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) · 03. June 2022
At what point can this Ummah sufficiently get its act together to warrant God's aid and support so that we can turn a page in history? So that the conscientious Muslim, the Muslim with a living, active, energetic conscience does not feel the alienation and the isolation that such a Muslim would necessarily feel these days. At what point do we wake from our slumber so that we are not at the pit of humanity? Muslims, whether we like it or not, collectively represent the demonstrative proof of...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 27. May 2022
Al-wa‘ith, the Arabic word for someone who conveys ‘itha. ‘Itha is advice, wisdom, a lesson. So many challenges, if you assume the position of this most of challenging words, al-wa‘ith. Al-wai’th is not a teacher, because there is another word for a teacher: mudarris or mu‘allim. But this particular word of al-wa‘ith is someone who imparts to others what are supposed to be lessons of wisdom. How do you even assume that role when in your heart of hearts, you know that there are...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 20. May 2022
There is an image that is hard to ignore, that really puts Muslims to the ultimate test. The image is quite simply this: An excavator, a big monstrous truck beginning to tear down the Al-Aqsa Mosque. It is accompanied with a caption stating the destruction of the Al-Aqsa Mosque will begin on May 29th, inviting all Israelis to come to Al-Aqsa Mosque so that the tearing down, the dismantling, and the destroying of Al-Aqsa Mosque can begin. This call for the destruction of Al-Aqsa Mosque to begin...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 13. May 2022
We have truisms, things that we say as Muslims that we have become so accustomed to. The problem with developing habits of familiarity and becoming accustomed to things is that human beings often become complacent in their habits. With complacency, there is also often the loss of meaning. We as Muslims have the Qur'an in our midst. By conviction, the Qur'an is God's revelation. It is God's testament to us. What God affirmatively chose to leave to us as a will and trust. We do not know God's...
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) · 19. June 2020
Islam should be the most important thing in the life of a Muslim, the very framework through which a Muslim sees and understands the world. It is critical that Muslims have a clear vision of what Islam represents to them, and a clear understanding of the moral role of the Islamic faith in the context of human history. Human history is marked with constant movements towards human dignity and self-determination, which are always met with resistance. This resistance takes the form of various...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 15. November 2019
"WHAT GOD EXPECTS FROM US" 15 November 2019 Dr. Abou El Fadl reminds that Allah gave humans the blessing and charge of caring for this earth until the Final Day, when we will be held accountable for how we discharged this obligation. Allah directed us to create divinity on this earth. Allah tells us it is impossible for the Divine to be unjust because God will never allow Godself to be unjust. Injustice, oppression, and tyranny (zulm) is forbidden for God and by God, and thus, apriori, justice...