UNAIR NEWS – Universitas Airlangga held another staff’s monthly sermon at Garuda Mukti Hall, Campus MERR (C), on Wednesday afternoon, July 20, 2022. The sermon aims to educate the Muslim staff on internalizing HEBAT characters in the eye of Allah. HEBAT is an acronym for must-have characters of UNAIR’s community. The ‘H’ in HEBAT stands for Humble and Honest, ‘E’ for Excellent, ‘B’ for Brave, ‘A’ for Agile, and ‘T’ for Transcendent.

The Head of the Fatwa Commission of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) of East Java KH Ma’ruf Khozin was invited to deliver his lecture. As stated in the Quran surah Asy-Syams: 7-10, Ma’ruf explained that every soul leads humans to virtue and evildoing. Leading our hearts to commit good deeds can be started with practicing Sufism or purification of the soul.

“Purifying the soul means that we intend to do good deeds because of Allah. We train our souls to get healed from soul diseases. What is soul disease like? Jealousy when someone gets Allah’s favor, being ungrateful for what we have, and being know-it-all,” said the Nahdlatul Ulama scholar.

He further explained that Sufism could be an applicable therapy to treat the diseased soul. For instance, being honest with yourself and other people to align our words with actions. For UNAIR staff, being agile in work is a form of Sufism.

“If it has become someone’s task, just do it. No need to wait for the employer’s request. There is a story of a friend of Prophet Muhammad [PBUH], Anas ibn Malik. He was always agile in doing his work that Rasulullah never complained about it,” he said.

Ma’ruf also reminded that a Muslim should maintain the tawadhu’ (humility), a character that stands in between inferiority and haughtiness. Muslims must avoid feeling diffident about their abilities but do not pass the limit of being haughty. He concluded that Sufism virtue will return to ourselves as stated in surah Al-Isra’:7.

Author: Pradnya Wicaksana

Editor: Nuri Hermawan