yang beruntung.”
Apabila di amati ayat-ayat ini, kita akan mendapati bahawa ciri takwa yang terpenting ialah “beriman kepada perkara yang ghaib.” Sahabat Abdullah bin Masud berkata, “Tidak beriman seseorang dengan sesuatu yang lebih afdal dari beriman kepada perkara yang ghaib.”Imam Abul Aliyah mentafsirkannya sebagai “beriman kepada Allah, para malaikat, kitab-kitab Allah, Rasul-rasulNya, hari akhirat, syurga, neraka, kebangkitan selepas mati, serta pertemuan dengan Allah.” Imam Zaid bin Aslam mentafsirkannya sebagai “beriman kepada qadar.” Hal ini disebutkan dalam Tafsir Al-Quran Al-Azim oleh Ibn Kathir.
Kepercayaan kepada alam ghaib bertunjangkan keimanan kepada Allah menjadikan umat Islam satu umat yang luar biasa kegagahan serta kehebatannya. Kepercayaan inilah yang membuat umat Islam mampu mengharungi penderitaan ketika dikenakan pemboikotan ekonomi selama tiga tahun di Mekah. Ia juga menjadikan mereka sanggup meninggalkan harta benda di Mekah untuk merentasi padang pasir berhijrah menuju ke Madinah. Ia menjadikan mereka berani menghadapi musuh walaupun jumlah musuh lebih ramai dari mereka. Sebagai contoh, di Badar tentera Islam berjumlah hanya 313 orang berbanding tentera Quraisy 1,000 orang.
Di perang Khandak tentera Islam berjumlah 3,000 orang dan tentera Ahzab 10,000 orang. Di Yarmuk tentera Islam berjumlah 39,000 orang dan tentera Rom 240,000 orang. Di Qadisiyah pula jumlah tentera Islam ialah 41,000 orang dan tentera Parsi 200,000 orang.
Berbekalkan keyakinan kepada Allah tentera-tentera Islam berjaya mengalahkan musuh-musuh mereka dalam kesemua peperangan ini. Kepercayaan ini juga berjaya melahirkan insan seperti Amir bin Abdul Qais yang begitu beramanah untuk mengembalikan sebuah kotak kepunyaan seorang yang bukan Islam selepas kejatuhan kota Madain ke tangan orang Islam.
Ia menjadikan khalifah Omar ibn Khattab sering menyoal mereka yang datang menemuinya dari wilayah-wilayah Islam yang jauh mengenai keadaan golongan yang bukan Islam, kerana tidak mahu umat Islam menzalimi mereka. Ia menyebabkan seorang wanita, di zaman khalifah Omar, tidak mahu mencampurkan susu binatang yang dijualnya dengan air walaupun dengan cara demikian dia akan mendapat keuntungan yang lebih. Dia sekadar berkata, “Jika khalifah Omar tidak nampak perbuatanku, Allah melihat segala perbuatanku.”
Kesemua ini menunjukkan tentang betapa besarnya pengaruh kepercayaan kepada Allah dan alam ghaib ke atas umat Islam. Ia melahirkan amal salih, ia juga melahirkan sikap yang betul. Kepercayaan ini mampu menghilangkan perasaan kecewa dan putus asa. Mengapa? Kerana di tengah-tengah ketidakadilan dan kekejaman dunia, umat Islam meyakini bahawa keadilan dan pertolongan Ilahi tetap ada. Lantas kes-kes pembunuhan diri jarang berlaku di kalangan umat Islam.
Kajian oleh Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia (WHO) menunjukkan, peratus kes membunuh diri meningkat dari tahun 1950-1995. Peratus kes bagi golongan lelaki meningkat sebanyak 49% dan bagi wanita 33%. Jika trend ini berterusan, pada tahun 2020 Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia menganggarkan 1.53 juta orang akan mati kerana membunuh diri dan kes-kes percubaan membunuh diri akan meningkat 10-20 kali ganda dari jumlah itu.
Ini bermakna satu kes membunuh diri akan berlaku bagi setiap 20 saat dan 1 percubaan membunuh diri akan berlaku bagi setiap 1-2 saat. Peratus kes membunuh diri yang tertinggi berlaku di Eropah terutamanya Eropah Timur yang melibatkan negara-negara seperti Estonia, Latvia dan Lithuania.
