A Mercy to the Universe

Until September 11, 2001 few Westerners had ever heard of “Wahhabism.” Now most of us recognize the word as describing an austere and puritanical type of Islam, mentioned frequently in connection with Osama bin Laden and Saudi Arabia and often named as the inspiration behind the 9/11 terror attacks. The word “Wahhabi” stems from the name of the founder of this system of thought, Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1702-1791), companion and religious adviser to Muhammad Ibn Saud, founder of the House of Saud. In this book Natana DeLong-Bas offers an in-depth study of the written works of al-Wahhab. She focuses on four areas: theology, legal theory, proselytizing through education and jihad, and law on women. Through a close reading of al-Wahhab’s texts she demonstrates that many aspects of 20th- and 21st-century Wahhabi extremism do not have their origins in his writings. Examples of this extremism include the emphasis on jihad, martyrdom and militancy, and misogyny. The strict division of the world into dar al-Islam and dar al-kufr, according to which only Wahhabi adherents are considered to be true Muslims and all others are non-Muslims who must be fought, is entirely absent from al-Wahhab’s work. Instead, argues DeLong-Bas, all of these themes were only added to Wahhabi teachings in the 19th century following armed engagement with the Ottoman Empire. DeLong-Bas’s study fills an enormous gap in the literature about Wahhabism by returning to the original writings of the founder of the movement. She debunks the common journalistic portrayal of Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab as an illiterate, rural bumpkin with no scholarly formation. Her revisionist reading of al-Wahhab’s thought will be controversial but impossible to ignore. The book will be essential reading for students and scholars of Islam as well as for those interested in the background of this dangerous modern ideology.

Buku ini merupakan kumpulan fatwa-fatwa pilihan yang berkaitan dengan masalah wanita, yang dihimpun dari fatwa-fatwa Syaikh Abdul Aziz bin Baz, Syaikh Muhammad al-Utsaimin, Syaikh Abdullah al-Jabrain, dan fatwa-fatwa Lajnah Da’imah lil-Ifta’. Buku ini penting dimiliki setiap muslimah, karena di dalam buku ini terdapat jawaban-jawaban atas persoalan-persoalan yang dihadapi atau dialami oleh wanita muslimah dalam kehidupannya, di mana banyak dari persoalan-persoalan tersebut yang tidak didapatkan jawabannya dalam buku-buku klasik.

This is the Indonesian translation of Fatawa: Rulings for Muslim Woman. Acquiring knowledge of Islam is incumbent upon every Muslim – male and female – in order to live one’s life according to the commands and recommendations of the Qur’an and the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). Naturally, women have some specific issues that concern them and that are different than those that concern all Muslims or only men. In this book, these rulings, or fatâwa, have been compiled from the religious verdicts of well-known and respected Islamic scholars, both past and present — Shaykh ‘Abdul-‘Aziz ibn Baz, Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen, Shaykh Ibn Jibreen, and the Standing Committee for Scholarly Research and Issuing Fatwas (Saudi Arabia). The rulings are derived from the Qur’an and the Sunnah. The rulings were compiled in this book by Muhammad al-Musnid and translated into Indonesian/Malay by Uril Bahruddin. This book is a compendium of such rulings in a question-and-answer format, catering to the special needs of the Muslim woman. It is a concise and readily accessible reference, and an invaluable addition to the Muslim woman’s personal library.