Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 17. March 2023
We are now in the countdown to Ramadan. By next jumu'a, we will have already begun the month of Ramadan. As I have noted for a number of years now, every Ramadan is an occasion for the Ummah to pause and reflect upon the past year, how that year compares to the years before it, and to think of the coming year, the challenges ahead, what must be achieved, and what must be accomplished. As we approach the month of Ramadan, the United Nations, acting through the offices of its Human Rights...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 25. February 2022
Often as major world events unfold, the simple reality is that as these events unfold and we witness human beings engaged in minor and major challenges, for a Muslim, what ought to be the reality is the constant, persistent voice of the Qur'an reminding, alerting and provoking. The voice of the Qur'an is the very agency of God in our living reality. Look at the simple challenge. In Surah Al Shams, when God reminds us of the nafs [soul/spirit] that God has created, and of the reality of fujoor...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 11. February 2022
It is human nature; it is embedded in our intellectual and moral, and even spiritual, code as human beings that we can recognize harm. At a very minimum, we respond to what is pleasant and unpleasant; and the nature of our learning is experiential. So much of what we know or the way we know it is because we have experienced failure, displeasure, harm, or things we have done have had unpleasant consequences. From that, we then come to a conclusion that a particular act, a particular option, a...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 17. December 2021
Recently, I had an opportunity to watch a documentary that focused on characters such as Jeffrey Epstein and Robert Maxwell. Both individuals are rather infamous at this point. Of course, Robert Maxwell is the British media tycoon who died under mysterious circumstances. He is also the father of Ghislaine Maxwell, the woman who allegedly aided and conspired with Jeffrey Epstein to procure underage women, in what amounted to a rather extensive sex trafficking operation. But what struck me in...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 26. November 2021
This week, the Usuli Institute was blessed with beautiful people visiting it.These truly, distinctly beautiful human beings that have honored Usuli with their visit has allowed me to dream that Usuli's voice will live on. The Usuli Institute should be a home for people who care; for intelligent people, for inquisitive people, for rational people, for reasonable people, for people who understand that Islam is about living beyond yourself and for others than yourself. It is for people who...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 19. March 2021
In the Project Illumine tafasir halaqas, the last surah we dealt with was Surah al-Najm, a surah that is profoundly eloquent, profoundly beautiful in its meter, music and in its descriptive power. Furthermore, the meaning of the surah is remarkably earth-shattering. For so long, Surah al-Najm has been considered a surah that relates to the Isra wa al-Miraj and the ascension of the Prophet to the Heavens to be in proximity to the Divine. It has unfortunately become the center point in a rather...