Rasanya, semua telinga akrab dengan dalil ini. Sebab dia sering diucapkan dalam pembuka nasehat, sebagai kalimat pujian. Bahkan para pemula yang ingin belajar nasehat, tentu menghafal mati dalil ini. Memang keren dalilnya. Paten redaksionalnya. Dan juga sering diulas para penyampai, jika menerangkan bab pengamalan. Karena memang begitulah adanya. Bagi pemerhati keriuh-rendahan beramal, tentu tidak akan melewatkan dalil – dalil ini.

Di dalam KitabNya Allah berfirman; Dan diserukan kepada mereka: “Itulah surga yang diwariskan kepadamu, disebabkan apa yang dahulu kamu kerjakan.” (QS. Al-A’raf [7] : 43). Ayat semisal terdapat juga dalam QS. Az-Zukhruf [43] : 72)
“Masuklah kamu ke dalam surga itu disebabkan apa yang telah kamu amalkan”. (QS. An-Nahl [16] : 32)
“Dan masing-masing orang memperoleh derajat-derajat (seimbang) dengan apa yang dikerjakannya. Dan Tuhanmu tidak lengah dari apa yang mereka kerjakan.” (Al-‘An’am 132)
Dalil – dalil di atas, jelas menunjukkan pentingnya beramal dalam ibadah. Sebab dengannya orang bisa memperoleh tinggi – rendahnya derajat di surga. Oleh karena itu, tak salah orang memperbanyak amal untuk kehidupan di sana kelak. Yang perlu diingat adalah serentetan dalil – dalil di bawah ini. Bukan menakut-nakuti. Demikian banyaknya setidaknya membuat kita berjaga – jaga. Kadang malah bisa membuat kontra produktif, jika tidak arif dan bijaksana dalam memahaminya. Sebab kelihatan saling bertentangan antara satu dan lainnya. Jangankan orang macam saya, dulu para sahabat pun dibuat bingung karenanya.
Sesungguhnya Abu Hurairah berkata, ia mendengar Rasulullah SAW bersabda, “Amal seseorang tidak akan memasukkan seseorang ke dalam surga.” “Engkau juga tidak wahai Rasulullah?”, tanya beberapa sahabat. Beliau menjawab, “Aku pun tidak. Kecuali jika Allah menyelimuti pada (amalan)ku dengan kefadholan dan rahmat.” (Rowahu Bukhary – Jilid 1)
Shahih al-Bukhari kitab ar-riqaq bab al-qashd wal-mudawamah ‘alal-’amal no. 6463, 6464, 6467, juga menyebutkan walau dengan redaksi yang agak berbeda.
“Amal tidak akan bisa menyelamatkan seseorang di antara kalian.” Mereka bertanya: “Tidak pula Engkau wahai Rasulullah SAW?” Beliau menjawab: “Ya, saya pun tidak, kecuali Allah menganugerahkan rahmat kepadaku. Tepatlah kalian, mendekatlah, beribadahlah di waktu pagi, sore, dan sedikit dari malam, beramallah yang pertengahan, yang pertengahan, kalian pasti akan sampai.”
“Tepatlah kalian, mendekatlah, dan ketahuilah bahwasanya amal tidak akan memasukkan seseorang ke dalam surga. Sesungguhnya amal yang paling dicintai Allah itu adalah yang paling sering diamalkan walaupun sedikit.”
“Tepatlah kalian, mendekatlah, dan bergembiralah, karena sesungguhnya amal tidak akan memasukkan seseorang ke dalam surga.” Para shahabat bertanya: “Termasuk juga anda wahai Rasulullah?” Beliau menjawab: “Ya, termasuk juga saya, kecuali jika Allah menganugerahkan ampunan dan rahmat kepadaku.”
Saddidu, asal katanya sadad; ketepatan, sesuatu yang tepat. Maknanya menurut Ibn Hajar, shawab; benar. Artinya, beramallah dengan tepat, benar, mengikuti sunnah dan penuh keikhlasan.
Qaribu yang bermakna ‘mendekatlah’ maknanya ada dua; pertama, jangan menjauhi amal seluruhnya ketika tidak mampu, dan kedua, jangan berlebihan dalam beramal sehingga merasa kelelahan dan bosan. Itu berarti ambillah pertengahan dalam beramal. Ketika malas tiba, bertahan dengan tidak meninggalkan amal seluruhnya, beramallah sedekat- dekatnya, tidak mampu 100% (sadad) beramallah 90% (qarib), dan ketika semangat tiba, beramal dengan tidak berlebihan karena akan menyebabkan kelelahan dan kejenuhan.
Ughdu artinya berpergianlah di waktu pagi, ruhu artinya berpergianlah di waktu sore, dan ad-duljah artinya berpergian di waktu malam. Kata ad-duljah disertai dengan kata syai` (syai` minad-duljah; sedikit/sesaat di waktu malam) karena memang berpergian di waktu malam cukup sulit. Menurut Ibn Hajar, ini seolah-olah isyarat agar shaum di sepanjang hari dari sejak pagi sampai sore, dan shalat tahajjud di sebagian malam. Walaupun, menurutnya, bisa juga diperluas untuk ibadah-ibadah lainnya. Ibadah dalam hal ini diibaratkan dengan berpergian/perjalanan karena memang seorang ‘abid (yang beribadah) itu ibarat seseorang yang sedang berpergian dan menempuh perjalanan menuju surga.
