Usuli Weekly Newsletter · 20. September 2023
Dear Friends, Greetings of Peace (al salamu 'alaykum)! I pray you are well! This past Saturday in the introduction to the Book of Illuminations halaqa, I asked one of our Research Fellows, Rami Koujah, to talk about his recent extended post on X from 6 September 2023 (formerly known as Twitter, but since I like saying Twitter more than X, I will use Twitter) in response to Hamza Yusuf's article titled, "Cultural Devolution: How the New Victimhood Culture Rejects Human Dignity and Divinity,"...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 20. September 2019
Dr. Abou El Fadl reminds that the very idea of a responsibility is a very serious matter. None of us exist simply within the boundaries of the time and space that we occupy. Rather, all of us come to this world and immediately impact everything around us in perceptible and predictable ways, but also in imperceptible and unpredictable ways, although we don't reflect upon all the ways that the reality of responsibility is created. If one is a reflective and moral human being, one will consider...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 13. September 2019
Khaled Abou El Fadl reminds that every generation of Muslims confronts their own set of challenges. Allah gave us the intellect and the word, and this intellect can either elevate us to the greatest heights, or it can in fact take us to the lowest levels. He reminds that Allah does not change the condition of the people until they first change what is in themselves. This is a very heavy burden and responsibility. He explains that recently, there has been a tendency for Muslims in the West to...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 19. July 2019
Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl begins by reminding us of the meaning, import and implications of the "straight path," al-siratal mustaqim, the phrase that Muslims recite more than any other as they recite the first chapter of the Quran, al-Fatiha, in every prayer and with a multitude of occasions. Despite reciting it frequently, Muslims infrequently reflect upon the depths of meaning the phrase contains. In seeking the divine path of justice, beauty, compassion and mercy, human beings have been given...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 12. July 2019
Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl reminds of the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad in which human beings are told not to surrender, rely upon, become pacified, embrace or turn oneself over to the unjust. He reminds us of the weight and seriousness of "the Word" and the moral and ethical obligation upon human beings through their relationship with the Word. He recalls to the tradition that the word is light, the pen is light, the intellect is light and the ink is light--a symbolic construct of the...