At A Point in Time

"Pernah suatu ketika, ada seorang ikhwah yang kuat bekerja. Taklifan demi taklifan diberi kepadanya, sehingga pada suatu masa, akhlaqnya akan berubah. Suasana bersama ikhwah tidak lagi semesra dahulu. Suasana yang dikenalinya hanya suasana yang menekan jiwa dan raga semata. Apabila bermesyuarat bersama ikhwah, dia akan sentiasa menganggap dia seorang sahaja yang membuat kerja, orang lain pula tidak bersungguh. Dia akan mula mengungkit kerja-kerjanya yang terdahulu."

Jangan sampai kita jatuh ke situasi begini. Sekali terlajak, payah hendak berundur. Sepatutnya apabila sudah ada visi dan misi yang jelas, suasana sebegini tidak sepatutnya berlaku. Jangan kerana kerja teknikal, ukhuwah tergadai.

...terus menerus mendidik hati di madrasah tarbiyyah...

Hati saya teruja. Ahlan wa sahlan ya Ramadhan. =)

Ini kisah lama:
Saya jenis yang tidak suka menghafal. Namun kerana sistem pendidikan yang berorientasikan keberjayaan di dalam peperiksaan, saya terpaksalah menghafal fakta-fakta. Terpaksa. Semasa darjah 5 atau 6, saya pernah mengadu kepada ibu saya, yang saya tidak suka akan subjek Kajian Tempatan.

Ibu saya membalas, dengan nada yang lembut dan menenangkan, "You just have to love the subject."

Nasihat yang cantik.

Itulah yang saya pegang selama berada di sekolah menengah dan di INTEC Shah Alam. Kebanyakan subjek yang saya ambil merupakan subjek yang saya tidak minat. Tetapi saya cuba untuk minat, dan terbukti berjaya. Dalam diam, saya berasa seronok utk membuat ulangkaji, mempelajari benda baru, berfikir dgn kritikal tentang sesuatu perkara, dan sbgnya.

Pendek kata: enjoy belajar.

Ini kisah baru:
Semester ini saya perlu mengambil subjek "History: 20th Century Architecture". Subjek yang menarik sebenarnya. Tutor saya Kim Halik; peribadinya macam seorang ahli falsafah. Antara semua subjek yang telah saya ambil sepanjang pengajian di sini, kelas beliaulah yang paling unik.

Apabila berada di dalam kelas, dia akan berbicara mengenai falsafah. Beliau sering menasihati kami agar tidak perlu merujuk apa-apa buku utk menyelesaikan tugasan yang diberi pensyarah. Sebaliknya, duduk dan dengar apa sahaja yang dibentangkan di dalam kuliah. Tulislah apa sahaja yang kita sendiri fikir tentang isi pembentangan dalam sesi kuliah. Tidak perlu merujuk buku. Fikir dan tulis. Dia lebih berminat utk mengetahui apa yang kami fikir daripada tulisan akademik yang mempunyai 3 atau 4 senarai buku rujukan yang telah digunakan.

Minggu lepas, beliau mengetengahkan satu perkara yang menarik.

Mengapa setiap raut wajah di dalam kelas tersebut mempunyai riak risau. Risau memanjang. Bagaimana hendak belajar kalau risau dan tertekan? Umur 21, tapi kedut-kedut tua dah muncul di dahi.

School diambil dari perkataan "schola". Dalam bahasa latin, ia bermaksud "free time". Apabila ada masa lapang, kita akan berfikir. Maka sekolah itu pada asalnya didirikan supaya segolongan masyarakat boleh mencuri sedikit masa untuk keluar dari hiruk pikuk kehidupan dan berfikir ttg sesuatu perkara. Ringkasnya:

School = schola = free time = think!

Maka, kalau kita tiada masa untuk berfikir, kita tidak berada di dalam sekolah. Kita berada di kilang! Buat buat buat, sehingga terhasillah sesuatu produk.

Definisi ini merupakan sesuatu yang amat berlainan dgn definisi sekolah sekarang. Sekarang, sekolah merupakan tempat mengejar markah 3 angka = 100%. Tempat mengejar H1 atau HD. CGPA 4.0 Prestasi akademik itu yang ditekankan dan mereka yang berada di atas digelar hebat. Itulah sekolah sekarang; sekolah moden.

Tetapi perkataan schola barangkali sudah berusia, paling tidak, 2000 tahun. Sekolah moden yang kita kenali pula hanya muncul sekitar 100 tahun yang lepas. Maka, siapa yang lebih mengenali definisi sekolah? Mungkin, kita telah tersasar dalam objektif dan pelaksanaan pembelajaran. Dalam Marxism yang dibawa oleh Karl Max, beliau menyamakan sistem pendidikan dengan sistem kapitalis yang menguasai dunia. Semuanya mengejar materi semata; harta, pangkat, kedudukan, status. Ya, sistem pembelajaran sekarang bukan lagi seperti sistem pembelajaran yang diunjurkan pada asalnya.

Maka, Kim Halik menyarankan kami utk berfikir ttg perkara ini. Dalam hal ini, kita perlu menyediakan masa lapang kita sendiri. Mencuri sedikit masa utk merasai keseronokan bahan-bahan yang diajar dalam silibus. Perlu ada rasa seronok.

Sama seperti nasihat yang diberi ibu saya semasa saya berada di Darjah 5/6.

Sudah lama saya praktikkan sebenarnya, cuma tidak disampaikan kepada orang lain. Kalau ada sekalipun, hanya kata-kata ringkas berbunyi, "Cuba enjoy belajar".

