Taubat

Iman seorang muslim terkadang melemah sehinga terkadang ia dikuasai hawa nafsunya, syetan merayunya untuk berbuat maksiat maka ia berbuat dzalim terhadap dirinya sendiri, menjerumuskan dirinya pada sesuatu yang diharamkan Allah. Allah Maha Pengasih terhadap hamba-hamba-Nya dan rahmat Allah amat luas mencakup segala sesuatu, maka barangsiapa yang bertaubat setelah melakukan kedzalimanm maka sesungguhnya Allah menerima taubatnya dan mengampuninya sebagaimana firman-Nya : ”Maka barangsiapa bertaubat (diantara pencuri-pencuri itu) sesudah melakukan kejahatan itu dan memperbaiki diri, maka sesungguhnya Allah menerima taubatnya, sesungguhnya Allah Maha Pengampun lagi Maha Penyayang” (Al Maidah :39)

Allah Maha Pemaaf dan Maha Mulia memerintahkan kepada orang-orang mukmin untuk bertaubat nasuha agar mereka mendapatkan kasih sayang Allah dan surga-Nya, maka Allah berfirman : “Hai orang-orang yang beriman bertaubatah kepada Allah dengan taubat yang semurni-murninya, mudah-mudahan Tuhan kamu akan menghapus kesalahan-kesalahanmu dan memasukan kamu ke dalam surga yang mengalir sungai-sungai di bawahnya” (At Tahrim: 8)

Pintu taubat masih terbuka bagi semua manusia hingga matahari terbit dari barat, Rasulullah shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam bersabda : “Sesungguhnya Allah membukakan Tangan-Nya pada malam hari agar orang yang melakukan kejahatan di siang hari bertaubat dan Dia membukakan Tangan-Nya di siang hari agar yang melakukan kejahatan di malam hari bertaubat hingga matahari terbit dari barat” (HR. Muslim no. 2759)

Taubat nasuha bukan hanya sekedar ucapan di lidah tapi disyaratkan untuk diterimanya taubat itu, agar pelaku kejahatan mencabut akar-akar dosa secara langsung menyesali apa yang telah diperbuat, bertekad untuk tidak kembali kepada perbuatan dosa itu dan mengembalikan hak-hak orang yang didzalimi, sebaiknya taubat itu dilakukan sebelum melihat kedatangan kematian, Allah berfirman : “Sesungguhnya taubat di sisi Allah hanyalah taubat bagi orang-orang yang mengerjakan kejatahan lantaran kejahilan yang kemudian mereka bertaubat dengan segera, maka mereka itulah yang diterima Allah taubatnya dan Allah maha mengetahui lagi maha bijaksana. Dan tidaklah taubat itu diterima Allah dari yang mengerjakan kejahatan (yang) hingga datang ajal kepada seseorang diantara mereka, barulah ia mengatakan : 'sesungguhnya sekarang saya bertaubat'. Dan tidak pula (diterima taubat) orang-orang yang mati sedang mereka dalam kekafiran. Bagi orang-orang itu telah kami sediakan siksa yang pedih” (An Nisa : 17-18)

Allah mengajak para pelaku perbuatan dosa untuk bertaubat agar Allah mengampuni mereka : “Tuhanmu telah menetapkan atas diri Nya kasih sayang, (yaitu) barangsiapa yang berbuat kedzaliman di antara kamu lantaran kehailan kemudian dia bertaubat setelah mengerjakannnya dan mengadakan perbaikan, maka sesungguhnya Allah Maha Pengampun lagi Maha Penyayang” (Al An’am :54)

Allah Maha pengasih terhadap hamba-hamba-Nya, mencitai orang-orang yang bertaubat dan menerima taubat mereka, sebagaimana firman-Nya : “Dan Dia-lah yang menerima taubat dari hamba-hamba-Nya dan memaafkan kesalahan-kesalahan dan mengetahui apa yang kamu kerjakan” (As Syura :25).

