Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 06. August 2021
Alhamdulillah and in the name of God, the anchor for all that is and will be and all that was. God, the beginning without a start and the ending without a last. God, the One and Only. Alhamdulillah for everything, Alhamdulillah for God, and Alhamdulillah for the certitude of the truth and the certitude of wisdom and the certitude of justice. And Alhamdulillah for health and Alhamdulillah for illness, and Alhamdulillah for life, and Alhamdulillah for death, and Alhamdulillah for the very fact of...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 16. July 2021
We are in the month of Dhu’l Hijjah. By all accounts, the Prophet had emphasized the blessings of this month, particularly the first 10 days that lead to Hajj. The 8th, 9th and 10th of Dhu’l Hijjah are the most critical days in Hajj. In addition, Dhul Hijjah is one of the four months in the year that are known as the sanctified months. In these four months, there is an added Islamic obligation to avoid bloodshed, enmity, hatred, and all forms of violence. The Prophet has emphasized that...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 09. July 2021
Around one year ago, I started Project Illumine in which I offer a commentary of the Qur’an, focusing on the role and core message of each Qur’anic chapter, particularly the ways in which each chapter was understood by the original recipients of the Qur’an. The last chapter we dealt with was Surah Al-A’raf (Q7), which is Meccan and one of the longest chapters of the Qur’an. I typically spend five to six hours on each chapter, sometimes more. What always strikes me is how much more...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 02. July 2021
God describes the faith that God gave to humankind as a light upon humanity. The faith of our father Abraham, and of all the prophets, one prophet after another, until the final articulation of this faith with the Prophet Muhammad, is a light upon humanity. What does light do? It forces darkness to retreat. When it shines, it enables visibility and clarity, it exposes the hidden and secret, and confronts those who look where the light shines to see the true nature of things. Light, by its...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 25. June 2021
The original khutbah that I had prepared for today included a heart-warming story from the sirah, but I saw a news item that changed the entire khutbah in an instant. The point of the khutbah is not to educate a lazy audience, nor is it to replace the mandate to pursue knowledge and an education in the affairs of faith. The point of the khutbah every jumu’a is to bring to the forefront what should be a primary issue of concern for Muslims within a certain place at a certain time. The jumu’a...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 18. June 2021
The Qur’an, God's revealed book, has indeed set out for us a path, and an entire methodology for existence in life. The Qur’an is a book that is not there to affirm what we are, but to challenge what we are. The very nature of God's revelation is that, if one finds in it an affirmation of what they are, or an affirmation of what they want to be, or an affirmation of their feelings and ideas, without anything further, then they have not given this book its due. Then, they do not have a...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 06. December 2019
"RETURNING THE GAZE: A WALK THROUGH THE BIBLE" 6 December 2019 Dr. Abou El Fadl begins with the caveat that he will deliver a different kind of khutbah. The modern age of information comes at a time in history when Muslims are at one of their weakest points. Information is power, and power negotiates information. Information is not simply an objective reality that is presented, or data that you either take or leave. Information is intimately connected with power. The flow of information...