Kematian: Beda pandangan antara Islam dan sekuler.

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(Bagian ke dua ratus delapan, Depok, Jawa Barat, Indonesia, 17 Februari 2015, 05.59 WIB)

Kematian: Beda pandangan antara Islam dan sekuler.

Kematian menurut Islam tentu berbeda dengan sekuler (atau pandangan lain).

Kematian (atau meninggal) menurut pandangan Islam adalah berakhirnya masa kehidupan manusia tinggal di bumi (atau tengah tinggal di alam semesta lain).

Berakhirnya hidup manusia ditandai dengan dicabutnya roh oleh malaikat maut dari tubuh manusia, Sampai saat ini manusia tidak bisa mengetahui kapan persisnya dia akan mati, kecuali Allah telah memberitahu manusia di dalam Al Quran, bahwa kematian itu telah ditentukan Allah di dalam kitab:"Lauh Mahfuzh" .

Rasulullah shallallahu alaihi wa sallam bersabda : “Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala telah menetapkan semua takdir seluruh makhluk sejak lima puluh ribu tahun sebelum Allah menciptakan langit dan bumi”. (HR. Muslim no. 2653).

“Tiada suatu bencanapun yang menimpa di bumi dan (tidak pula) pada dirimu sendiri melainkan telah tertulis dalam kitab (Lauh Mahfuzh) sebelum Kami menciptakannya. Sesungguhnya yang demikian itu adalah mudah bagi Allah”. (QS. Al-Hadid : 22).

Bahwa manusia mati melalai berbagai cara, itu adalah sebab yang juga telah ditentukan Allah, baik akibat sakit, kecelakaan, musibah lain seperti Tsunami, sakit jantung, dan ribuan penyebab lain.

Jadi manusia hidup berapa tahun, manusia tidak tahu secara pasti, yang bisa para dokter pun hanya menduga-duga saja.

Kematian, menurut Islam , adalah tahap awal dari kehidupan abadi manusia, yaitu alam akherat, apakah nanti setelah dihisab Allah dia akan abadi di Surga, atau di neraka.

Pandangan mengenai kematian inilah yang dianut Mujahidin Afghanistan ketika berhasil mengalahkan tentara komunis Uni Soviet, dan kini juga diterapkan para pejuang Muslim lainnya, yang memandang kematian , apalagi kematian dalam membela agama dipandang sebagai mati sahid, mati sahid di dalam al Quran sebagai kematian suci yang dijamin Allah masuk Sorga.

Nah pendekatan kematian menurut Islam ini tentu hanya dipercayai dengan pendekatan orang beriman, yang percaya firman Allah di Al Quran dan Hadist (Sabda) Nabi Muhammad SAW,

Jadi bila kematian dilihat darisudut pandang sekuler, ya berbeda, karena konsep kehidupan manusia dari sudut pandang sekuler yang hanya sepanjang manusia hidup, bisa 100 tahun, atau 1000 tahun, zaman Nabi Nuh,

Tapi, menurut Islam kehidupan manusia yang hakiki adalah kehudupan abadi (tanpa batas umur di akherat.

Jadi, menurut Islam, manusia itu akan merugi kalau tidak memanfaatkan waktu yang singkat di dunia , terutama persiapan di akherat, bagaimana persiapan itu dilakukan, semua ada tuntunannya di Al Quran dan Hadist.

Sedangkan pandangan sekuler, tuntunannya hanya ada akal atau instink manusia, yang sangat terbatas, jauh dibandingkan ilmu Allah yang telah menciptakan alam semesta termasuk akal dan instink manusia diciptakan Allah.

Sebagai manusia cerdas dan berakal, lalu apakah kita hanya mengandalkan akal kita sendiri yang sangat terbatas, dibandingkan dengan Ilmu Allah yang tanpa batas.

Itulah sebabnya pasukan Mujahidin dimana pun mereka berjuang melawan musuh agama Allah selalu memiliki pasukan berani mati, masuk ke jantung musuh dengan penuh bom di dada. Karena melalui cara ini mereka memandang mempercepat mereka masuk surga, Mereka tentu saja tidak takut mati dalam berjuang, walaupun dengan senjata sederhana, melawan musuh yang memiliki senjata canggih. Jadi kekuatan mereka 90 persen didukung semangat juang dan semangat fisabilillah, yang memandang kematian, seperti Firman Allah para pejuang yang mati sahid itu sesungguhnya tidak mati menurut pandangan Allah.