Al-qashda maknanya pertengahan. Dijelaskan dalam riwayat lain sebagai amal yang rutin dikerjakan (dawam) walaupun sedikit-sedikit.
Taghammada diambil dari kata ghimd yang berarti sarung pedang. Taghammada berarti menyarungkan, atau dengan kata lain menutup (satr). Jika dilekatkan dengan kata rahmat dan ampunan, berarti menganugerahkan sepenuhnya (semua penjelasan dalam syarah mufradat ini disadur dari Fath al-Bari kitab ar-riqaq bab al-qashd wal-mudawamah ‘alal-’amal).
Sementara itu, Shahih Muslim kitab shifat al-qiyamah wal-jannah wan-nar bab lan yadkhula ahadun al-jannah bi ‘amalihi no. 7289-7302, tidak hanya disebut tidak akan masuk surga saja, melainkan ditegaskan juga tidak akan selamat dari neraka.
“Amal tidak akan memasukkan seseorang di antara kalian ke surga dan tidak pula menyelamatkannya dari neraka. Demikian juga saya, kecuali dengan rahmat Allah SWT”.
Dulu, pertama kali mendengar hadits ini, saya kaget. Kok begitu ya? Alhamdulillah Allah paring kefahaman. Salah satunya lewat cerita sederhana kisah ahli ibadah dari Bani Israil. Diceritakan ada seorang hamba yang tekun dan rajin beribadah selama 500 tahun. Dia hidup menyendiri di sebuah gunung, tak pernah berbuat dosa sedikitpun. Hari – harinya diisi ibadah dan ibadah, tak lain. Dan kala meninggalnya pun dalam keadaan sedang bersujud. Akhirnya di hari Qiyamat Allah membangkitkan dia dan memasukkannya ke surga. Allah berfirman; “Dengan rahmatku, masuklah kamu ke surge.” Mendengar perkataan tersebut si hamba protes. “Ya Allah, bukankah karena amalanku?”
Allah menjawab; “Karena rohmatku.”
Hamba; “Tidak. Ini semua karena amalanku selama 500 tahun.”
Allah menjawab; “Baiklah. Sekarang akan saya buktikan.” Kemudian Allah memperlihatkan timbangan amal si hamba. Semua amalan si hamba ditempatkan di sisi timbangan dan nikmat – nikmat Allah di sisi satunya lagi. Hasilnya, amalan hamba selama 500 tahun itu tak menggeser sedikit pun nikmat dan anugerah Allah yang diberikan kepadanya. Akhirnya, si hamba sadar dan memahami bahwa sebab masuknya dia ke surga adalah karena rohmat Allah.
Cerita ini semakin meneguhkan nasehat klasik bahwa sebenarnya kita beribadah ini cuma modal dengkul. Semuanya atas peparing Allah. Jadi gak boleh sombong –membanggakan amal - dan gak boleh bengong - tidak dilandasi niat karena Allah.
Selanjutnya saya memetik beberapa nash terkait akan situasi ini. Yaitu adanya lipatan amalan yang diberikan Allah kepada setiap amal baik hambaNya. Sedangkan untuk amal jelek, Allah tidak menulis kecuali seperti apa adanya. Walhasanatu biasyri amtsaliha – dan satu kebaikan itu dengan sepuluh semisalnya. Atau seperti yang tersebut di dalam surat Albaqoroh laksana sebiji padi yang menumbuhkan tujuh tangkai dan setiap tangkai berbuah 100 bulir padi alias 700 kali lipatan. Atau dalam atsar – atsar puasa, dimana disebutkan bahwa pahala amal anak adam itu dilipatkan ila masyaa Allah. Inilah pemahaman lebih lanjut arti  redaksi Kecuali jika Allah menyelimuti pada (amalan)ku dengan kefadholan dan rahmat. Ada lipatan sebagai bentuk kefadhalan Allah dan nikmat dan anugerah Allah – sebagai rahmat, sehingga kita bisa beramal meraih surga setinggi – tingginya. Maka, tak heran ketika kita masuk - keluar masjid pun dituntun dengan doa untuk mengingatkan akan rahmat dan fadhilah Allah ini dalam setiap jengkal langkah kita dalam beramal.
Nah, satu lagi yang “membanggakan” adalah hadits - hadits tersebut di atas memang jarang dikumandangkan. Hanya sesaat – sesaat saja dan oleh orang – orang tertentu saja. Namun, barangkali ketemu, semoga sedikit tulisan ini bermanfaat bagi yang membacanya. Tak lebih.

