Speech in the Al Isra’ wal Mi’raj Asy Syarif Celebrations 1431H /2010: Role of Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah in Society
All praises be to Allah, with all forms of praises that I know and those that I do not, will all His bounties that I know of and those that I do not. I bear witness that there is no God to be worshipped except Allah, The One in His Uluhiyah, and Only in his Rububiyah. And I bear witness that Sayyidina Muhammad is Rasulullah, the unique owner of his Siyadah and sole owner of his Za’amah.
Last night, we have concluded our 38th local conference held in conjunction with our Al Isra’ wal Mi’raj celebrations. As for today, in fact, every single day, we, the assembly of tribes and families of Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah will always embrace Rasulullah Sollallahu ‘alahi wasallam by presenting what we have achieved in our journey for him Sollallahu ‘alahi wasallam with that, His Majesty Sollallahu ‘alahi wasallam will accept us among those who are honoured by carrying his banner and those who will defend his A’tab An Nabawiyah.
Verily, the Dandrawi perspective views that Allah Jalla “Ulah has sent Rasulullah ‘alaihi Solawatullah with two inseperable roles for all Muslims: The first role as the Finalising Rasul who establishes Islam and the second as the Unifying Za’im who unites the Muslim Ummah.
By connecting these two roles, everyone will comprehend that the connection signifies the link between religion and life.
The first role revolves around Tasyri’ (Islamic Jurisprudence) which through His Majesty, Islam will be established, while the second role revolves around Insani (humanity) which through His Majesty, human life will be well administered. As for what we know, majority of Muslims live their life in two different systems. The first is the system of religion and the second is the system of social life. With this, we are able to see that in this generation, there are those among the Muslims who prays, performs Zakat, fasts and performs Hajj but at the same time, the moment he steps into working life, he transforms into a different person who is driven by a different sets of rules. This rule is what we call the rule of personal gain. Therefore, he is willing to plan his steps in achieving success with whatever means necessary even if he has to go against Islamic virtues. To them, religion and social life are two different worlds with no connection between both.
To further elaborate these facts, the Dandarawi perspective perceive that the Islamic jurisprudence which was revealed by Rasulullah ‘alaihi Shallawatullah does not only comprise of laws of rituals. Instead, it also comprised of the laws of Khuluqi (demeanors), Ijtima’i (social integration) and Insani (humanity).
The Dandarawi perspective stated that Islam covers four aspect of human life:
- First is Maslak (rituals),
- Second is Suluk (demeanors),
- Third is Manhaj (social integration) and
- Fourth is Minhaj (global unity).
With these, the Dandarawi perspective further emphasize that Islamic jurisprudence does not obligate a Muslim with only rituals but demeanors, social integration and global unity are also compulsory.
If we were to measure the commitment of a Muslim towards Islam we should take into account these four aspects and not just one. Hence, a Muslim cannot be deemed committed if he performs only his rituals but at the same time, he still prioritize himself, ignores his demeanor, his social integration and his global unity. In the eyes of Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah, a good Muslim is a person who performs his ritual obligation, a person who does not prioritize himself, a person who is of noble character, a person who always strive to strengthen ties with his brothers of the same religion of different nationalities.
As for the second role of Rasullullah Sollallahu ‘alahi wasallam, it is called the role of The Unifying Zaim who unites Muslims. This role obligates us to Irtibat (bind) with the self of Rasulullah ‘alaihi Solawatullah.
To Irtibat with the self of Rasulullah is not exclusive to Dandarawi only but is an obligation to all Muslims.
When a Muslim has achieved this Irtibat with His Majesty Sollallahu ‘alaihi wasallam, his self formation will change and he will be the owner of Takwin Muhammadi (Muhammadi self formation). With this, we are able to understand that Irtibat can change a person’s self formation.
As from what we have understood, the self formation of a human comprises of four elements:
- The first is his body,
- Second is his soul,
- Third is his desire and
- Fourth is his mind.
The self formation of a human also covers the aspects of how with these four elements he interacts with other people around him.
When a Muslim starts to bind with the self of His Majesty Sollallahu ‘alaihi wasallam, he is indeed striving to change his self formation so that:
- His body will achieve ‘Afiah (resoulte health)
- His soul will achieve Syafafiyah (transparency)
- His desire will achieve Syamailiyah (selflessness) and
- His mind will achieve Nuraniyah (enlightenment).
Besides that, he is also striving to regulate the interactions of the four elements when he starts to socialize with other people. Therefore:
- His mind will be able to comprehend what he was not able to comprehend before.
- His desire will be able to feel what he had not felt before.
- His soul will be able to accustom itself with anyone whom he was not able to be accustomed to before and
- His body will be able to withstand what he was not able to withstand before.
To elaborate further, I have chosen two elements of self formation for discussion as these two are prone to be the cause of human conflicts. They are the mind and the desire.
The human mind always interact with opinions and views presented. Sometimes it will accept and support and other times it will reject, become fanatic with its own views or go to extremes. What is worse is when it starts to accuse others of blasphemy. Hence, when a person begins to Irtibat with the self of His Majesty ‘alaihi Solawatullah, his mind will comprehend the benefits of having different ideological sects in his society. Therefore, he will participate in their congregations because his mind is prepared to accept the diversities of opinions existing in those ideological sects. Not only his mind is prepared to understand the diversities of opinions presented but he is also able to discover the benefits of those opinions because he comprehends that humans possess different views. With that, he will not hastily object to the opinions of others.
