Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 08. March 2019
Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl reminds Muslims of the "obvious" and forgotten basics of ethics of our faith. He illuminates why Islamophobia has permeated every part of our existence in subtle and unseen ways. He shares why the new Crusades in our day and age are fought with weapons of information, data and knowledge, and how it is incumbent upon Muslims to recognize and appropriately address the challenges facing them in this age. He calls upon Muslims to "clean their own house" first. Please excuse...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 01. March 2019
Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl addresses questions arising from his previous khutbahs regarding how to receive and assess knowledge and develop and trust one's own intuition or native instinct (fitrah) in determining what is authentically Islamic. He elaborates on the example of pure water entering a clean vessel versus a dirty vessel in understanding the impact of a divine message on the soul (vessel) receiving that message. He discusses how to evaluate the moral character of religious authority, be...
Circles of Learning (Halaqas) · 16. February 2019
Part 1 of 2: Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl presents his methodology and original commentary on the Qur'an, covering Surah 100: Al 'Adiyat. In presenting the various layers of meaning in the this chapter, as in others before, he discusses three levels of meanings, beginning first with the straight translation presenting in English translations of the Qur'an. Usually, these are the most basic interpretation/translation. Then he presents a more nuanced second level, supported by tafsir (Quranic...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 15. February 2019
In this transformative moment in human history, Dr. Abou El Fadl recounts the ways in the last three decades since the publication of his book, The Authoritative and Authoritarian in Islamic Discourses, that the methodology of justice, beauty and reason he advocated came under attack as a source of "fitnah" (creating discord and dissent). As Muslims, we learned from well known shuyukh that many things like music, art, pictures, relations with non-Muslims and other things identified as "from the...