Jadi kematian menurut Islam harus dilihat dari kacamata orang beriman (Muslim yang percaya Al Quran dan Hadist).

Musuh Islam di zaman modern tentu saja berbeda dengan zaman era Nabi Muhammad, bila dulu adalah para pembangkang (penyembah berhala) yang selalu menyerang umat Islam, kini dalam bentuk lain, misalnya telah mencoba menghina Islam seperti melecehkan agama Islam dan Nabi Muhammad, mencoba menghina Nabi dan sahabatnya, mencoba membuat nabi baru , menggunakan kitab Suci baru dan berbeda, atau jelas-jelas menyimpang seperti mengangap nabi sebagai anak tuhan (Menyekutukan Tuhan)

Kalau manusia tahu (beriman) bahwa hidup di akherat jauh lebih mulia dibandingkan hidup di dunia yang menurut pandangan Allah hina dina ini, manusia beriman akan mendahulukan berangkat ke Mekah, untuk naik haji/umroh, dibandingkan jalan-jalan ke New York, Paris, atau kota lain selain Mekah dan Madinah, karena selain akan menjerumuskan kita akan maksiat syahwat mata, sayhwat zinah, dan pemborosan harta sia-sia, tanpa pahala. Beda kalau Berhaji/Umroh, selain pahala besar kalau ibadahnya diterima (ikhlas dan menggunakan uang halal) juga akan menghapus dosa.

Dari pada kita naik kereta vip yang mahal, lebih baik naik kelas ekonomi, uang berlebih bisa kita sedekahkan untuk yang berhak, sebagai bekal di akherat.

Memang ujian yang berat adalah ketika kita dititipin Allah berupa kekayaan berlebih, karena kalau kita tidak bersyukur akan membuat kita sombong dan lebih mencintai dunia dibandingkan akherat. Juga titipan berupa kekuasaan membuat kita angkuh dan sombong pada Firman Allah dan Sabda (Hadist). Lihat saja perempuan-perempuan Muslim, yang dengan sombongnya berjalan dimuka bumi dengan menentang firman Allah yang mewajibkan perempuan itu mengenakan hijabnya. Lihat saja kebijakan wanita lemah iman itu biasanya dikendalikan oleh syahwat kekuasaan yang dibujuk rayu iblis dan syaitan dengan mengangkat pejabat yang korup dan haus kekuasaan dan tidak berbuat adil.

People walk past television screens displaying a news program about an Islamic State video showing Japanese captive Kenji Goto, on a street in Tokyo Jan. 28, 2015. REUTERS/Yuya Shino

The grisly killing of Jordanian pilot Mouath al-Kasaesbeh by burning him alive sent shock waves across the globe and brought heaps of condemnation from political and religious leaders of all stripes against the new heights of macabre of which Islamic State proved capable. Horror and sickening disgust may represent enlightened persons’ natural reaction to this barbarity, but beyond the condemnation, it is important to understand its reasons and likely consequences in the tumultuous context in which the Islamic State phenomenon has been playing out. Several questions arise in this regard.

The first is whether Islamic State brutality represents the frenzied unleashing of sadism on the part of psychopathic leaders, or a deliberate strategy intended to boost its “larger than life” image and cast a terrifying shadow that makes adversaries tremble and its followers cheer. The consistent manner in which Islamic State has been executing its “reign of terror” suggests the latter. The organization issues pamphlets in which the rape of female captives is justified, routinely strews the heads of victims throughout the city of Raqqa, its “capital,” and engages in other activities attesting that for Islamic State, brutality is not a whim but a matter of core policy.

