[saya telah memperolehi kisah ini melalui
sebuah laman web http://damascusdreams.wordpress.com. Kisahnya mengenai seorang penuntut ilmu yang
bersungguh-sungguh dalam menuntut ilmu. Jadikan kisahnya sebagai motivasi dalam
menuntut ilmu. Selamat membaca]
A story from the book “Safahaat min
Sabr al-Ulama” [Glimpses of the Perseverance of the Scholars] by Sh. Abdul
Fattah Abu Ghuddah:
…And here [we will mention] another
account from among the most extraordinary of narratives, which occurred with an
Andalusian scholar when he traveled from al-Andalus to the East. He traveled
this great distance walking on his two legs [without the help of a horse or
camel on which to ride] in order to meet with an imam from among the [great]
imams and to acquire knowledge from him. When he arrived there he found that
the imam had been put under house arrest and banned from teaching the people.
In spite of this, by utilizing some secretive and artful means, the Andalusian
scholar was able to learn from him… And history is replete with such strange
and interesting occurrences…
….His name was Abu Abd ar-Rahman
Baqiyy bin Makhlad Al-Andalusi al-Hafidh. He was born in the year 201 [after
the Hijra] and passed away in the year 276, may Allah have mercy on him. He
traveled to Baghdad by foot when he was about twenty years of age, and his
deepest and most heart-felt desire was to meet with Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal and
to study with him.
It is reported that he said:
“When I came close to Baghdad, the news
reached me of the difficult trials that had encircled Ahmad bin Hanbal, and
that meeting and communicating with him had been made prohibited. I was greatly
grieved by this news. I lodged where I was, and the first thing I did after
renting out a room for myself was go to the great masjid [of Baghdad]. I wanted
to sit in the lessons there and hear what was being studied therein.
I came across a noble gathering for
knowledge [at the masjid], in which a man was teaching about narrators of the
hadith, elucidating upon the weaknesses of some narrators and the strength of
others. I asked someone sitting next to me, ‘Who is that?’ and he replied,
‘That is Yahya bin Ma’een.’
I saw that a place had opened up [in
the gathering] close to the teacher, so I moved to fill it and said to him, ‘Ya
Aba Zakariyya, may Allah have mercy on you. [I am a] stranger [among you],
whose home is in a far distant place. I have some questions, so do not disdain
me.’ He said to me, ‘Speak.’ So I asked him about some of the narrators of
ahadith I had met, and he praised some of them for their excellence, and warned
about the weaknesses in others. I asked him a question about Hisham bin Ammar,
and I had asked and gained a lot of knowledge from him [...] when the people of
the gathering called out, ‘That’s enough for you, may Allah have mercy on you!
Others have questions too!’
Finally, as I was standing up [to
leave], I said, “Can you inform me about one other person: What about Ahmad bin
Hanbal?”
Yahya ibn Ma’een looked at me
astounded, and said, ‘Can such as us judge a person like Ahmad bin Hanbal! He
is the Imam of the Muslims, the best among them and the most honorable of
them.”
I left the masjid and asked to be
directed to the home of Imam Ahmad. I knocked on his door, and he answered it.
I said, “Ya Aba Abdillah, I am a stranger from a far distant place, and this is
my first time entering upon this land. I am a student of hadith and one who is
bound to the Sunnah. I made this journey only to meet you.”
He said, “Enter from the alleyway to
the side, and let no eye fall upon you.”
He then said to me, “Where is your
home?” I said, “The distant west.” He asked, “Africa?’ I said, “Further than
that. I would have to travel across the sea to get from my home to Africa. It
is al-Andalus.”
He said, “Your home is indeed a great
distance from here. And there is nothing more beloved to me than to help
someone like you attain what you are seeking, but for that I am being tried
with this difficulty, which you may already be aware of…”
I replied, “Indeed the reached me as I
was approaching the city and coming towards you… Ya Aba Abdillah, this is my
first time in this land, and I am unknown to its people. If you allow me, I
will come to you each day in the garb of a beggar, and I will speak the way that
they speak, and you can come to the door. If you narrate to me only one hadith
each day [in this way], it would suffice me.”
He agreed, on the condition that I did
not attend the gatherings of knowledge and did not meet with the [local]
scholars of hadith [so that I would remain unknown among the people].
So I would carry a walking stick in my
hand and wrap an old rag around my head, and I would hide my papers and writing
instruments in my sleeve, and I would go to his door and call out, “[Give in
charity] for the reward of Allah, may Allah have mercy on you!” as the other
beggars there used to do. He would come out and close the door behind him, and
narrate to me two ahadith or three or sometimes more, until I had collected
about three hundred ahadith in this way.
I remained constant in doing this
until the ruler who was trying Imam Ahmad died, and in his place came someone
who adhered to the madhab of the Sunnah. Imam Ahmad then returned to his
teaching and his name became renowned, and he became honored and loved among
the people. His rank was elevated, and many people flocked to him to study.
He would always remember my
perseverance in seeking to learn from him. When I would attend his lessons he
would make room for me to sit close to him, and he would say to the other
students, ‘This is someone who has earned the title of Talib ul-’Ilm!’ and he
would tell them my story. He would narrate hadith to me, and I would recite
them to him.
One day I became ill, and I was absent
from his classes for some time. He asked [the other students] about me and when
he heard that I was ill he rose immediately to visit me, and the students
followed. I was laying down in the room which I rented, a [cheap] woolen
blanket beneath me, a thin cloth covering me, my books near my head [so that I
could study laying down].
The lodging literally shook with the
sound of many people [entering], and I heard them say ‘That’s him over there…’
[...] The lodge-keeper rushed to me, saying ‘Ya Abd ar-Rahman, Abu Abdullah
Ahmad bin Hanbal, Imam of the Muslims, has come to visit you!’
The Imam entered my room and sat at my
bedside, and the lodging filled up with his students. It wasn’t large enough to
fit all of them and a group of them had to remain standing, all of them with
pens in hand. Imam Ahmad said to me, “Ya Abd ar-Rahman, have glad tidings of
reward from Allah. In days of health we often fail to reflect upon illness, and
in days of illness we don’t remember our health. I ask that Allah raise you to
good health and wellbeing, and may He touch you with His right hand in
healing.” And I saw every pen in the room moving to write down his words.
He left. The workers of my lodge were
very kind to me after that, and were constantly in my service, one of them
bringing me a mat to lay on, another bringing a good blanket and wholesome food
for me to eat. They treated me better than family because such a righteous
person came to visit me…”
He passed away in the year 276 [after
Hijra] in al-Andalus. May Allah have mercy on him.
[...] His student Abu Abdul Malik
Ahmad bin Muhammad al-Qurtubi said of him: ‘Baqiyy bin Makhlad was tall,
strong, and had tough endurance in walking. I never saw him on a ride, ever. He
was humble and unpretentious, and would always attend the funeral prayer.’
How excellent was his patience and his
passion for sacred knowledge, and how beautiful his struggle to attain and
collect it!