An Introduction to Masturat Jamaat - Pt 5

Hazrat Mufti Mahmud Hassan Gangohi rahmatullah alayhi wrote, "Upon the request of the women, Rasulullah sallalaahu alayhi wassalam fixed a day of the week and a venue for women, to gather (to be addressed by him). In addition to this, women used to approach the Prophet's sallalaahu alayhi wassalam wives to learn and to ask questions. This is all reported in the Ahadith." He continued, "It is utmost importance for some arrangement to be made to teach women. Of course, it is necessary that such arrangements conform with the Shari'ah. For example, they should attend a venue in their locality donned in hijab and not in the company of non-mahram. If one of the women has to read from a book or say something, her voice should not reach any non-mahram male. No loudspeakers should be used and the women should not gather without good purpose. If they need to go to another locality, they should be accompanied by a mahram. If the regulations of the Shari'ah are flouted, evil will be the only product. May Allah save us from that."

Weeks passed by and we continued to spend our weekend for two and half hours every week. She would join the closed ladies circle of knowledge in the house whilst I would wait for her in the the adjoining masjid. When we took our children along, I would take care of our baby boy in the masjid, while our two elder daughters joined their mama in masturat ta'leem. Men are expected to take care of their children so that their wives would get full benefit from ta'leem, uninteruptted by children.

Meanwhile, after the weekly mesyuarah that I attended at Kuala Lumpur markaz, without discussing it first with my wife, I decided to enter my name for the first time for three days short tour in masturat jamaat. I then set for tafakud together with the other few brothers who also intended to go in masturat jamaat (as I said earlier, there were not many persons involved in masturat effort then). In masturat effort, the tartib and usool (rules and regulations) in accordance to Shariah concerning women are very strictly adhered to in order to preserve the chastity of womenfolk. For example, I first learnt that women's names are not to be written in the prepared sheet. It is sufficient just to enter the husband's name who represents the couple.

I felt a little awkward during my first tafakud for masturat jamaat. Tafakud is the aamal where a couple of responsible brothers would interview each individual men who are destined to travel in the same jamaat. What is your experience in masturat effort? Have you taken your wife to masturat ta'leem? Will you be using your own transport? (among other things asked). If everything is satisfactory, an amir or a leader among them will then be appointed. Only then, the jamaat will be endorsed and given a route. 

All the jamaat formed will then be briefed of the tartib and usool of masturat jamaat. I must say that having listened to the briefing for the first time, I was astonished at the details and strictness of the rules and regulations in relation to the masturat effort, especially in preserving and elevating the chastity of Muslim women. So much so that there is one usool above the others, "Let the hearts break, but let not the usool break." 

An Introduction to Masturat Jamaat - Pt 4

A marriage vows in Islam means the passing of huge responsibilities from the bride's guardian to the groom to do his utmost to safe the bride from the torment of Jahannam and guide her into the blessing of Jannah. That was the essence of a khutbah nikah (marriage sermon) that I, for the first time, heard in a marriage ceremony in India during my dakwah and tabligh journey there sometime ago. I had never heard such thing before. Not even during my marriage ceremony. The practice of khutbah nikah is alien in our country, at least not in the form that I've witnessed in India. The short speech was full of advices and moral exhortation. 

Anyway, for quite some time, the mere mentioned of masturat ta'leem had invited extended negative rambling and nagging from my wife. I had to instantly kill the subject partly because I have short temper, but mainly because I knew I did not get it right the first time. But I have no choice - as a husband and a father, I could not just shove away my responsibilities towards my wife and my children in respect of Deen. There is no compromise. I had to find the solution.

Alas, alhamdulillah, in the midst of my troublesome, my wife befriended a few wives of my karkun friends who made occasional ziyarah at our house. From their visits, my wife had learnt about another place that host weekly masturat ta'leem not far from our area. Actually, I had known the place even before I first took my wife to her first 'disastrous' masturat ta'leem. But I threw away the idea of bringing her to this place thinking that the latter large double-storey bungalow house would appease her more than the simple rustic single-storey wooden house. And how I had gravely misjudged my wife! 

It was the simple unadorned wooden house that opened up again the pathway for her to the effort of Deen. Open door and open arms, everything had gone perfectly well this time. My impure corrupted heart was astonished when she came out from her long-overdue second masturat ta'leem in jovial mood and full of praises to the host. It was totally contrary to her first 'bad experience'. It was a priceless lesson to me that I know I could not get by merely reading kitaabs. What my wicked mind thought as unpleasant and objectionable, turned out to be pleasant, splendid and delightful. Allah Ta'ala only requires pure concern for Deen from us, nothing more, nothing less.