No less important is the question of whether the strategy works. Judging from Islamic State successes so far, the answer seems affirmative. Since September 2014, as the United States continued its campaign of air strikes against Islamic State, the group has nearly doubled its Syrian domain, and it is now increasingly active in Libya. Admittedly, Islamic State’s triumphant march cannot be fully ascribed to its brutality and barbarism.  Yet brutality and barbarism are part and parcel of its brand, whereby it sets itself apart from competing groups like al Qaeda. It is that special brand that excites thousands of foreign fighters (30,000 according to last estimates) and drives them to risk life and limb on Islamic State’s behalf. By this measure, atrocities that Islamic State perpetrates certainly contribute their share to its accomplishments.

A Jordanian girl holds a poster of pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh in Amman Febr. 2, 2015. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed

So what is it about bizarre ways of killing and the cult of death that has such a magnetic appeal to so many? Sigmund Freud famously highlighted humans’ profound fascination with sadism and masochism by postulating adeath instinct, a universal force that governs the dark side of our psyche. The enigma of death and dying has mesmerized people from time immemorial, bringing thousands of cheering Romans to watch Christians being devoured by lions or gladiators being slaughtered by their victors. The luster of death has hardly dimmed over the centuries. In the not-too-distant American past, lynchings in the South attracted large audiences, as state-sponsored beheadings and stonings in Saudi Arabia and other nations ruled by Sharia law do today. The proliferation and popularity of TV shows that feature cruel and bizarre ways of killing prove that fascination with death isn’t reserved for “another place,” and that morbid curiosity about grisly atrocities has a respected seat in the living rooms of ordinary Americans.

Watching, of course, is hardly the same as doing. One may abhor and be disgusted by what one sees while continuing to ogle it. There is in our psyche a battle between “good and evil,” andcivilization works by restraining our destructive impulses and allowing their expression in highly sublimated forms. It is OK to watch atrocities on TV and images of beheadings, but it is profoundly unacceptable to engage in any kind of authentic violence. This allows us to let off our (destructive) steam, which affords catharsis without presumably causing any real damage to society.

The tranquility of the social order is upset, however, when the societal narrative is turned to sanction real violence. This often happens when a category of people is demonized –  depicted as less-than-human, despicable vermin that merits no sympathy or consideration. Destroying the scourge is reframed as the good, justifying all violence in its aid. In the case of Islamic State, their take on Islam provides such a justifying narrative, twisting the Koranic spirit to legitimize unrestrained mayhem against the alleged enemies of Allah.

Once unbounded from societal restraints, unmitigated violence holds multiple attractions to its practitioners. For one, it instills a primordial fear in the hearts of its enemies. The very idea of dying is profoundly scary to most people; the idea of dying in incredibly humiliating and painful circumstances multiplies the dread. In addition, the dispensation of cruel and unusual punishment lends the perpetrator an aura of overriding force of godlike proportions. It creates a myth of potency that many people, especially those disempowered and belittled, may find irresistible. Identification with an aggressor is a way to feel powerful and safe. “I am the danger,” quips Walter White to his wife Skylar in a striking episode of the TV series Breaking Bad. He means to reassure her and allay her anxieties because the role of perpetrator is antithetical to that of victim, and there is psychological safety in being at the initiating (rather than receiving) end of violence.

Finally, though not of least importance, the readiness to go to extremes of cruelty by disregarding universal norms of humanity and compassion signals a depth of commitment to a cause — a total devotion and assurance in its justness and utter legitimacy. Such confidence, too, is compelling and of particular appeal to people who are confused, uncertain and perplexed. The untold violence that Islamic State practices attests to the depth of its ideological commitment. It thus provides a much desired sense of purpose and personal significance to those who join the group.

These strategic advantages notwithstanding, there is another crucial side to heinous violence that bodes ill for its perpetrators: The unleashing of evil mobilizes a concerted effort to defeat it on behalf of the good. It unleashes one’s own powers of destruction to eradicate the plague. The outrage and disgust that grisly cruelty evokes can create a powerful backlash; previously separate factions can unite behind a sacred purpose and feel empowered to put an end to the atrocity. Before the execution of al-Kasaesbeh, the Jordanian population was polarized in its attitudes toward Islamic State; it spoke in resolute unison afterward. Other voices in the Middle East and elsewhere echoed the outrage and grim resolve of the Jordanians. Possibly then, this time Islamic State may have crossed a red line, and the advantages it used to reap from its unbounded violence may be offset by the storm of outrage that gathers against it. (Reuters)