Dan firman-Nya : “Sesungguhnya Allah menyukai orang-orang yang bertaubat dan menyukai orang-orang yang mensucikan diri” (Al baqarah : 222)

Seorang kafir jika memeluk Islam maka Allah akan gantikan semua kejahatannya dengan kebaikan dan mengampuninya dari segala dosa yang telah diperbuatnya dahulu, sebagaimana firman Allah : “Katakanlah kepada orang-orang kafir itu, jika mereka berhenti dari kekafiran-Nya niscaya Allah akan mengampuni dosa-dosa mereka yang sudah lalu” (Al Anfal :38)

Allah Maha Pengampun dan Pengasih menyukai taubat hamba-hamaba-Nya dan memerintahkan mereka untuk bertaubat agar mereka diampuni Allah, sementara syetan, jin dan manusia menginginkan mereka menyimpang dari kebenaran menuju kebatilan sebagaimana firman-Nya : “Dan Allah hendak menerima taubatmu, sedang orang-orang yang mengikut hawa nafsunya bermaksud supaya kamu menyimpang sejauh-jauhnya (dari kebenaran)” (An Nisa : 27)

Rahmat Allah mencakup segala sesuatu, maka jika seseorang hamba telah melampaui batas pada perbuatan maksiat dan dosa, kemudian ia bertaubat maka sesungguhnya Allah akan menerima taubatnya itu dan mengampuni dosa-dosanya, sebagaiman firman-Nya : “Hamba-hamba-Ku yang melampai batas terhadap diri mereka sendiri, janganlah kamu berputus asa dari rahmat Allah , sesungguhnya Allah mengampuni dosa-dosa semuanya, sesungguhnya Dia-lah yang Maha Pengampun lagi Maha Penyayang” (Az Zumar : 53)

Rasulullah shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam bersabda : “Tuhan kita yang Maha Suci lagi Maha Tinggi turun pada kita pada setiap malam ke langit dunia pada sepertiga malam terakhir lalu berkata “barangsiapa berdoa kepada-Ku maka Aku akan mengabulkannya, dan barangsiapa yang meminta kepada-Ku maka Aku akan memberinya dan barangsiapa yang memohon ampun kepada-Ku maka Aku akan mengampuninya” (HR. Muslim : 758)

Jika manusia adalah lemah maka kalau berbuat dosa hendaklah ia bertaubat dan memohon ampun tiap saat karena sesungguhnya Allah Maha Pengampun lagi Maha Penyayang. Allah berfirman : “Dan barangsiapa mengerjakan kejahatan dan menganiaya dirinya, kemudian dia memohon ampun kepada Allah, niscaya dia mendapati Allah Maha Pengampun lagi Maha Penyayang” (An Nisa : 110)

Seorang muslim rawan untuk melakukan kesalahan dan maksiat, maka selayaknya baginya untuk memperbanyak taubat dan mohon ampun. Rasulullah shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam bersabda : “Demi Allah sesungguhnya Aku mohon ampun kepada Allah dan bertaubat kepada-Nya dalam sehari lebih dari tujuh puluh kali” (HR. Al Bukhari :6307)

Allah mencintai taubat hamba-Nya dan menerima taubat itu bahkan Allah gembira dengan taubat itu sebagaimana sabda Nabi shallahllhu ‘alaihi wasallam : “Sesungguhnya Allah sangat gembira dengan taubat hamba-Nya dari pada gembiranya seorang yang kehilangan bekal bersama untanya disebuah padang yang tandus kemudian dia medapatkannya kembali unta itu” (Mutafaq alaihi)

What if They Let YOU Run the Hubble?

It is probably the dream of any amateur astronomer to be able to be the boss of one of the great multi million dollar telescopes even if it was just for one hour or for a few shots. Sure, we can have a lot of fun with our binoculars. And as we improve our personal equipment set, we get better and better at pinpointing what we want to see in the sky.

