Obituary: KH Ali Mustafa Yaqub, Archipelago Hadith Expert

 

Obituary: KH Ali Mustafa Yaqub, Archipelago Hadith Expert

Kiai Ali Mustafa Yaqub or who is often known as Kiai Ali, apart from being a humorous kiai in preaching, he is also known as an expert in Hadith studies in Indonesia today. Almost every problem of the people, he responded by using the Hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad. In fact, he criticized a lot of problematic Hadiths that were often conveyed by the preachers.

Kiai Ali is a cleric from Batang, Central Java. Born into a religious family on March 2, 1952 AD in Kemiri, Batang, Central Java. As a child, Kiai Ali studied elementary and junior high schools in his hometown, Batang. After completing his junior high school education, Kiai Ali's desire to focus on general education had to stop for a moment. His desire to study religious sciences took precedence over others. Therefore, Kiai Ali continued his education at a pesantren located in the Seblak area, Jombang until 1969. After three years of studying at the Seblak boarding school, Kiai Ali was still not satisfied with his knowledge. He continued his studies at the Tebuireng boarding school, Jombang, a boarding school founded by Hadratussyaikh Hasyim Asy'ari until 1971. In 1972, Kiai Ali was still continuing his education in the same city, Jombang. precisely at Hasyim Asy'ari University, Faculty of Sharia until 1975.

Kiai Ali's journey in studying did not end there. With his persistence, in 1976 he received a scholarship to continue his education at the S1 level at the Sharia Faculty of the Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia until 1980. After obtaining his License, Kiai Ali continued his education at the Majister level by taking the field of Hadith at the same University. until it was completed in 1985. Meanwhile, he received his doctorate from the University of Nizamia, Hyderabad, India in 2008 with the title of the treatise "Halal and Haram Criteria for Food, Drugs and Cosmetics according to the Koran and Hadith".

In everyday life, Kiai Ali is very close to the Prophet's Hadith. There are many reasons why he prefers this lifestyle. At least there are two main reasons that motivate Kiai Ali to always study and struggle with Hadith. First, you can study the life of the Messenger of God, as if you were seeing the Prophet. and the second is to be able to pray a lot to the Messenger of God.

Kiai Ali's love for studying the Prophet's Hadiths did not end in lectures. In various ways, such as writing, teaching and preaching the Prophet's Hadiths, he also did it. In fact, in some cases, he received a lot of criticism because of his persistence in defending the Hadiths of the Prophet, peace be upon him, from what he believed to be incorrect understanding. Because of this, around 2014 Kiai Ali wrote a book that specifically discusses how to understand the Hadith correctly. Initially, his work was written using Arabic, entitled Al-Thuruq al-Shahihah fi fahmi as-Sunnah an-Nabawiyah, after which it was translated into Indonesian with the title "The right way to understand the Prophet's Sunnah".

In this book, Kiai Ali tries to explain how to understand the Prophet's Hadith in the right way. Certainly, this work is very helpful in defending the Prophet's Hadiths from mistaken understandings.

In short, Kiai Ali asserted that in understanding the Prophet's Hadith, it is not enough to have the capital of the knowledge of Arabic grammar alone, such as the knowledge of Nahu, and Sharaf. At least, there are 7 problems that must be understood in studying the Hadith, so as not to be confused in understanding the Hadith. The first is Majaz found in the Hadith. Second, Takwil in Hadith. Third, the language found in the Hadith. Fourth, Geography in Hadith. Fifth, Arabic Traditions found in the Hadith. Sixth, social conditions. Seventh, because the Hadith came. Well, with the capital of the seven knowledge listed above, it is hoped that a correct understanding in understanding the Hadith will be obtained.

According to Kiai Ali, one of the misconceptions in understanding Hadith is the understanding that says 'Imamah (head covering) is part of religion, and whoever does not wear it is not a member of the Prophet Muhammad's people. This opinion, according to Kiai Ali, is a wrong opinion. In his view, Imamate is not part of the religion, but part of the Arab tradition. In the time of the Prophet, Imamate was used by Muslims to distinguish between Muslims and non-Muslims. However, for today's social conditions are different. Many non-Muslims also use Imamah. Therefore, for Kiai Ali, Imamah at this time no longer needs to be used with the aim of distinguishing between Muslims and non-Muslims.

In addition to the book "the right way to understand the Hadith of the Prophet" there are still many other works by Kiai Ali related to the study of Hadith. Among them are the Prophet's Advice to Readers and Memorizers of the Qur'an (1990), Imam al-Bukhari and Critical Methodology in the Science of Hadith (1991), History and Method of the Prophet's Preaching (1997) Ummah Harmony in the Perspective of the Qur'an and Hadith (2000) , Problematic Hadiths (2003), Interfaith Marriage in the Perspective of the Quran and Hadiths (2005), Female Imams (2006), Tolerance Between Religious People (Arabic-Indonesian 2008) Islam Between War and Peace (Pustaka Darus-Sunnah 2009) Ijtihad, Terrorism, and Liberalism(ARAB-Indonesian 2-12), and many other things.

Kiai Ali's dedication in developing the Hadith of the Prophet was not enough in the field of writing. in 1997, Kiai Ali founded a Ma'had which specifically studied the science of Hadith and the Hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad, which was located on Jl. elementary school. Presidential Instruction No. 11 RT.002 RW.09 Pisangan-West, Ciputat, Tangerang Selatan, Banten. Today, this Ma'had is known as the “Darus-Sunnah International Institute for Hadith Sciences”.

At Ma'had who is almost 20 years old, Kiai Ali develops the study of Hadith to his santri and Maha santri. Almost every day, in between his busy schedule, he spends time teaching Hadith, especially the books of Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.

This morning he passed away, of course we are sad. His legacy is so much, for knowledge and of course he left such a deep impression on us, the santri of Darussunnah. But his passion in serving the religion, his sincerity in teaching the students and his love for knowledge will always live on.