How beautiful it is for the mind of this person in a time where most people comfortably accuse others of apostasy, while some others tend to belittle the opinions of others and others find it difficult to accept the diversities of opinions.
Here, this person is able to free himself from ideological fanaticism. With this, he also will be able to free himself from accusing others of apostasy, Bid’ah, blasphemy and being astray.
All these have further proved that Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah is moulding people who potray readiness to accept diversities of opinions through their self formation.
The second element is the desire. The desire of a human always interacts in the aspect of social status. Sometimes, we can see that some people only socialize with those who are of the same social strata, isolating himself from others who differed from his.
Henceforth, we are able to note how the community interacts today where the intellects only socialize with themselves, distancing themselves from the illiterate. The same is the situation between the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak and the leaders and the followers.
These interactions will damage the human community because it will segregate each social class from one another. Each social class resembles an isolate island with no bridges connecting them to the general community. The segregation of these classes will further weaken that community and hinder its development and progress. Not only that, it may also eliminate their identity and turn them into victims of colonization or turn them into backward societies.
When a person begins to Irtibat with His Majesty Sollallahu ‘alaihi wasallam, his desire will feel the fairness of diversities in social life. He will be able to accept that humans are born with social statuses. However, these statuses do not represent the value of a person. Instead, they are only different in living conditions.
Therefore, he will not envy his brothers who are of different social status. With this, his Irtibat with the self of Rasulullah ’alaihi Shalawatullah becomes a guarantee which prevents him to be a cause in any conflict or at least, he will not contribute anything towards the segregation between members of a social status.
With this, a person who Irtibat will possess the readiness to accept diversities of standards of living in a society and he will also be able to embrace the fairness from these diversities. Furthermore, he will turn them into catalyst which will propel the progress of his society.
Indeed, fanaticism, tendencies to reject and extremism stems from within a person. However, it will surface when the four elements of a human start to interact. So if a person possesses these negative traits, he will certainly be the cause of the segregation of his society and Ummah. Hence, Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah always stress the importance of Irtibat with the self of Rasulullah ‘alaihi Solawatullah in moulding individuals who possess the readiness to accept diversities of opinions and standards of living, individuals who are far from the traits of enmity, individuals who are open minded and ready to unite with others who want to build a strong community and Ummah.
Verily, the Dandarawi perspective is able to produce good citizens who abide the laws of the country who are able to understand politics but do not practice politics. By distancing themselves from the political arenas, Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah is able to preserve its assemblies from political turmoil no matter whoever governs a country. This is one of the secrets as to why Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah is able to exist more than a hundred over years in Islamic communities in various countries.
The Dandarawi perspective also is able to produce exemplary individuals who are moderate and well-balanced. A Dandarawi is not someone who is extraordinary but is normal in his physical appearance where people around him feel he is one of them. However, those around him will be able to feel his difference and specialities once they start to interact with him. They will also be able to observe that he is ready to embrace diversities of ideologies, standards of living, ethnicities and nationalities.
A Dandarawi Muslim exists everywhere because Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah is not an exclusive social model for certain group of people. Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah is indeed a society model which is all encompassing where it is able to bridge and network with any groups of people.
Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah also encompasses people from all walks of life with different professions. There are some who are academics, trades in business, manufacturing, agriculture and so on and so forth. This further proves that Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah exists within the society. Owing to that, the influence Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah has on the society is very strong if all Dandarawi individuals play their part by portraying Takwin Muhammadi. This will promote Intisyar (spreading).
Indeed, Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah comprises of tribes and families. This reality can be seen from its names and terminologies used like ‘Amir Qabail wa A’ilat Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah (The prince of the tribes and families of Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah) and many others. This assembly which unites various tribes and families is undeniably beneficial in this era because it is prevalent upon us that tribes are constantly in conflict and so are families. With this, Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah plays an important role in preserving the continuity of the next generation for tribes and families.
Other than that, the Dandarawi perspective does not only prioritize its members only, it also prioritizes the Anshar (supporters) of Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah. We can also say that Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah pays more attention to gain supporters more than actual members themselves because we always view them as companions who monitor our Masirah and correct us whenever we divert from our objectives.
Finally, I give my Salam to all sons and daughters of Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah who have achieved Takwin Muhammadi to steer our Masirah towards the glory of Islam and nobility of Muslims in their respective communities and the Ummah. With that, thank you.
أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ الْعَظِيمَ لِي وَلَكُمْ. وَالسَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ
This speech was addressed by Al-Amir Hashem ibn Al-Fadl ibn Al-Abbas El Dandarawy, An Naib Al Am for Sumuwwul Amir of the Tribes and Familes of Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah in 2010 and Head of the International Dandara Cultural Centres. Now, he is the current Sumuwwul Amir of this assembly. To understand more about the two roles of Rasulullah ‘alaihi Solawatullah, Al Irtibat and Al Usrah Al Dandaraweyah, please click here to read Translation of Al Watsiqah Al Baidha’ Formation and Model © 2013