Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 12. November 2021
The Supreme Court of the United States is obviously one of the most influential institutions in this country, if not in the entire world. Each year, the Supreme Court hears arguments in a select number of cases. Eventually, it decides upon the cases it has selected to hear and issues an opinion. The opinions of the Supreme Court influence and affect the way that all people in the United States get to build their lives. The Supreme Court, the third branch of government in the US, yields a...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 05. November 2021
It is not an exaggeration to say that the biggest challenge that confronts us collectively as Muslims can be summed up as a challenge of the formation of Muslim consciousness. Week after week, day in and day out, what we are actually struggling for is the shape and the content and the nature of Muslimconsciousness. As much as we believe in Islam as an objective truth in our hearts and in our intellects, what we do with this objective truth that we believe in is between us and God. But what we...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 29. October 2021
God reminds us on many occasions in the Qur'an of basic, foundational truth - truths that are so foundational and so basic that that are like the elementary building blocks of consciousness. Among these basic foundations is that believers - both men and women – support each other (Q9:71). A wali (pl. awliyaa) is not just an ally or supporter, but someone who has a privity of relationship with you so that there is a reciprocal obligation of caretaking. In other words, they become responsible...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 22. October 2021
Every week when I stand on this podium, there is the often weighty decision of what topics to address. This podium is the podium of the Prophet Muhammad. Anyone that stands before the congregation on Friday, anyone that chooses to go through the process of delivering a khutbah is assuming that podium and the responsibility that goes with it. It is the responsibility to be the voice of truth and goodness in the Muslim Ummah and to speak against what is wrong in the Muslim Ummah. So, what stands...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 29. November 2019
"ON KNOWING THE STRENGTH OF YOUR INNER LIGHT" 29 November 2019 Dr. Abou El Fadl shares a prayer (dua) that the Prophet (pbuh) would often repeat: “God, The Lord of the Heavens and the earth, the Lord of all there is and that will be, I seek refuge in You in everything, from everything that You ultimately are empowered against. You are the First and the Last. There is nothing after You, as there was nothing before You. You are apparent. You are the Lord of all that appears, and You are the...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 18. October 2019
Dr. Abou El Fadl begins with a reminder that we remain committed to the truth that everything is from Allah, and everything will return to Allah. One of the central narratives of the Quran, that many Muslims learn and often repeat, is Ayat Al Kursi (Chapter 2, Verse 255). It is a monumental reminder of the truth of our existence and our relationship to our Maker. The wisest of Muslims are the ones who reflect even just on this verse, for the amazing amount of insight it yields into our Maker...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 11. October 2019
Dr. Abou El Fadl reminds that Allah has given us the Shari’ah, a path, a guidance, like a map. So, follow it and do not follow the whims of those who do not know. If you enter into a relationship with the Divine, you will feel the Divine and the Divine will guide you. The unjust are supported by the unjust. The nature of injustice is like an infection. It starts small but grows and extends, and when supported, results in further injustice. It is not just a theological principle; it is a...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 04. October 2019
Dr. Abou El Fadl reminds us that Allah in the Qur’an gave us Shariah, a path that we are instructed to follow. There are many people who think that Shariah is something as simple as a group of positivistic laws. However, laws that lead to practices are only half the process, because any practice decreed by law must have a purpose. If one is not following these laws with an understanding of why, how it fits in within the Shariah of Allah, then there is a fundamental breakdown. If it was simply...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 27. September 2019
Dr. Abou El Fadl reminds that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in his persona sums up the entire legacy of the entire line of prophets. He has embodied all of them in his single being as the last and final prophet. All of the prophets came with a singular message to humanity, and it was perfected over a long, protracted educational process about the implications of creation and being God’s creatures. Muslims are told that the Prophet Muhammad perfected the message, and that after the death of the...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 13. September 2019
Khaled Abou El Fadl reminds that every generation of Muslims confronts their own set of challenges. Allah gave us the intellect and the word, and this intellect can either elevate us to the greatest heights, or it can in fact take us to the lowest levels. He reminds that Allah does not change the condition of the people until they first change what is in themselves. This is a very heavy burden and responsibility. He explains that recently, there has been a tendency for Muslims in the West to...