Istiqomah: Tested Character 

Islamic education, worship in Islam and other Islamic teachings are also in the context of building character, forming good character, character and morals. A person’s character is good or not proven with istiqomah, doing good sometimes turns out to be not, it can’t be called a person of good character. but if that person is always good, never changes then other people will judge that it is his morality, nature and character. And if a person has character, he has an identity (dzatiyah) and this clear identity, I and the Qur’an also give a signal in Surah fusshilat verse 33: “Who is better in speech than the one who calls to Allah, does righteous deeds and says? : I am a Muslim. that he has a clear identity, identity as a Muslim, his behavior is like this, his words are like this, his opinions and statements are like this and he never changes (mencla-mencle: java). When a Muslim has a clear identity and character, God willing, success will be given.

Other people will not hesitate to take him as a son-in-law, other people will not hesitate to take him as a staff, because everyone thinks this person is clearly a good character. While people who are not istiqamah (mencla-mencle) people want to take as sons-in-law, so partners will hesitate, want to be partners, maybe they will betray, want to be son-in-law, maybe hypocrites and this will create new problems in the future. So persistence is important.

Practices that are istiqamah certainly have an impact that can be felt and proven to be real, than those that are not istiqamah. For example, 1 drum of water is then made a small hole that drips at one point (stone) after 2 years the water runs out and the results can be seen, the stone will be perforated because it is exposed to water droplets. But if 1 drum or more of water is poured directly on the stone, the stone will not be perforated. This is the difference between people who are istiqamah and not istiqamah. And what Islam requires is that we continue to worship until we die, so that when we die, we are in a state of worship. , 99). The Prophet is istiqamah, friends are also istiqamah if we are not istiqamah we want to imitate who? From all this description, istiqamah is the main thing. First, istiqamah is a manifestation of sincerity, the second istiqamah, God willing, guarantees husnul khatimah, the third istiqamah as proof of the clarity of our identity and identity.

Source: KH. Marzuki Musytamar Speech