Greetings of Peace (al salamu ‘alaykum) dear Friends!
I pray you are well and staying healthy. My sincerest apologies that it has been over three weeks since the last Usuli newsletter. Illness struck our household and everything came to a screeching halt. How quickly life can change! Thank God, I am so pleased to say that we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and I am grateful to be able to resume life, albeit to a limited degree for now. Alhamdulillah (thank God) for everything.
The last time we came together, it was for an AMAZING conversation with the beautiful and brilliant @NicoleJenes who has been using her skills as a satirist (among many other skills!) to speak truth to power and educate the world about Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinians. She is a force! It was an engaging and insightful conversation, definitely worth your time!
And I am thrilled to announce another REAL TALK ON PALESTINE, NO. 7 THIS FRIDAY (after jumu’a prayer) with our dear friend and Board Member, Professor Nader Hashemi, Director of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, and Professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics. The topic: The complicity of Muslim leadership, autocratic regimes, and ruling elites. It promises to be nothing short of illuminating!
POWERFUL KHUTBAHS. If you haven’t already, please watch Dr. Abou El Fadl’s most recent khutbah entitled, “Donkeys Carrying Books, or Just Donkeys?” (26 Jan 2024), in which Dr. Abou El Fadl shares the recent Zionist attacks against him because of the comments he made in his previous khutbah entitled, “The Cure to the ‘Cancer’ of Islam” (12 Jan 2024). Before that, he gave another brilliant and heart-wrenching khutbah entitled, “Nothing Matters, Because After Gaza, Everything Matters” (5 Jan 2024). No one speaks truth like Dr. Abou El Fadl, readily apparent in the numerous attacks against him including attempts to get him fired from UCLA.
I am sorry that once again, we must play a bit of “catch up” with edited khutbah transcriptions and other writings. I will endeavor to get us back on track so ever so gently. :) Below, you will find the edited transcript for the brilliant khutbah, “When the House is on Fire, Do We Worry About the Furniture?” (29 Dec 2023). More to come in upcoming interim emails.
I pray that you will help us continue doing what we do best in 2024 and beyond! Please kindly support our work with a tax-deductible donation here (especially as our tax dollars in the U.S. are currently funding the genocide in Palestine). May we all find our gifts, power, and passion to effect change in the new year God willing!
In Peace and Hope,
Grace