Seperkara yang mengejutkan ialah, peratus kes membunuh diri didapati amat rendah di negara-negara orang Islam. Sebagai contoh, di Kuwait kes yang terlibat menghampiri sifar (0.1 per 100,000 orang penduduk). Bagi negara-negara yang majoriti penduduknya beragama Hindu dan Kristian, kadarnya ialah 10 bagi setiap 100,000 orang penduduk (Hindu: 9.6; Kristian: 11.2). Bagi negara-negara yang penduduknya beragama Budda pula, seperti Jepun, kadarnya ialah 17.9 bagi setiap 100,000 orang dan bagi negara-negara ateis seperti China, kadarnya ialah 25.6 bagi 100,000 penduduk. Fakta-fakta ini dilaporkan oleh World Health Organisation, Figures and Facts About Suicide, Geneva, WHO, 1999.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
China Dinner Delicacies Succumb To SARS Scare
By Gady A. Epstein
Sun Foreign Staff
Originally published May 14, 2003
GUANGZHOU, China:
…..In southern China, where people have had a centuries-old carnivorous love affair with wild animals, the question of whether SARS might have come from animals is not simply academic. The disease, which emerged here in November, has disrupted eating habits and provoked scrutiny of unsanitary farming practices. It has also forced Chinese to wonder whether, as many scientists have long believed, there may be something about southern China and animals that makes it a wellspring for disease.
“The relationship between human beings and animals is closer here than anywhere else” in China, said Xie Jinkui, a doctor in the mountain city of Heyuan who treated early victims, including Deng Tianlong, who contracted SARS in December after coming here to buy animals for her local market. “People here like to eat wild animals,” Xie said, “and therefore there are more people who prepare them, who cook them, who raise them, who sell them, who eat them. So, there are many more chances to catch disease.”…
The long chain of animal-human contact makes it difficult to pinpoint when and where the disease might have crossed from animals to humans, before spreading via buses, trains, boats and planes to the rest of China and 29 other countries, killing 573 people and infecting 7,548 worldwide. Did the virus migrate from poultry with weak immune systems to pigs to humans on unsanitary farms, as some scientists initially theorized? Or did people catch it from handling or eating infected wild animals, as an increasing number of experts now suggest? In a broad search for clues to the virus’ origins, the WHO team pored over early patient data with scientists from the Guangdong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and asked health officials for any information about unusual die-offs of animals.
More intriguing, recent government orders seem to focus on the threat posed by wild animals rather than livestock… It is an amazing turnaround for a region known in China for its taste for wild animals. Tradition dictates that wild animals are more nutritious - the rarer the better - and that certain animal parts convey particular health benefits, in some cases for the corresponding human body part. Monkey brains, for example, are said to make the eater smarter; sex organs of deer, tigers, seals and other animals are said to help boost virility or cure infertility. But with endangered or threatened species often finding their way onto menus, the practice has come under increasing fire from inside and outside China, in addition to drawing criticism from Chinese who consider eating wildlife an uncivilized relic of another age. SARS has given a boost to advocates of a nationwide ban on the eating of wildlife……
(From Baltimoresun.com http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/balte.china14may14,0,1494676.story?coll=bal-health-headlines)
** Abdullah ibn Abbas reported that the Messenger of Allah prohibited every beast having a fang (wild animals) and every bird having a talon (i.e. sharp hooked claw). (Narrated by Muslim)
** Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah said, “Every fanged beast (i.e. wild animals) is unlawful for food.” (Narrated by Muslim)
Sun Foreign Staff
Originally published May 14, 2003
GUANGZHOU, China:
…..In southern China, where people have had a centuries-old carnivorous love affair with wild animals, the question of whether SARS might have come from animals is not simply academic. The disease, which emerged here in November, has disrupted eating habits and provoked scrutiny of unsanitary farming practices. It has also forced Chinese to wonder whether, as many scientists have long believed, there may be something about southern China and animals that makes it a wellspring for disease.
“The relationship between human beings and animals is closer here than anywhere else” in China, said Xie Jinkui, a doctor in the mountain city of Heyuan who treated early victims, including Deng Tianlong, who contracted SARS in December after coming here to buy animals for her local market. “People here like to eat wild animals,” Xie said, “and therefore there are more people who prepare them, who cook them, who raise them, who sell them, who eat them. So, there are many more chances to catch disease.”…
The long chain of animal-human contact makes it difficult to pinpoint when and where the disease might have crossed from animals to humans, before spreading via buses, trains, boats and planes to the rest of China and 29 other countries, killing 573 people and infecting 7,548 worldwide. Did the virus migrate from poultry with weak immune systems to pigs to humans on unsanitary farms, as some scientists initially theorized? Or did people catch it from handling or eating infected wild animals, as an increasing number of experts now suggest? In a broad search for clues to the virus’ origins, the WHO team pored over early patient data with scientists from the Guangdong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and asked health officials for any information about unusual die-offs of animals.
