Eduvest – Journal of Universal Studies
Volume 1 Number 10, October 2021
1178 http://eduvest.greenvest.co.id
stratification which means marginalizing the poor and orphans in a stratified social
system (Das, 2014). Orphans are those who are poor, unable to escape the fate that the
love they receive will be far away, due to their father and mother who have passed away
(Zayas, 2015). Or, do not give a portion of affectionate attention to us.
Rebuking orphans is a reflection of self-arrogance, feeling better and Allah rejects
arrogance. Therefore, those who are arrogant and miserly as Hamka said by rebuking
orphans as a symbol, should be called "religious liars".
And this also shows that Islam has a vision of humanity. And this vision of
humanity must be translated into real charity or everyday life. By feeding the poor in
need. Prioritizing individualism means that someone has violated the vision of humanity
(Ramji-Nogales, 2014). He is a "religious liar". Religion is not only vertical, confined and
imprisoned in mosques. Religion is a liberating and enlightening humanity (Sukmana,
2018).
Those are the portraits of religious liars. The next verse, more loudly, tells us: “So
woe to those who pray! How is it possible that the transcendental devotion of a Muslim,
through his prayer to Allah, be called an act that is not only useless, but also harmful?”
There are three parameters of woe (wail) for those who pray (verses 4-7). First,
those who are negligent in their prayers (verse 5). Second, those who do riya' (verse 6).
Third, those who refuse to help. Buya Hamka interprets that "negligent" means praying
without being followed by awareness of being a servant of Allah. Buya Hamka said:
"Saahuun; the original meaning of the word is forgetting. It means forgetting what the
purpose of prayer is, it is not based on devotion to God, even though he is doing worship.
Worship without awareness, is an omission, so interprets Buya Hamka. Awareness is
important, when we perform purification of the intention of worship.
Those who do riya 'means tarnishing his sincere intentions on something that is not
in Allah (Salwa Amirah, 2017). Attributing something that should be offered to God, for
example: prayer and worship to the objects created by God (Dworkin, 2013). Prayer in
this framework only brings misfortune. Buya Hamka said, sometimes he recommends
feeding the poor, sometimes he looks like he's devoted to prayer; but he did it all because
he wanted to be seen, made into an advertisement. In a more modern language, prayer is
only used as an image for power, for worldly charity (Brook, 2020).
Refusing to help is another form of injustice. People who deny religion always
avoid helping. Because, said Buya Hamka, there was no love in his heart, only hatred.
Giving help is a form of humanity. And refuse to give help, leave others in trouble,
against the nature of humanity. Riya', said Buya Hamka, is a symbol of lies and
falsehood, while refusing to give help is a symbol of individualism and injustice. Both are
reflections of religious liars. Thus, it is natural for Sayyid Qutb in his commentary to say
that Al-Ma'un symbolizes the meeting of social dimensions and religious rituals
(Mohammed, 2013). This shows that religion is essentially transformative, manifesting
into all cells of real life.
The purpose of practicing the letter al-Ma'un. According to him, practicing is not
just memorizing or reading the verse. However, practicing means practicing al-Ma'un in
the form of real practice. "Therefore", continued KH Ahmad Dahlan, "look for orphans,
bring them home, give them soap for bathing, proper clothes, eat and drink, and give
them a proper place to live. close, and do what I have commanded you." KH Ahmad
Dahlan then invited his students to look for orphans, and then did what Allah had said.
From there, Muhammadiyah was born with its charitable efforts. This is Al-Ma'un's
theology, the foundation for the Islamic social movement. And its universal dimension
penetrates the boundaries of the congregation, penetrates the boundaries of mass
organizations, even penetrates the boundaries of religion.