Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 13. May 2022
Dear Friends, Greetings of Peace! I pray you are well! This weekend, we have the blessed opportunity of addressing once again, a painful topic: spiritual and sexual abuse in our communities. It is a blessed opportunity because anytime we have the chance to blast light towards the accumulation of darkness, we have the opportunity to help people who have been held in the grip of this darkness. We have the opportunity to see what damage has been hiding in the shadows, and we help people who have...
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 06. May 2022
Al salamu alaykum dear Friends, An extended Eid Mubarak to you and your loved ones! I pray that you all enjoyed and beautiful and blessed Eid and that the coming year ahead with be full of advancement, growth, and drawing ever closer to the Divine on your personal journey! It is nice to have a better functioning brain during the day now after fasting is over, but I do miss the lightness of being and the almost effervescent quality of the air that accompanies the month of Ramadan. As Ramadan...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 06. May 2022
The challenge in any act of public discourse or public communications is that one must tap within and seek to connect with people on what is presumptively shared common grounds, on what is presumptively something that the speaker shares with the listener; centered around the idea, in the case of jumu’a khutbahs, that the remembrance of God in this public, collective devotional act must be the foundation for the communicative act. For the speaker and the congregation in the listening role, the...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 29. April 2022
It is the last Friday of Ramadan of the year 1443. Although we do not register it as such, it is a year in our life that will never return, a year in the life of our Ummah that will never return, and a year in the life of this planet that will never return. It is remarkable that our relationship with time itself is a reflection of our relationship to our Ummah and our relationship to God. Time is not just the way that the earth revolves and interacts with its two partners, the sun and the moon,...
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 29. April 2022
Al salamu alaykum dear Friends, Greetings of Peace! As we wind down the last remaining days of Ramadan, I pray that you are drawing ever closer to the Beloved and enjoying the sweet fragrances of the nights! It is hard to believe the end of Ramadan is upon us and we will have to say goodbye to this blessed month so soon. May next Ramadan find us in a better state insha'Allah! In this final week of Ramadan, as we are feeling the blessed effects of less sleep, more prayer, and the month of...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 22. April 2022
We are already in the third jumu’a of Ramadan, and already in the last 10 days of Ramadan. This month of contemplation and reflection, the rare passing opportunity at rebirth, is already coming to a close. I wish that we could speak about the last 10 days of Ramadan without having to confront the reality of what is happening in the Aqsa Mosque, but before I delve into this, the entire plight of the Aqsa Mosque, which has become habitual - but not predictable in a mundane and unimportant...
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 22. April 2022
Dear Friends, Al salamu alaykum! Greetings of Peace! Welcome to the last ten days of Ramadan! May your last days of Ramadan be full of love, beauty, elevation and deeper connection with God! First, let us pray for all the Muslims around the world who are suffering under injustice, oppression or worse during this blessed month. May God give them strength, patience, comfort and endurance, while those of us who are able to act freely without fear of imprisonment or oppression can hopefully work to...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 15. April 2022
I do not know how anyone can take the podium this Friday and dare talk about anything other than what is transpiring in our beloved Jerusalem and our beloved Aqsa Mosque. As I say this, I am certain that there will be plenty of khutbahs and plenty of mosques that will not even mention the Aqsa Mosque. But what is new, right? This is the sign of the ailment and disease of our Ummah. First, it would be immoral to not mention the fact that throughout the West Bank, Israeli forces have been killing...
Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 15. April 2022
Dear Friends, Al salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatohu! I pray that your Ramadan has been full of light, meaning, and connection to God. My favorite part about Ramadan is the feeling in the air - palpably different - and the promise of Ramadan blessings and the unexpected Ramadan miracle, which can come in many forms, shapes, and sizes. May you experience a Ramadan miracle! It is hard to believe (and a bit sad) that Ramadan is already almost halfway over! A Prayer for Cameron Lee Sadly,...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 08. April 2022
The month of Ramadan invites a revisiting of one's relationship with God. It is in the way that God decrees fasting and informs us about Ramadan. The purpose and the dynamics of fasting and Ramadan is in Surah Al-Baqarah itself. Surah Al-Baqarah was revealed shortly after the hijra of the Prophet, which anchored the basic principles of how Muslims are going to interact, the type of relationships that Muslims will have with society at large, their place in society, and indeed, the very purpose...