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COPING WITH DISASTER Principle Guidance from an Islamic Perspective

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22 Oktober 2018 16:11 WIB
Dibaca: 1321
Penulis : The Fatwā and Islamic Research Council and Muhammadiyah Disaster Management Center, The Central Bo

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FOREWORD
 
“Be sure we shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the fruits (of your toil), but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere, Who say, when afflicted with calamity: "To Allah We belong, and to Him is our return."
[al-Baqarah (2): 155-156].
 
 
First of all, we profoundly express our gratitude to Allah, Lord of the World, Who has facilitated our life and activities, especially towards completing the process of writing this book for our readers. Also, we ask Allah to send blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), who had shown a good and commendable example for us along with our journey in life in this world towards fulfilling our duty to Allah’s command to “build” a better world. 
 
In 2007, Gary Stern wrote a book, entitled, Can God Intervene - How Religion Explains Natural Disaster? seeking to explain how some religions perceive disaster which befall human beings. In describing how Islam looks at disaster, the author merely explained disaster from the standpoints of theological orientations and a psychological approach as curative - after the event occurs. He did not explain in great details the stepwise process in managing and handling disaster from prevention, anticipation to search, rescue, and recovery phases. This book is made available as an attempt to understand a direct manifestation of the infinite power of Allah in the forms of a variety of events potential to harms, damages, catastrophes, even death to humans, which we all call a “disaster.”
 
Matters relating to disaster described in this book at your hand begin from a theological perspective, followed by preventive efforts to post-disaster technical handling. The comprehension over disaster we laid out in this book is built upon awareness of the principle of tauḥīd (the concept of Oneness of God), that is, the whole event is seen from the perspective of Allah, the One and Only God. In other words, catastrophic events symbolize the unity of the One God. This awareness of the principle of tauḥīd will lead humans to understand that catastrophic events, as determined by Allah, serve as a test and trial for man to achieve a better life in every way. 
 
In such a case, we use the word fiqh, underscoring the human understanding of disaster as a whole. Therefore, the term “Fiqh of Disaster”, the original title of this book, is an attempt to understand, explain and anticipate the occurrence of natural disaster and
provide practical guidelines in the face of disaster. In this regard, the term fiqh should not be interpreted as merely relating to the laws, but it encompasses much broader aspects: faith, morality, and also laws. In a more general context, fiqh refers to the level of basic values – (al-qiyam al-asāsiyyah), general principles - (al-uṣūl al-kulliyyah), and concrete rulings or concrete norms - in the form of concrete rules/regulations (alaḥkām al-far’iyyah). Consequently, the use of the terms Fiqh of Disaster, is also an attempt to understand disaster in the context of values, principles and norms, viewing it from a highly comprehensive and broad spectrum of the teachings of Islam.
 
Given the comprehensive view of all matters relating to disaster, Majelis Tarjih and Tajdid (the Fatwā and Islamic Research Council) the Central Board of Muhammadiyah attempts to formulate an understanding about disaster in form of a book to serve as a guideline for the parties, either directly or indirectly who are involved in activities associated with tackling and managing disaster. The main purpose of this book is to provide an understanding to all levels of the society, especially among Muslims, about disaster in three levels: those of ontological (what is a disaster, what are the facts, and what is its essence), epistemological (how the disaster could occur), how to anticipate, sources of disaster, how to handle it in terms of search, rescue and recovery process and, axiological (what is the purpose and function of disaster and ways of looking at disaster). In addition, this book also is aimed at providing a practical explanation about disaster management, including the procedures of worship in disaster situations, as well as other matters related to disaster. In such a way, we hope this book will contribute towards making our society more well-informed and wiser when being confronted with disaster.
 
Furthermore, the publication of this book is made possible because of the hard work of the team in preparing the draft of the manuscript to be discussed at the 29th National Assembly of the Fatwā and Islamic Research Council in Yogyakarta in 2015, and revising the draft based on feedback suggested by the National Assembly. Therefore, we would like to express our gratitude to all members of the Board of the Council, and Lembaga Penanggulangan Bencana (the Muhammadiyah Disaster Management Center/MDMC) who have supported, directly or indirectly, in the publication of the book. We particularly express our special thanks to all members of the team namely, Ustāż Ustadi Hamsah, Ustāż Masyhudi Muqorrobin, Ustāż Saptoni, Ustāżah Dewi Nurul Musjtari, Ustāżah Lailatis Syarifah, Ustāż Mukhlis Rahmanto, Ustāż Muhamad Rofiq Muzzakir (all of whom are members of Majelis Tarjih and Tajdid), Ustāżah Rahmawati Husein and Ustāż Arif Nur Kholis (members of MDMC). For everyone who takes part in preparing this book I would like to say: jazākumullāhu aḥsanal jazā`.
 
We hope, this book will enlighten all the parties in the face of disaster that may confront, in line with the spirit of religion, prudence, and intelligence. Also, it will be a motivational foundation in implementing the spirit of al-Mā’ūn relating to disaster. Lastly, we invite upon constructive suggestions from our readers, as the dynamics of disaster management has become increasingly complicated. To that end, we expect to have some inputs from various parties in order to enhance the substance and content of this book. May
Allah enlighten us all with the spirit of the Qur'an and the Sunnah.
 
Yogyakarta, June 23 2015
 
Chairman of the Fatwā and Islamic Research Council, the Central Board of Muhammadiyah
 
Prof. Dr. Syamsul Anwar, M.A.
 
 
 
 
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