Bagi saya, saya berasa amat teruja dengan setiap ilmu baru yang dipelajari di bumi Melbourne ini. Baik dalam tarbiyah diri, mahupun silibus pembelajaran senibina di RMIT. Sekiranya dicerna dengan baik, saya percaya ia akan membentuk peribadi yang baik kelak.

Apa konklusi entri ini sebenarnya? Mungkin tiada perkaitan dgn subjek-subjek di universiti ataupun mana-mana institusi yang anda ambil sekarang, tetapi saya hendak membawa konteks keseronokan belajar itu ke dalam konteks ibadah kita menjelang bulan Ramadhan al Mubarak esok.

Utk bulan Ramadhan yang akan datang ini, hadirkan keseronokan utk beramal. Sebolehnya kita berlumba mengejar kebaikan. Mari kita pergunakan sebaiknya. Hayati keindahannya, keberkatannya, ketenangan malam-malamnya. Perbanyakkan ibadah kita. Banyakkan membaca Quran. Hafal ayat-ayat Quran. Pasang audio alunan bacaan Al Quran oleh Misyari Rasyid al Afasy, kalau itu yang kita minat. Hidupkan malam-malam dgn solat terawikh. Kita berbuka bersama. Bergembira bersama. Biar kita berpesta beramal sebulan penuh. Moga akhirnya, kita menjadi golongan yang bertaqwa.

Hati saya teruja. Ahlan wa sahlan ya Ramadhan. =)

ps: saya akan cuba utk banyakkan senyum. =) =) =)

Le Corb and mosque

Blue Mosque in Istanbul, formerly known to the Western as Stamboul.

"It must be a silent place facing toward Mecca. It needs to be spacious so that the heart may feel at ease, and high so that prayers may breathe there.

There must be ample diffused light so as to have no shadows; the whole should be perfectly simple; and a kind of immensity must be encompassed by the forms.

The floor must be more spacious than a public square, not to contain great crowds but so that the few who come to pray may feel joy and reverence within this great house.

Nothing should be hidden from view: one enters and sees the immense square covered with golden mats of rice straw, always new, and no furnishings or seats but only a few lecterns close to the ground bearing copies of Koran before which one kneels.

At a glance one sees the four corners, distinctly feels their presence and then construes the great cube perforated by small windows from which spring the four gigantic transverse arches uniting the pendentives; then one sees the crown sparkling with the thousand tney windows of the dome.

Overhead is a vast space whose size one cannot grasp, for the half sphere has the unique charm of eluding measurement.

From above hang innumerable wires; they almost reach the ground to hold rods on which the litle oil lamps are hung, a crystalline procession turning in concentric circles, which in he evening suspends a luminous ceiling over the heads of the faithful; within the encircling band of windows now dimmed, never-ending wires climb toward the top of the dome and disappear in the obscurity of that immense space.

The mihrab, facing the entrance is no more than a door to the Kaab. It has neither protrusions nor depth."

Abstract from a chapter entitled "The Mosques" from Le Voyage d'Orient (Journey to the East) by Le Corbusier.

Undeniably, it must have been a spectacular view being there. From one aspect, it is really amazing how the Muslims achieved such skills to erect the structure. The space, the detailed ornamentations, the materials, the heaviness of the volume, etc.. People come from all over the world to see these amazing monuments of the past. Somehow, as time flies, people's minds were tuned to think that the Muslims have created one of the best structures on earth. It became an instant tourist attraction.

The architecture has evolved greatly from the time of the prophet where mosque were only one story high. It could probably be considered as just a shed because the walls were not allowed to be higher than a man's height. The canopy was just constructed out of leaves from date trees. Just a simple mud construction, made as simple as possible to accommodate the needs of the people to live their lives as Abdullah. Refer to Raheeq Maktum (sirah nabawiyah - book that tells the story of the prophet in detail) for the description.

I'm not trying to make any point or draw some sort of conclusion here. Just "charging the void", as said by Alison and Peter Smithsons (architecture intellectuals). Or maybe Mauro (history lecturer). Just maybe try to spark an idea or perhaps a question. Do the recent mosques reflect our identity as Muslims? Our achievements in the past, just a few decades back were really great. The buildings were the immediate sign of our once great civilisation. That is normal. Great civilisations were often reflected in the structure that they left behind. Just like the Romans, Greek, China, Egypt and so forth.

People were fascinated by the space and structure of the mosque. They are more interested in the building rather than the purpose of the building and the inhabitants of the building.

Do they realise that the mosque were the centre of the life in the past? They were the only buildings to be built out of the best materials and craftiness, whereas the markets, houses, shops and other buildings surrounding the mosquesa were built from wood. Every once in a while, fire would rampage throughout the city and destroyed all but the mosque. Then, they were rebuilt. Human activities became bustling once more. Trades, shops, cafes, etc flourished again and again. Life was resurrected a lot of time. Despite all that, the mosque still stood there, standing in the middle of the town, attracting the faithful to pray 5 times a day congregation, reciting the verses that were bestowed upon mankind hundreds of years ago.

What is the situation now? I am not being pesimistic but I can probably say that mosques are just another project to be included in the town planning scheme to cater the needs of some Muslims who wants pray.

Were the tourist who visited the mosques interested in the prayers? They might be, but in Le Corbusier's case, I doubt it. He was just seeing these things as an architect. That is his religion. (People say architecture can be addictive. Well, it is kind of true. Architecture historians can preach on one simple lightweight chair for 1 hour if they want to.) Anyway, when they see people pray, what do they see? Aerobics? Sports? Yoga? An act of submission to a black building in Mecca? Manifestation of the submission to Allah? Wallahualam. Anyway, thats them. I wonder how we as Muslims see the vitality of the prayer.

So, where am I getting here? As I said just now, just charging the void. Its an open ended discussion with opportunites to argue, comment, question, ponder upon, etc..