Oleh: Faizunal Abdillah

Sumber:Al'Quran & Al'Hadist/LDII

Editor:Liwon Maulana (galipat)

HOBART, Tasmania — Few places seem out of reach for China’s leader, Xi Jinping, who has traveled from European capitals to obscure Pacific and Caribbean islands in pursuit of his nation’s strategic interests.

So perhaps it was not surprising when he turned up last fall in this city on the edge of the Southern Ocean to put down a long-distance marker in another faraway region, Antarctica, 2,000 miles south of this Australian port.

Standing on the deck of an icebreaker that ferries Chinese scientists from this last stop before the frozen continent, Mr. Xi pledged that China would continue to expand in one of the few places on earth that remain unexploited by humans.

He signed a five-year accord with the Australian government that allows Chinese vessels and, in the future, aircraft to resupply for fuel and food before heading south. That will help secure easier access to a region that is believed to have vast oil and mineral resources; huge quantities of high-protein sea life; and for times of possible future dire need, fresh water contained in icebergs.

It was not until 1985, about seven decades after Robert Scott and Roald Amundsen raced to the South Pole, that a team representing Beijing hoisted the Chinese flag over the nation’s first Antarctic research base, the Great Wall Station on King George Island.

But now China seems determined to catch up. As it has bolstered spending on Antarctic research, and as the early explorers, especially the United States and Australia, confront stagnant budgets, there is growing concern about its intentions.

China’s operations on the continent — it opened its fourth research station last year, chose a site for a fifth, and is investing in a second icebreaker and new ice-capable planes and helicopters — are already the fastest growing of the 52 signatories to the Antarctic Treaty. That gentlemen’s agreement reached in 1959 bans military activity on the continent and aims to preserve it as one of the world’s last wildernesses; a related pact prohibits mining.

But Mr. Xi’s visit was another sign that China is positioning itself to take advantage of the continent’s resource potential when the treaty expires in 2048 — or in the event that it is ripped up before, Chinese and Australian experts say.

“So far, our research is natural-science based, but we know there is more and more concern about resource security,” said Yang Huigen, director general of the Polar Research Institute of China, who accompanied Mr. Xi last November on his visit to Hobart and stood with him on the icebreaker, Xue Long, or Snow Dragon.

With that in mind, the polar institute recently opened a new division devoted to the study of resources, law, geopolitics and governance in Antarctica and the Arctic, Mr. Yang said.

Australia, a strategic ally of the United States that has strong economic relations with China, is watching China’s buildup in the Antarctic with a mix of gratitude — China’s presence offers support for Australia’s Antarctic science program, which is short of cash — and wariness.

