My OperaBulan Bintang Di Ireland
Thursday, May 6, 2010 5:38:52 AM
Alhamdulillah dengan izin Allah dapat juga menjejak kaki di bumi Ireland yang sebelum ini hanya saya kenali melalui novel Potato People iaitu salah satu novel wajib untuk pelajar tingkatan 2 (2 tahun lepas saya mengajar subjek Bahasa Inggeris). Kalau nak ceritakan pengalaman tentunya banyak perkara yang saya ingin kongsikan tetapi apa yang paling menyentuh hati saya ialah bagaimana negara ini pernah menerima zakat dari Kerajaan Othmaniyah lebih kurang 160 tahun dahulu. Tidak sangka pula kisah penderitaan bangsa Irish yang digambarkan melalui novel Potato People itu mendapat perhatian Sultan Abdul Majid yang menjadi Khalifah pada masa itu.Inilah implikasi dari kalimah toyyibah (kalimah syahadah) yang Allah gambarkan sebagai 'syajaratun toyyibah' (pokok yang baik); Ashluha Tsabit (akarnya teguh) menghunjam ke dasar bumi menjadikan seorang mukmin itu begitu teguh pendiriannya tidak terusik hatinya dengan pangkat, harta, wanita atau segala kemewahan dunia, tidak takut pada tekanan dan celaan. 'Far'uha fis sama' (dahannya menutupi langit) lalu menjadi tempat berteduh, bukan sekadar mukmin yang lain tetapi juga manusia yang tidak beriman bahkan haiwan dan tumbuhan dapat merasai nikmat teduhan jiwa mereka yang lahir dalam bentuk syakhsiyah yang bain, adil, penyanyang dan berbagai kemuliaan yang menjadikan jiwa-jiwa yang tidak beriman tunduk malu dan hormat kepada mereka. 'Tu'ti ukulaha fi kulli hain' (mengeluarkan buah sepanjang musim) buah-buah keimanan yang turut dirasai keberkahannya oleh seluruh penghuni alam. (lihat surah Ibrahim 24-25).
Tidak hairanlah bumi Ireland yang majoritinya tidak beriman turut merasai kenikmatan Islam. Ketika lebih sejuta rakyatnya mati kelaparan dan yang masih hidup pula terpaksa hidup menderita dan tersiksa Sultan Abd majid menghantar utusan kepada Queen Victoria ratu Great Britain (kerajaan yang menjajah Ireland) untuk menghantar bantuan sebanyak 10 000 paun sterling. Kerana kebongkakannya ratu Victoria tidak menerima tawaran itu dan hanya membenarkan 1000 paun sahaja dihantar kerana Britain sendiri hanya memberi 2000 paun. Sultan Abd Majid bersetuju untuk hanya memberi bantuan sebanyak 1000 paun sahaja tetapi secara diam-diam turut menghantar 5 buah kapal yang sarat dengan bekalan makanan dan keperluan. Walaupun cuba dihalang oleh Britain, bantuan itu sempat juga sampai di pelabuhan Drogheda.Hingga kehari ini, Drogheda menjadikan lambang Islam iaitu bulan bintang sebagai sebahagian dari identitinya. Lihatlah lambang kelab bolasepak mereka.
On a recent trip to Turkey, President of Ireland, Mary McAleese expressed gratitude to the Turkish people for the humanitarian aid provided by the Islamic Khilafah to Ireland during the Great Famine, 160 years ago.
Turkish newspaper “Ikinci Vatan” reports that McAleese on her official visit to Turkey made the statement during her meeting with Turkish president Abdullah Gul and expressed the words of gratitude from the people of Ireland for humanitarian aid provided by Ottoman Caliphate.
During the period of 1840-1850, Ireland suffered the great famine, directly caused by the colonial policy of Great Britain who had occupied the territory.
In 1845, the onset of the Great Irish Famine resulted in over a million deaths. Ottoman Sultan Khaleefah Abdul-Majid I declared his intention to send 10,000 sterling to Irish farmers but Queen Victoria requested that the Sultan send only 1,000 sterling, because she had sent only 2,000 sterling herself.
The Sultan sent the 1,000 sterling but also secretly sent 5 ships full of food. The English courts tried to block the ships, but the food arrived in Drogheda harbor and was left there by Ottoman Sailors. Due to this the Irish people, especially those in Drogheda, are friendly to the Turks. note football crest below.
In 1845, the 10,000 pounds dedicated to the Irish from the Sultan would be worth approximately 800,000 pounds today, that is $1,683,280 US Dollars. On the other hand, the Queen gave the equivalent of 160,000 pounds today or 336,656 US Dollars, The Osmanli Traveller blog has copied to text a write up by a Christian Priest who wrote about the Sultan of the time in his travelogue.
His account mentions this incident briefly. What is interesting is that without knowing of the secret sending of the ships, the priest was already impressed with the character of the Sultan in his response to the Queen, as he stated;
“One or two anecdotes will put his character in its true light. During the year of famine in Ireland, the Sultan heard of the distress existing in that unhappy country; he immediately conveyed to the British ambassador his desire to aid in its relief, and tendered for that purpose a large sum of money.
It was intimated to him that it was thought right to limit the sum subscribed by the Queen, and a larger amount could not therefore be received from his highness. He at once acquiesced in the propriety of his resolution, and with many expressions of benevolent sympathy, sent the greatest admissible subscription.It is well known that his own personal feeling dictated the noble reply of the divan to the threatening demands of Austria and Russia for the extradition of the Polish and Hungarian refugees. “I am not ignorant,” was his reply, “of the power of those empires, nor of the ulterior measures to which their intimations point; but I am compelled by my religion to observe the laws of hospitality; and I believe that the sense and good feeling of Europe will not allow my government to be drawn into a ruinous war, because I resolve strictly and solemnly to adhere to them.”
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