In awe-struck, I was thankful to Allah that my plan for our first three days tour together in masturat jamaat was right back on course.

An Introduction to Masturat Jamaat - Pt 3

Hazrat Ali radiyalaahu anhu, as regards this statement, "Ward off from yourselves and your families a Fire" (surah tahrim 66:5), has said, "Teach good to your household." In Tafsir Tabari, it is is like this, "Give them education and teach them good manners." No doubt men would have to shoulder this heavy burden. Nevertheless, womenfolk, being wives and mothers, the hands that rocked the cradles are the first madrasah-like institutions to the children. Since the time of Rasulullah sallalaahu alayhi wassalam and the Companions radiyalaahu anhum, it has always been the case, and it will continue to be the case that women manage the household, educate the children, whilst men go for jihad and work for provisions for the families. Thus, the piety of a mother would have huge impact in the development of pious generations and society at large. 

Without experience and with limited knowledge that I have from conversing with those brothers who had been with masturat jamaat, I began the first step in introducing the effort of masturat jamaat to my wife. It was a disastrous result.  Not knowing how to explain to her and for fear of outright rejection which I was not ready to swallow, I simply rushed her to go for the weekly ta'leem masturat one weekend. Ta'leem masturat is an amal where ladies from the surrounding areas would gather in a specific house to listen to the knowledge imparted. This amal is exclusively for ladies. It is conducted once a week for two and a half hours (usually on weekend) at a specific time and specific place. 

Perhaps I was too eager and impatient in my effort. I simply told her that there was a 'ladies-only' invitation at a friend's house not far away. After some coaxing and convincing, she finally agreed to attend the house gathering. I drove her to the doorsteps of the house and made her enter the house to her annoyance and hesitation. Silly me! What was I thinking at that time? I could not blame her for feeling awkward in entering a stranger's house without anyone that she knew. The truth is I, myself did not even know the house-owner in person. At the end of her first ta'leem masturat, my wife came out with blazing fury.

"You left me with total strangers!", she said. "I felt out of place. I don't know anyone. I don't know where I was suppose to sit. I don't even know who the host is!" And her complaint and nagging continued until we reached home. I realised I had made some errors and I knew then it would be an uphill tasks for me.

An Introduction to Masturat Jamaat - Part 2

Before I focussed my attention towards masturat effort, I used to carry a wayward thought about the few brothers (at that time) who were involved in masturat jamaat. I thought of them as a little 'softies' and even the way they interacted did not appease me. Perhaps my head was clouded with the idea that masturat jamaat was about men serving women. But it just proved how naive I was about the masturat effort.


The object of dakwah and tabligh effort in general is to bring Deen alive in the entire world. The object of masturat jamaat in particular is to bring one hundred percent of Deen alive into the lives of every single women. This is the utmost importance, since nobody can ever be successful if he/she does not have Deen. No person can claim that he/she is pious and does not have to go in jamaat because of his/her piety. There is no end to piety. The person who claims to be pious is in reality the one who is most in need of going out in jamaat. The effort in jamaat is not confined to those who are far away from Deen and who are living on the streets but it is also and more important for those who are regular in solaah, zikr, tilawah, etc. to go out in jamaat in order to perfect these actions, to develop devotion and concentration in solaah and zikr, etc. and also to bring others (who are away from Deen) more closer to Allah Ta'ala. Masturat jamaat enables the womenfolk also to propagate this Deen directly to other women.  

My wife had been regularly sitting in the circle of fadha'il ta'leem at home together with my children. Every night after Isya', I and my wife would alternately read the kitab - Fadha'il Amal. At that point of time, when her reading came to the chapter on virtues of dakwah and tabligh, she would stop reading and passed the kitaab to me to continue. I then realised that my other-half was still not willing to accept or support my involvement in the effort of dakwah and tabligh. She could see the benefits of ta'leem, but she still could not see any benefit to her and the children in being left by her husband, travelling in tours of dakwah and tabligh.

I just could not ignore the fact that true happiness in marriage and family only will come if both husband and wife, and all the children share the same thing - one mindset and one heartfelt. For the non-believers, they find it in fulfilling the common worldly desires. For us Muslims, we will find it in bringing the complete Deen in our lives. Thus, I started another quest for an effort to bring the work of dakwah and tabligh in my family. I thought, "If she is not ready for it - and nobody that I knew was gladly ready for it at first, including myself - I would present it to her in such a way that she would have no reason not to accept it."