But there is only so far we can go within the constraints of a family budget in building the perfect telescopic operation. Probably the next level then is to work together with others in your astronomy club. By pooling our resources, we can make more progress both in acquiring much more sophisticated equipment and in synchronizing our telescopic operations.

All of this is good and its fun to tweak it and play with it always finding improvements. But when we are sitting back and dreaming, it’s those big institutional size telescopes that really grab our interest. Maybe you have had a chance to visit one at Kitt Peak, Arizona, Mauna Kea, Hawaii, Palomar Mountain, California or Mt. Locke, Texas to name just a few and as you walked around jaw dropped to your shoes, you thought, maybe if I could just run it for an hour, how awesome would that be?

The good news is that while these huge observatories are not going to let you come in and turn the gears of the mightiest telescopes yourself, many of them will perform specific observations for you and allow you to “see through their eyes” via the internet for that short observation. This is a powerful option for an amateur astronomer and one you want to prepare for carefully. Here is what you do…

1. Begin compiling a list of the great telescopes of the world, their locations and how to contact them. Google will help you with finding lists of these observatories to contact by pointing you to specific directory sites like http://astro.nineplanets.org/bigeyes.html

2. You can start by submitting your request to a specific observatory. Now here is where you have to do your homework. If you have a specific celestial event you wish to observe, there will be particular telescopes around the globe that will be in the best position to get those shots for you. So study up and find just the right telescope and when the perfect moment for that observation would occur. Get out ahead of this homework as you need to submit your request in plenty of time for it to go through approval and for them to get back to you and to interact with you to nail down what you are going to have them look at.

3. There are two ways you can direct the operators of the telescopes. You can give them specific coordinates to focus on and a specific time frame to perform the observation. The other way is to give them a star, a planet or a particular star system to observe and let them figure out the coordinates. That might be easier because you know what you want to see.

4. Now you sit back and wait for the email that the observation is done. You will not be able to watch them do the observation dynamically. That would be nice but it just isn’t possible yet. These are telescopes, not web cams. But they will post the pictures from your observation on a particular web location and email the results to you for study.

It’s pretty cool, free and customized to what you requested. And you can brag to your friends as you make color copies of your shots that you had Kitt Peak do these up for you personally. And you would not be lying.

The Universe through a Child’s Eyes

There is something about parenthood that gives us a sense of history and a deeply rooted desire to send on into the next generation the great things we have discovered about life. And part of that is the desire to instill in our children the love of science, of learning and particularly the love of nature.

Your fascination with the universe and how to explore it as we so often do in the field of astronomy can be highly academic and dry as maybe it was if you took a course in astronomy. But when you get out there in the field at night, your equipment is just right and the night sky comes alive with activity, there is no other experience like it for majesty and pure excitement. And that is the kind of experience we want our children to come to love as much as we do.

It’s actually not a big jump from play to learning for children when it comes to learning about the natural world, science and astronomy. Exploration is a natural part of being a child and growing up in a fascinating world and universe. So if we can find ways to take that natural desire to explore and instill a life long passion for astronomy, we will have given our children a truly great gift.

So with a few simple family activities, we can instill that love of astronomy in our offspring. Here are some ideas.

* Make star gazing part of family life. You already love to go outdoors as often as possible to enjoy the stars. So don’t let that be your private passion. Get everybody into the act. The kids will love it and look forward to those nights as much as going to the circus.

* Make each new experience in growing into astronomy a fresh threshold. So the first experiences might be what you experienced as a kid, just laying on your back out in the country with the panorama of the stars overhead trying to take it all in. Go ahead and challenge them to count the stars. It’s a fun exercise and one they will save to use as a joke on their kids when they do this same thing in a few decades.

* Take them along the road of learning, introducing binoculars so they can focus on particular areas of the night sky.

* Now they are hooked and want to know about why some of the stars are brighter than others. They have no idea they are going to astronomy school and don’t even know it. You can tell them about the constellations as you point out how to find them by keying off the North Star. By being able to find things in that mass of stars and knowing there is such a vast amount more they can pick out, they are ripe for learning from star maps and about how the galaxies work.