“We should have no illusions about the deeper agenda — one that has not even been agreed to by Chinese scientists but is driven by Xi, and most likely his successors,” said Peter Jennings, executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and a former senior official in the Australian Department of Defense.

“This is part of a broader pattern of a mercantilist approach all around the world,” Mr. Jennings added. “A big driver of Chinese policy is to secure long-term energy supply and food supply.”

That approach was evident last month when a large Chinese agriculture enterprise announced an expansion of its fishing operations around Antarctica to catch more krill — small, protein-rich crustaceans that are abundant in Antarctic waters.

“The Antarctic is a treasure house for all human beings, and China should go there and share,” Liu Shenli, the chairman of the China National Agricultural Development Group, told China Daily, a state-owned newspaper. China would aim to fish up to two million tons of krill a year, he said, a substantial increase from what it currently harvests.

Because sovereignty over Antarctica is unclear, nations have sought to strengthen their claims over the ice-covered land by building research bases and naming geographic features. China’s fifth station will put it within reach of the six American facilities, and ahead of Australia’s three.

Chinese mappers have also given Chinese names to more than 300 sites, compared with the thousands of locations on the continent with English names.

In the unspoken competition for Antarctica’s future, scientific achievement can also translate into influence. Chinese scientists are driving to be the first to drill and recover an ice core containing tiny air bubbles that provide a record of climate change stretching as far back as 1.5 million years. It is an expensive and delicate effort at which others, including the European Union and Australia, have failed.

In a breakthrough a decade ago, European scientists extracted an ice core nearly two miles long that revealed 800,000 years of climate history. But finding an ice core going back further would allow scientists to examine a change in the earth’s climate cycles believed to have occurred 900,000 to 1.2 million years ago.

China is betting it has found the best location to drill, at an area called Dome A, or Dome Argus, the highest point on the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Though it is considered one of the coldest places on the planet, with temperatures of 130 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, a Chinese expedition explored the area in 2005 and established a research station in 2009.

“The international community has drilled in lots of places, but no luck so far,” said Xiao Cunde, a member of the first party to reach the site and the deputy director of the Institute for Climate Change at the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences. “We think at Dome A we will have a straight shot at the one-million-year ice core.”

Mr. Xiao said China had already begun drilling and hoped to find what scientists are looking for in four to five years.

To support its Antarctic aspirations, China is building a sophisticated $300 million icebreaker that is expected to be ready in a few years, said Xia Limin, deputy director of the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration in Beijing. It has also bought a high-tech fixed-wing aircraft, outfitted in the United States, for taking sensitive scientific soundings from the ice.

China has chosen the site for its fifth research station at Inexpressible Island, named by a group of British explorers who were stranded at the desolate site in 1912 and survived the winter by excavating a small ice cave.

Mr. Xia said the inhospitable spot was ideal because China did not have a presence in that part of Antarctica, and because the rocky site did not have much snow, making it relatively cheap to build there.

Anne-Marie Brady, a professor of political science at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and the author of a soon-to-be-released book, “China as a Polar Great Power,” said Chinese scientists also believed they had a good chance of finding mineral and energy resources near the site.

“China is playing a long game in Antarctica and keeping other states guessing about its true intentions and interests are part of its poker hand,” she said. But she noted that China’s interest in finding minerals was presented “loud and clear to domestic audiences” as the main reason it was investing in Antarctica.

Because commercial drilling is banned, estimates of energy and mineral resources in Antarctica rely on remote sensing data and comparisons with similar geological environments elsewhere, said Millard F. Coffin, executive director of the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies in Hobart.

But the difficulty of extraction in such severe conditions and uncertainty about future commodity prices make it unlikely that China or any country would defy the ban on mining anytime soon.

Tourism, however, is already booming. Travelers from China are still a relatively small contingent in the Antarctic compared with the more than 13,000 Americans who visited in 2013, and as yet there are no licensed Chinese tour operators.

But that is about to change, said Anthony Bergin, deputy director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. “I understand very soon there will be Chinese tourists on Chinese vessels with all-Chinese crew in the Antarctic,” he said.