Seeking Truth !

It is fitrah (innately natural) for the human beings who live on the surface of this God's earth, be it male or female, the noble or the lower class, the rulers or the ruled, the rich or the poor, to like to find truth. The truth is something good and honorable, which has to be possessed and fought for, so that with that truth mankind will live honorably on this earth, and be safe where ever they are, especially in the Akhira.

The truth is not two, not three, not ten, etc. The truth is only one. Truth is the one that comes from Allah, conveyed to the Rasuls (Messengers) especially the last Rasul i.e. Rasulullah Muhammad (pbuh). Allah has told us in the Qur'an,Al-Baqarah, verse 147:
"The Truth is from thy Lord; so be not at all in doubt."
Whatever is not from Allah is not truth even though some people claim that it is truth. What does not come from Allah is falsehood, even though it looks beautiful in the sight of the eyes. It is the truth that is from Allah carried by the Rasuls that we must find, obtain and practice. Then, we must strive for the truth, because it is the truth from Allah that makes mankind honorable on this earth and honorable in the Akhirah.

However, we have been left by Rasulullah (pbuh) since more or less 14 centuries ago. That is such a very long time, which had gone through many different issues, conditions and events. It had gone through the highs and lows, the ups and downs, the rise and the decline. So, for the ummah in these end times, which include ourselves, it is difficult to find truth. Let alone to possess and struggle for the truth. Although the truth is already in Al-Qur'anul Kareem and interpreted through the hadiths of the Prophet, those are only in the forms of knowledge and theories, not in the forms of actions or attitudes.

Those in the forms of actions are only available on the person of Rasulullah (pbuh), whereas, Rasulullah (pbuh) is no longer present in our times. Those in the forms of actions could be found on the personalities of the Sahabahs, Tabieens and Salafussalehs of the past, but none of them are with us today. Whereas, they are the people we must take examples from.

So, since we are already distant from Rasulullah (pbuh), the Sahabahs and Salafussalehs of the past, mankind in this day and age are looking for truth in many different ways, according to their own convictions. How is the shape of the real truth, how would we practice it and strive for it, as well as what form of truth would we go through? Therefore, below are listed further some of the ways of how mankind look for truth in these end times.

Some people in these end times look for truth in simple and easy ways, they don’t want to think, research and study in a hard way, i.e.:

1. Mankind look for truth by following the masses.
If we were to follow this mean, i.e. looking for truth by following the crowds, we would never get the truth at all in life. Because this first mean is rejected outright by the Qur'an. Allah has told us in a number of verses, such as: "..but few of My servants are grateful!"
Meaning, the humans who are thankful, who are in submission to Allah are only a few in number. Whereas, the humans who are astray, decayed and not accepting the truth from Allah are many. That is why in the Qur'an it is again asserted in another verse:
"And if you follow most of those on earth, they will lead you away from the way of Allah." [6:116]

For those who are seeking truth on this earth, if they were to follow the majority, they will be lost because those who are not lost are only a minority. Only a few accept, practice and strive for the truth. So, if we follow the majority in order to find truth, we will be lost.

If we study the Qur'an and the Hadiths, we will come across the struggles of the Prophets, Rasuls and the righteous people in conveying the truth. It can be seen that generally, those who follow the truth are only small in number. The stories of the Prophets and Rasuls show that the majority of people follow falsehood.

The last hujjah (proof) is from our own experience. Are there more people going to the Musolla or are there more people going to the cinemas. Are those going to the Islamic colleges more than those who are going to other kind of colleges. Which is more, those who cover their awrah or those who expose their awrah and those with akhlaq or without akhlaq?

The conclusion is, if there are people who are looking for truth by following the majority, they would never find it, even to their death. Allah has told us and history has related it to us.

2. Seeking truth by following the upper class/elites
Looking for truth by following the higher class people is rejected by the Qur'an. There are many stories in the Qur’an which tell us that there are not many people of high status who want to accept the truth.

3. People looking for truth by following the rulers of the world who become colonialists and have great influence.
In the time of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the rulers of the world are the Romans and Persians. In today’s world, people say - just follow America... if we follow them, we will find the truth. According to common logic, we surely can see that this way is not correct and it would not bring us to the truth. Besides that, history has recorded and the Qur'an has told us that every carrier of truth would surely be confronted by the rulers of the world and they would encounter oppositions from the rulers of the earth.

4. Seeking truth by following the intellectuals of Islam.
This way is more logical and more acceptable to the minds because they know about the Qur'an dan Sunnah. If this way was used during the time of Rasulullah (pbuh) or the time of the Tabieen, there is of course truth in it. But now we have long been left by Rasulullah (pbuh). The attitude of the ulamas today are already different than ulamas in the time of the Salafussaleh (the righteous until the 3rd century of Hijriah ). In our days, corruptions have hit a bigger part of the members of society. Including the general public and its ulamas. As Rasulullah (pbuh) had said, "it will happen in the end times that its ahlul ibaadah are jahil and its ulama's are fasiq," [Hadith Ibn 'Adi]. If the common people’s wives reveal their awrah, the ulamas’ daughters and wives also expose their awrah. If the common people love the world and are involved in riba, then the ulamas are also involved in the same things.

A kaffah (complete) Islam is no longer established in the selves of the intellectuals, moreover the Shi'ar (hallmarks) of Islam is also absent. Due to that, this fourth way is also rejected.

The Way of Obtaining the Essential Truth
Lastly, how do we obtain the essential truth? In this period of time, do not just randomly pick any jama’ah. Our points of reference are the following people:

• Rasulullah (pbuh) 
Allah has reminded us that Rasulullah is the best example.

• Sahabahs of Rasulullah (pbuh)
Rasulullah (pbuh) said that his Sahabahs are like the stars in the sky. Whoever follows them will be guided.

• The Community of the Salafussaleh
Rasulullah (pbuh) said that the best of mankind is my generation, then those that follow them and then those that follow them. Meaning the Islamic ummah within the period of 300 years from the time of Rasulullah (pbuh). Most of them are the righteous, a part of them are the muqarrabin (those who have attained closeness to Allah. They are our role models if we want to accept, practice and struggle for the truth, especially amongst their intellectuals and ulamas.

The Life of the Salafussaleh Community
The Salafussaleh community practiced and strove for the teachings of Islam which is kamil (perfect), covering the entire life in terms of aqeedah, ibaadah, akhlaq, ukhuwah, jihad, da’wah, community, jama’ah, iktisad (economy), tarbiyyah Islamiyyah and daulah Islamiyyah. They didn’t only practice one thing and leave the other aspects. Starting from aqeedah to the daulah (statehood), all are studied, understood, practiced and struggled for by them. Their aqeedah were very strong. Their iman were very firm, to the extent that a sin the size of a dust was considered as a big mountain that are above their heads. Their ibaadah were plentiful, their ukhuwah (brotherhood) were solid. They were busy struggling and conducting Jihad. Their Da’wah brought them to China, whereas we know that transportation at that time was difficult. In fact, three quarter of them died outside the Arab jazeerah (pensinsula). Their courtesy were high, in fact they even practiced courtesy and good manners in battle. They built their own educational system, not taken from the East and the West. All are in Islamic ways, not copying from anywhere. Their economy was truly the Islamic way, no riba was practiced. The society was free from wickedness, that they live securely and peacefully. They established the jama’ah and the Islamic civilization.

Clearly, the Salafussaleh did not take the teachings of Islam in pieces. All were taken, practiced and struggled for. Therefore, if we are looking for truth in these end times, they are the ones we must follow. When they become our role models, only then we will be safe in this Duniya and Akhira, otherwise our lives will be astray.