Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 15. July 2022
This jumu’a, there are a considerable number of events and issues that are transpiring, all of direct concern for Muslims that we could speak about. But as with all affairs, we reflect upon the challenges that the world presents us with in light of the foundations that the divine revelation has left us with. There is, or at least there should be, a constant conversation in the mind of a believing, faithful Muslim between the lived experiences in the world and the wisdom imparted through...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 08. July 2022
We are approaching the days of Eid. The Eid known as the Eid-al Akbar, the bigger Eid. Of course, it is the Eid at the end of the pilgrimage period where Muslims are supposed to think and act in a way that goes beyond themselves and to take care of others. The whole point of Eid al-Adha, the Eid of sacrifice, is that we do not simply celebrate by taking care of our family or worrying about the happiness of our family, but we go beyond ourselves and make it a point to take care of those who are...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 01. July 2022
I start the khutbah by just noting that today is the beginning of the month of Dhul Hijjah. Dhul Hijjah is the 12th month of the year in the Islamic calendar, and so after Dhul Hijjah, we begin a new year in the Islamic calendar. And at the end of the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah, begins Al Eid al Akbar or Al Eid al Adha. These are the first 10 days of Dhul Hijjah, in which hajj is wrapping up; because on the ninth day of Dhul Hijjah is the Wuquf al-Arafah, and then the 10th day is the...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 24. June 2022
How easy it is for people to exist in moral confusion. Moral confusion often exists not so much because of incorrect thinking, but because we do not see what is right in front of us, presenting itself before our eyes; the human ability to distract itself so that it does not see the most obvious of points, the most clear of signs, and the most apparent of messages. Our entire age of consumption and commercialization, which is structured upon some trenchant, immoral truth that stares us in the...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 17. June 2022
Today, I want to reflect upon the calculus of a moral decision. This calculus includes some basic existential questions that would lead any human being who is even moderately reflective to ponder consciousness itself. The consciousness that you and I are gifted with, for the time period that we are gifted and entrusted with it - that consciousness that starts at one point and ends at another point in this world - is placed within a time span. It is a time span that, I submit to you, is...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 10. June 2022
Of the many narratives and discourses of the Qur'an that one repeatedly revisits – pondering, reflecting, analyzing in light of what we experience as human beings in life, is of course, the parable of light in Surah An-Nur, the chapter titled, “Light” in the Qur'an. If you will recall, we are told in Surah An-Nur that Allah is the light of the heavens and Earth. “God is the light of the heavens and Earth. The parable of God's light is that of a niche containing a lamp.” The niche is...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 18. December 2020
The heart and core of Islam was and will always be the revealed word of God, the Qur'an. It is remarkable that Muslims would ever lose touch with the living word of God among them; the constant, eternal revelation that speaks to them both individually and collectively as beings that came into this world in a state of struggle, seeking to find their way. Collectivities form into communal entities, attempting to do what God has placed them on this earth to do, and that is to act as God's...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 11. December 2020
If Muslims did nothing more than reflect upon the often-repeated supplications that are at the core of their faith, Muslims would transform themselves and transform the world that they live in. So often, we repeat supplications, but their effective force and ability to transform have become vacuous. Recently, my younger son asked me a profound, yet simple question: "What does it take to be a good Muslim? What does it take for me to grow up knowing that I'm a good Muslim?" There are many ways to...
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) · 08. November 2019
Dr. Abou El Fadl begins with a reminder that the quintessential truth of being a Muslim is to walk in the path of light in order to attain light, live in light, die in light, and be resurrected in light. So much of the Quran warns us about the darkness within us and that human beings are capable of creating. Darkness is not a philosophical category, but often an intuitive category with physical manifestations, such as poverty, cruelty or a lack of empathy, mercy or compassion. It is...