An Introduction to Masturat Jamaat - Part 1

About two or three years after my journey of dakwah and tabligh to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh for three chillah (four months), I still did not place serious thought about the importance of involving me and my wife in masturat jamaat. Not until my friends, Salman Kantani and Sufi Hassan, came back from their first three days of dakwah and tabligh tour in masturat jamaat, together with their respective wives. 

I remember Salman had just been married at that time. His parents had rejected the idea of him marrying a daughter of any karkun (tablighi). All sort of unreasonable excuses and vindication were placed before him. Perhaps they are not ready to accept another tablighi in the family, or they might have thought that a lady-partner not associated with dakwah and tabligh effort would eventually subdue and abrogate the 'extremism' in their son's way of life. 

And it followed that with full blessing from his parents and barakah, Salman uttered the sacred vow of nikah to a fine lady who would later became one of the closest friends of my wife. As much as I want to say, "And they live happily ever after...", the best part did not end here. A couple of months after their marriage, the newly-wed couple, together with Sufi Hassan and his wife had embarked onto a tour of faith for three days for the first time in masturat jamaat.

Verily Allah Most High ordains the attainment of felicity (attainment of desires, happiness, success, propserity, freedom from anxiety in this world and the next) of mankind, men or women, in the practices of the perfect deen, insofar as he/she obeys Allah Most High and His Rasul. Women are greater in number than men in today's population of the world, whereas the number of children are larger than women. When womenfolks understood and have concern for deen, they will revive the environment of deen in their houses. When the environment of deen prevails in the houses of Muslims, there will come forth pious children - male & female - alim and alimah, hafiz and hafizah, mujahid and mujahidah.

Back from their three days tour in masturat jamaat, both Salman Kantani and Sufi Hassan did not waste time at all in alluring me with their karguzari (narration and description) of the tour in masturat jamaat. The magnetism of their karguzari  had kept me listening to them for almost two hours in my car right from after Isya' prayer.And that was the first time anyone had ever put a serious thought on me about the importance of involving my wife in masturat jamaat.


And both Salman and Sufi Hassan had started a delightful episode of their lives having their respective wives as a driving force behind their intensifying effort of dakwah and tabligh. By the grace of Allah Most High, I surely would not let myself miss the ride!

Sufi Hassan

Every night after Isya' solaah at our masjid, one of us would read hadith and commentaries from the kitaabs Fadhail Aamal and Muntakhab Ahadith to all musoleen. It is one of the daily masjid amal that originates back since 1997. There were a smaller number of musoleen in our old small wooden surau/masjid back then.

One night as any other nights, after the ta'leem of Fadhail Aamal had been read, we all headed own ways. Some of the more blessful among us continued the amal scheduled to fulfill the two and half hours, some headed straight back home, whilst some went for a night session of  chai with friends. None of us, however, were aware of the presence of a lone figure behind the wall in the surau separating the men sections.

Haji Hassan had been listening attentively to the hadith on virtues of zikrullah (remembrance of Allah) that had been read that night. He had begun the first day of i'tikaaf at our surau, unnoticed by everyone. Although he lived not far away, he had never been to our surau and he did not know why he had chosen to make i'tikaaf there. Haji Hassan had been in the sufi order (tarekat)of Naqsyabandi for 18 years, and having cited tens of thousand of wirid, durood sharif and istighfar. But never had his heart and soul been rocked and taken away by the words of Allah Most High and His most beloved Prophet sallalaahu alayhi wassalam as he felt that night. This prompted him to sneak onto the pages of Fadha'il Aamal while everyone was not around. The more hadith that he read, the more ecstasy they made him felt. He jotted a few hadith down in his note book.

In the morning, still managed to avoid our attention, he quietly observed us. After our daily mesyuarah (consultation) after subuh solaah, we would sit quietly in the surau until the time of isyrak for our daily wirid of tasbeehat, durood and istighfar. Unknown to us, the environment or mahul in the surau had really excited him. Even our sitting postures amazed him. It is customary for him to sit with both knees up and wrapped both his arms around the knees when he is making zikir. He thought it was offensive to sit like that. When he saw some amongst us sat in the same posture, he was overcame with awe. Little did he know that it is one of the sunnah ways of sitting.

