Legend of Kiyai Alhamdulillah: Remembering Mbah Kiyai Ahmad Syahid Kemadu

 

Legend of Kiyai Alhamdulillah: Remembering Mbah Kiyai Ahmad Syahid Kemadu

Demak is classified as a dry area. Even water for daily needs is not an easy matter. Not surprisingly, residents then use irrigation canals along the edge of the highway to meet all their needs for water. If you travel through the area, you will see on the north side of the road people are busy with various activities in the canal, from defecating to washing rice before it is cooked.
After participating in an Nahdlatul Ulama activity in Semarang, a group of Rembang kyai in one car was on their way home. Among them was Mbah Kyai Ahmad Syahid bin Sholihun rahimahullah from Kemadu Village, Sulang District, Rembang Regency.
Passing through the Demak area where the roads are always in bad condition, the car can't go fast. Suddenly, from the water canal on the side of the road, a figure (fortunately!) emerged from a man without a thread attached to his body. Confidently, the man climbed up the cliff while tightly gripping the center of his shame — as if that one was covered up meaning that the rest of his body was invisible.
It was clear that the indecent scene was haunting the kyai's vision. It's natural when they are surprised.
"Astaghfirullah!" Kyai Mabrur shouted.
"Maa shaa-allah!" Kyai Wahab.
"By God, Illallah!" I'm fine.
"Glory be to God!" Kyai Sahlan.
And Mbah Shahid?
“Al… ham… dulillaaaah…”
* * * * *
In addition to being a familiar remembrance, "alhamdulillah" for Mbah Syahid is a credo. Everything that happens is God's will and work: "maa syaa-allahu kaana wa maa lam yasya lam yakun". And in every will and His work, only praise is due to God. For as long as I have known Mbah Syahid - my earliest memory is when I was a child between 5-6 years old when my grandfather invited me to visit his house and I chased after a menthog that Mbah Syahid then gifted to me - I have never heard him mention other than "Thank God".
There are people who report the birth of their child,
"Thank God".
People tell the behavior of the cow,
"Thank God".
Wadul man his wife is sick,
"Thank God".
The man died his father,
"Thank God".
It seems that there is no suitable dhikr other than "alhamdulillah".
As far as my memory spans, I don't know since when, Mbah Syahid was nicknamed the "Kyai Alhamdulillah". The pesantren, which is without a nameplate—and has never been given a name—is referred to by people as “Alhamdulillah Islamic Boarding School”.
Today, five years ago, exactly eleven days after the death of Kyai Kholil Bisri, Mbah Syahid returned to his beloved. Lahumal Faatihah….