Tajarrud

What does it means? Erm, awat tak pernah dengar pun d word? Tajarrud is one concept in Islam, which I think is unique and beautiful and should be instilled in each of us, the muslims. This term is actually in the arkanul bai’ah..written by hasan Al-banna.. which, alhamdulillah, I have the priviledge to learn of it..

A bit of flash back- the first time I heard of this word is when I was a learning the book - Muntalaq. The ustaz’s explanation of the word sticks to my mind until today..he described it as being naked (bogel).. no, no, don’t think negatively please. He further explained that tajarrud is the act of the mind, body and soul of taking off ALL which is not Islam and leave only Islam in the life. To leave jahiliyyah and embrace the totalness of Islam as a complete way of life..a beautiful state to be in.

Last year I went thro the concept again with a teacher, whom I see him as somebody who is wise and very humble. In which makes me think that sometimes we are not humble in our speech and our doings despite the little knowldge and experience that we have. Anyhow.. he explained and this is the understanding of it thro my own uneloquent words..

Tajarrud means to reject all other kind of ism, i.e. ideology and to only hold fast to the principle of Islam and stand with it whatever storms that may hit you till the end..

Well, perhaps some of us will think, yeah, I have this ‘tajarrud’ in me.. I believe in Islam and the principles..and I do my five daily prayers, do my sawm (puasa) etc.. But the question is now, do you really totally reject other kind of ideology? Are you sure you are not influenced by other ism , socialist, capitalist etc and mistaken it in being Islam? Will you stand with Islam in happy and through the tough times? Will your stand waivers with offers or enticing opportunity that a materialist will think it is to die for? Will you never ever let go of this deen even if it means that you’ll loose your life?

My answer to this, I dont know. I hope so. But I know that we should strive for it inshaAllah and ask Allah to help us in our quest as believers.

To make it even clearer to you, here are some examples of tajarrud from the Islamic history..

1) Suhayb Ar-rumi : He is one of the sahabah priviledged to go for hijrah during the time of our beloved prophet, muhammad s.aw. He was not an arab, and hence the name..to cut the story short, he embraced Islam and since he is very good merchant, he made a lot of wealth during his stay in Makkah. When the call for hijrah was announced, he wanted to go for hijrah as well, but of course, the mushrikeen in Mekkah wont allow him. But since he is very good with bow and arrow, he managed to make the mushrikeen at bay, but the mushrikeen demanded him to leave all his wealth that he accumulated in Mekkah and leave Mekkah as he once entered Mekkah. Then the mushrikeen even demanded him to take off his clothes. He agreed to it for his heart was eagerly wanted to do hijrah and be with the beloved prophet. He then saw a sack, and wore the sack all the way to Madinah. The prophet muhammad s.a.w was already there and when he met the prophet, nabi muhammad s.a.w berkata ‘(Rafa’al bai’) - jual beli kamu is a success.

- he has the ‘tajarrud’ in him, stadfastness in the principle that he believed in whatever circumstances faced him - and indeed what a successfull jual beli it is.

Another example from Islamic movement is the story of :

2) Syed Qutb - i’m sure all of you know the story, perhaps you can tell me, how in his story exemplifies tajarrud? if you don’t know his story, then you can let me know, i will will write more of him here..its just that this is a long posting already, and not wanting it to make it longer.

Do you have more examples that shows tajarrud which you can think of? If you do, perhaps you can share with us here..

Just to add a bit more…

Tajarrud in the collective work- means to stick to the principles of the group that we believe in and not confusing it with other matters. If you believe that the principles is Islam, then stick to it, it may be that sometimes langit tak selalu cerah, imperfect human beings in it might make mistakes, but the principles will always be the one to refer back to…and in the end, what we want is the redha of Allah..

May Allah strengthen us .. and may all of us have tajarrud..ameen.