When Habib Ali al-Jufri and Quraish Shihab met: Fighting for blessings and glorifying each other

 

When Habib Ali al-Jufri and Quraish Shihab met: Fighting for blessings and glorifying each other

Habib Ali Zainal Abidin al-Jufri filled his visit to Indonesia by visiting several ulama and habaib. One of his most interesting visits was when he met Quraish Shihab at his residence.

In the video obtained by the editor of Islamidotco , Habib Ali al-Jufri is seen sitting on the right side of Quraish Shihab. The author of the interpretation of al-Misbah reads the prayer after the assembly. This is a rare sight, considering that Nasywa Shihab's father is rarely willing to lead prayers.

After the prayer, Habib Ali al-Jufri then asked Quraish Shihab to drink first. Habib Ali took a glass of water and then handed it to the famous Indonesian commentator.

Things like this are commonplace when there is a meeting of the scholars. Especially if there are two scholars present. Usually one of them asks for blessings by taking the rest of the drink from the cleric who drank it for the first time. In situations like this, the two scholars usually invite each other to drink first.

Seeing Habib Ali hand over the drink, Quraish Shihab politely refused, asking the guest to drink first.

"I took a lesson from Habib Abdul Qadir bil Faqih that he did not drink first (when there were guests)," said Quraish Shihab.

"It's okay, just drink. You don't drink?" Habib Ali replied as if he didn't want to give up.

Quraish Shihab then asked Habib Ali to drink first, because the founder of the Tabah Foundation is a guest, while guests must be honored and prioritized.

“No, have a drink first. (supposedly) guests drink first (before the host)," objected Quraish Shihab.

The two then debated who drank first by presenting some interesting arguments. Habib Ali al-Jufri considered that the older people should drink first, as a tribute to the younger ones.

While Quraish Shihab said that the younger should drink first, under the pretext that the Prophet SAW always prioritized and respected the rights of the younger over the older.

" An-Nabi, yastalimu as-saghir alal kabir fil huquq ," said Quraish Shihab.

Habib Ali then countered Quraish Shihab's argument with the excuse that part of the sunnah is for the host to taste his food first, so that his guests feel comfortable.

In order not to prolong the debate, Quraish Shihab took the proffered glass and drank it first. After drinking, the glass was taken back by Habib Ali and he drank the rest of the drink from the founder of the Baitul Quran from the same container.

This is how two great and humble scholars meet. Watching his meeting was a very valuable lesson. Both do not want to be glorified, in fact they want to glorify; always feel humble and want to get blessings from others.