* Think of their excitement as they notice the changes in the night sky. The phases of the moon and the effect of the rotation of the earth on the position of the planets. Help them find their favorite celestial bodies each night. Before long they will learn to chart the movement of the stars just like the early astronomers did.

* Now you will get caught up in the excitement of finding new things to reveal to your excited crew of fledgling astronomers. When you reveal that you are going on a safari to see an eclipse, a meteor shower or the once in a lifetime appearance of a comet, that gift will as big as anything you might spring on them for Christmas.

The wonders of the night sky will captivate your children the way it has you for years. And you will have done them the greatest favor you ever could do by making them lifelong lovers of the universe.

The “WOW” Hobby

Some people sometimes view hobbies as sometimes silly or frivolous pastimes. And it’s true some hobbies are like that. But it is healthy to have a hobby because it diversifies our interests and keeps us active and fun to be with. But many hobbies are for the few that really get into that area of study. Stamp collecting or rock climbing are valid hobbies. But to be sure, these are not hobbies that just anybody will get into.

Astronomy, by contract, that you could say everybody gets into at some point or another. It is safe to say that everybody at some point has looked up at a magnificent night sky and said “WOW.” At that moment, even if was only for that moment, that person became an amateur astronomy hobbyist. They had that “Wow” moment in what can only be described as the “WOW” hobby.

That common experience is what makes astronomy one of the most exciting and popular hobbies of them all. Any hobby has to have a few “wow” moments. Whether it’s hitting that strike in bowling or finding that perfect stamp, there has to be a moment when the bell rings. Well astronomy has many “wow” moments that occur virtually any clear night in the stars. From the coming of an asteroid shower to just figuring out another constellation, there is so much to do and play with in astronomy that you can be a hobbyist your whole life and never get bored.

Besides the excitement of astronomy, another reason it makes a great hobby is that it is easy and cheap to get started. Unlike skiing for example, to just start enjoying astronomy, all you need is the night sky. But there is no end to the levels of complexity and sophistication you can get to as you move along in astronomy as well. So like any good hobby, astronomy is endlessly fascinating and tremendously addictive because there is always more you want to learn and more you can do to make your knowledge and experiences more interesting and fun.

A great side benefit of how many people are into astronomy is that it is a tremendously social hobby as well. This is unusual for a hobby that is associated with a science, that is executed by staring up in the sky by yourself and that is not competitive. But in any town or city, there are at least a few and probably dozens of astronomy clubs and associations that meet regularly to discuss astronomy.

This is the perfect way to introduce a new recruit to the hobby of astronomy. These clubs thrive on sharing their love of astronomy with new members, kids and those just learning how to explore the stars. Most astronomy clubs schedule regular “safaris” to go out away from the lights of the city and get a good night of sky watching done. Going on such an outing with a big group of enthusiasts is the type of experience that will take a passive interest into astronomy and change it into a healthy obsession.

By going out with a group, you can rub elbows with people who know the night sky, can help you learn how to spot the great constellations and how to train your eyes to see the really cool stuff going on over our heads virtually every night. Astronomy is a passion that is shared equally by everyone from children, to college students to serious scholars in the field to even professional astronomers who work at exploring the universe full time. On any given night, you or your child may be sitting next to an award winning professional astronomer who will happily provide a private lesson looking up at the cosmos just for the sheer fun of shared learning.

The great thing is that everything we have talked about here costs virtually nothing. You can get started with your love of astronomy and learn as you go so when you are ready to make some investment in equipment, you have learned from others what is just the right thing for you. Sure, eventually you will want some astronomy magazine subscriptions, a star map or two and binoculars or a telescope. But those things come as your love of the hobby matures. Meanwhile, get out there, meet others who share your excitement about star gazing and get to know a hobby that never stops making you say “WOW”.