On the third day of his i'tikaaf at our surau, he started to make himself visible to us. Quickly and easily, he get himself acquainted with all of us karkuns especially when he quoted familiar hadith and sayings of pious predecessors in the conversation. At that time, we were not aware that he had extensively been reading from Fadha'il Amal for 3 days in the surau. 

Sufi Hassan has a high-pitched tone when conversing. His conversation is always full of enthusiasm. At times he could be blunt and direct. But at the same time, he is witty and fun to be with. So far that I knew him, his bluntness or priceless humor quotes always related to deen. What I like most about Sufi Hassan is his spontaneous actions or reactions that reflect his sincerity. For instance, he would utter, "Terima kasih, Allah!" (Thank You, Allah!) when he suddenly remembered things or names, or "Ampunkan aku, Allah!" (Pardon me, Allah!) if he was unsure of things or names, in the midst of conversations. To some people it was funny, when actually, he was dead serious. Another instance is that he see all things, no matter how negligible it is, happened by the Will and Wisdom of Allah - something that most people failed or ignored to reflect.

Prior to his first 3-days tour of dakwah, as I said earlier, Sufi Hassan had been engaged in tarekat or sufism of Naqshabandi order, practising excessive wirid, zikr and durood. He even had a dream of being repeatedly stamped by a man with the word 'Muhammad' all over his body, the level according to him, is termed as "qulluman jasad". He was then taken to meet Rasulullah sallalaahu alayhi wassalam who was sitting together with Hazrat Abu Bakar, Umar, Usman and Ali radiyalaahu anhum. In his dream, he was told that they liked his excessive recitation of durood shariff. Having said that, Sufi Hassan concluded that the ecstasy that he experienced during the past 18 years of his sufism practices is incomparable with his first 3-days tour of dakwah & tabligh effort. I guess one will never know how the feeling was until one experienced it oneself. 

   

The Story of Salman Kantani

It has long been a tradition that every year, many bright young Malaysians students are sent to study in universities in United Kingdom, among other places. Having spent two to four years abroad, their return was keenly awaited by people close to their heart whom they had not seen for ages. The homecoming would typically come with with souveniers and gifts - a pair of rejected Clark shoes from Tommy Ball for elder brother, an England red rose rugby jersey for younger brother, a Liverpool or Manchester United away football jersey for kid brother, a couple of London t-shirt for kid sister, plenty of porno mags for close friends, and loads of Yorkie chocolate bars for everyone else.

A number of these young men surprised their parents and family members as soon as they arrived at the airport. Everyone at the airport expected to see a sharp-dressed young man with Bruberry jacket and Marks & Spencer pants at the arrival gate. Instead, emerging from the gate was a bearded chap with white skull cap on the head, wearing all white kurta and shalwar. Ironically, even those graduates from the universities in Egypt and Syria came back with fancy jacket and pants!

He was one of the many young Malaysians university graduates who came back from the United Kingdom a changed man. Bestowed with unpronounceable real name, he is known to us all as Salman, following the sahabi Salman the Persian radiyalaahu anhu. I first met him at our small old wooden surau/masjid. He had then spent time in the path of Allah after his graduation to Pakistan prior to returning home. Though a lot younger than me in age, I consider him as one of my mentors in the work of dakwah and tabligh. He progressed well in tabligh effort at younger age. His presence in our mohalla had opened up fikr for younger generations. But at the same time, he had been subjected to much taunting, trials and tribulations from the elderly people in our mohalla. The worst trials, unfortunately, came from his own parents. In the face of those adverse circumstances, he remained steadfast.

It really is not easy to try to live simple when the world around you expects you to live on the fast lane. When his peers looked for glamourous time consuming job, he opted for a teaching job that would secure him time for 40 days or four months for the effort and the advancement of his own iman and aamal. When his peers look forward for high wages and high-flying positions in large corporations, he opted for a low profile job that could give him more time to obtained piety and virtues in this world and rewards and benefits in the aakhirah. To me, really, when his peers are caught onto the web of slavery, he opted for being a master of his own time.

Sometimes whenever laziness overcame me and decided not to go to markaz, for instance, Allah Most High frequently used Salman Kantani to suddenly pop-out in front of my house on his motor-bike, asking whether we were ready to go to markaz for our weekly i'tikaaf. It was always the case for me, after seeing his big grin, alhamdulillah, my idleness instantly turned to liveliness, as I grabbed my bedding  for another fruitful night at the markaz. He definitely is one of my circles of friends that fit the saying that a good friend is someone, when you see his face you would remember Allah Most High, and when you hear they speak, your knowledge of deen would increase.