Vice President Visits the tomb of Sheikh Ibn Athaillah As Sakandari, Author of the Book of Al Hikam

Cairo, wapresri.go.id – In the middle of the agenda in Cairo, Vice President KH Ma’ruf Amin and Mrs. Hj. Wury Ma’ruf Amin took the time to visit the Tomb of Sheikh Ibn Athaillah, the author of the book Al Hikam which is quite famous among scholars and students, Saturday (05/11/2022).

Publicly known, on many occasions, the Vice President often quoted Ibn Athaillah’s opinion. One of them was when he gave directions at the 47th Anniversary of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) at the Sultan Hotel, Jakarta on Tuesday (26/07/2022), the Vice President quoted Ibn Athaillah’s opinion that all differences or diversity in this world needed not to be a concern, what we needed to worry about is the impulse of uncontrollable lust. The relevance to the life of the nation is that there should be no group ego that can damage unity.

For information, Ibn Athaillah was a leading Sufi in the world whose full name was Sheikh Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Abdul Karim bin Athaillah As-Sakandari. He was born in Alexandria (Egypt) in 648 H/1250 AD and died in Cairo in 709 H/1309 AD. The nickname As-Sakandari refers to his hometown, Alexandria.

Ibn Athaillah’s family was a family educated in a religious environment, the grandfather of his father’s lineage was a fiqh scholar at his time. Ibn Athaillah lived in Egypt during the Mamluk dynasty.

Since childhood, Ibn Athaillah was known to love to learn. He gained knowledge from several sheiks gradually. His closest teacher was Abu Al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Ali Al-Ansari Al-Mursi, a student of Abu Al-Hasan Al-Syadzili, the founder of the Al-Syadzili order.

In the field of fiqh, he adhered to and mastered the Maliki School, while in the field of Sufism he was a follower and leader of the Al-Syadzili tradition.

Many of the teachings of Sufism embedded in Ibn Athaillah were obtained after he practiced his religious knowledge, with frequent meetings with Sufis who in the end could change his pattern of life and follow the lives of the Sufis, among his teachers were Sheikh Abul Abbas al Mursi, Nadruddin al Munir, Syarafuddin al Dimyati, Al Muhyil al Mazani, Syamsuddin al Asfaham.

After he had a strong religious foundation and had received Sufism teachings from his teachers, then he moved to Cairo, Egypt, and taught Sufism to his students at Al Azhar University. Among his students there were famous scholars such as Imam Taqiyyuddin al Subki, Abu Abbas Ahmad bin Malik and Daud bin Bahla.

The main points of Ibn Athaillah’s thoughts

In the field of fiqh, Ibn Athaillah adhered to and controlled the Maliki school of thought. While in the field of Sufism, he was a follower and leader of the al-Syadzili tarekat. He was widely known as the third great sheik in the Syadziliyah Sufi order. Here are some thoughts of Ibn Athaillah:

First, it is not recommended for his students to leave their worldly professions. In terms of his views on proper clothing, food, and vehicles in a simple life, he will cultivate gratitude to Allah and know the grace of Allah.

Second, do not ignore the application of Islamic law. He was one of the Sufi figures who took the path of Sufism almost in the same direction as Al-Ghazali, namely a Sufism based on the Qur’an and Sunnah.

Third, zuhud does not mean having to stay away from the world because basically zuhud is emptying the heart other than God. The world that the Sufis hate is a world that neglects and enslaves humans. The pleasures of this world are the behavior of lust, endless desires, and insatiable lust.

Fourth, there is no obstacle for the salik to become a rich millionaire, as long as his heart does not depend on the wealth he has. A seeker may seek wealth, but do not neglect Him and do not become a slave to the world.

Fifth, trying to respond to what is currently threatening people’s lives, trying to bridge the spiritual dryness experienced by people who are only busy with worldly affairs, with the passive attitude experienced by many salik.

Sixth, Sufism is the practice of the soul in the context of worship and placing oneself following the provisions of Allah. For Sheikh Athaillah, Sufism has four important aspects, namely having a character with the morals of Allah SWT, always carrying out His commands, being able to control his lusts, and trying to always be together and eternally with Him in earnest.

Seventh, concerning ma’rifat Al-Syadzili, he argued that ma’rifat is one of the goals of Sufism that can be obtained in two ways; ‘mawahib’, that is, God gives it without effort and He chooses for himself the people who will be given the gift; and ‘makasib’, namely ma’rifat will be obtained through one’s hard work, through ar-riyadhah, dhikr, ablution, fasting, sunnah prayers, and other righteous deeds.

Ibn Athaillah’s works

Ibn Athaillah was a prolific scholar. No less than 20 written works that he has produced, covering the fields of Sufism, interpretation, hadith, creed, nahwu, and fiqh proposals.

Some of them are Kitab Al-Hikam (Wisdom), Al-Lathai’f Manaqib Abil al-Abbas al-Mursi wa Sheikh Abi al-Hasan (Blessings in the Life of Abu Abbas al-Mursi and his Guru Abu Hasan), Miftah al-Falah wa Mishbah al-Arwah (Key to Success and Spiritual Illumination), At-Tanwir fi Isqath at-Tadbir (Exposition of the Approach to the Shadziliah Order), Taj al-Arus (Ways of Purification of the Soul), and Kitab al-Qaul al-Mujarrad fi al -Ismi al-Mufrad.

Kitab Al-Hikam is a very popular book in the Islamic world for centuries, until today. This book is also the main reading in almost all Islamic boarding schools in the archipelago. (DMA/LHS-BPMI Setwapres)