More intriguing, recent government orders seem to focus on the threat posed by wild animals rather than livestock… It is an amazing turnaround for a region known in China for its taste for wild animals. Tradition dictates that wild animals are more nutritious - the rarer the better - and that certain animal parts convey particular health benefits, in some cases for the corresponding human body part. Monkey brains, for example, are said to make the eater smarter; sex organs of deer, tigers, seals and other animals are said to help boost virility or cure infertility. But with endangered or threatened species often finding their way onto menus, the practice has come under increasing fire from inside and outside China, in addition to drawing criticism from Chinese who consider eating wildlife an uncivilized relic of another age. SARS has given a boost to advocates of a nationwide ban on the eating of wildlife……
(From Baltimoresun.com http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/balte.china14may14,0,1494676.story?coll=bal-health-headlines)
** Abdullah ibn Abbas reported that the Messenger of Allah prohibited every beast having a fang (wild animals) and every bird having a talon (i.e. sharp hooked claw). (Narrated by Muslim)
** Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah said, “Every fanged beast (i.e. wild animals) is unlawful for food.” (Narrated by Muslim)
Monday, April 09, 2007
Avian Flu 'Discovered in Pigs'
cientists in China say they have discovered a highly virulent strain of bird flu virus in pigs. An official at the China National Avian Flu Reference Laboratory said the H5N1 virus strain had been found in pigs at several farms in the country.
More than 20 people died and almost 200 million birds were culled during a flu epidemic in Asia earlier this year. The spread to pigs has yet to be confirmed, but there could be serious implications for human health if it is. The World Health Organization said that if the pigs were harbouring both bird and human flu viruses, the two strains could interact to create a strain capable of transferring easily to humans.
Chinese scientist Chen Hualan first announced the existence of bird flu in pigs during a conference speech on Friday. She later told journalists that the virus had been discovered in pigs in south-east China's Fujian province in 2003, and in "another place" in 2004. Officials at both the WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said they were unaware of the new development until Ms Chen's comments.
"I think it's something we've long warned can happen. I don't think we're shocked, but we need more details," WHO spokesman Roy Wadia told the French news agency AFP. The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu is currently capable of spreading from poultry to people, but the incidence of cross-species transfer is relatively rare and so far there have been no cases of human-to-human transfer. There is a fear that, if it has spread to pigs, the virus could mutate and form a strain that could then readily transfer to humans. But the WHO cautions that a lot more information is needed before an accurate risk assessment can be made....
Meanwhile bird flu continues to plague many parts of Asia. It ravaged poultry flocks throughout the region earlier this year, and caused the deaths of 27 people in Vietnam and Thailand. A further three people are said to have died from the disease in Vietnam earlier this month. Malaysia is the latest country to report the incidence of the disease in its poultry flock.....
(From BBC NEWS / ASIA-PACIFIC Friday, 20 August, 2004,http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/asia-pacific/3583856.stm)
** In the Quran, Chapter Al-Baqarah verse 173, Allah said, "He hath forbidden you dead meat, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that on which any other name hath been invoked besides that of Allah. But if one is forced by necessity, without wilful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits,- then is he guiltless. For Allah is Oft-forgiving Most Merciful."
More than 20 people died and almost 200 million birds were culled during a flu epidemic in Asia earlier this year. The spread to pigs has yet to be confirmed, but there could be serious implications for human health if it is. The World Health Organization said that if the pigs were harbouring both bird and human flu viruses, the two strains could interact to create a strain capable of transferring easily to humans.
Chinese scientist Chen Hualan first announced the existence of bird flu in pigs during a conference speech on Friday. She later told journalists that the virus had been discovered in pigs in south-east China's Fujian province in 2003, and in "another place" in 2004. Officials at both the WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said they were unaware of the new development until Ms Chen's comments.
"I think it's something we've long warned can happen. I don't think we're shocked, but we need more details," WHO spokesman Roy Wadia told the French news agency AFP. The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu is currently capable of spreading from poultry to people, but the incidence of cross-species transfer is relatively rare and so far there have been no cases of human-to-human transfer. There is a fear that, if it has spread to pigs, the virus could mutate and form a strain that could then readily transfer to humans. But the WHO cautions that a lot more information is needed before an accurate risk assessment can be made....
Meanwhile bird flu continues to plague many parts of Asia. It ravaged poultry flocks throughout the region earlier this year, and caused the deaths of 27 people in Vietnam and Thailand. A further three people are said to have died from the disease in Vietnam earlier this month. Malaysia is the latest country to report the incidence of the disease in its poultry flock.....
(From BBC NEWS / ASIA-PACIFIC Friday, 20 August, 2004,http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/asia-pacific/3583856.stm)
** In the Quran, Chapter Al-Baqarah verse 173, Allah said, "He hath forbidden you dead meat, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that on which any other name hath been invoked besides that of Allah. But if one is forced by necessity, without wilful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits,- then is he guiltless. For Allah is Oft-forgiving Most Merciful."
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