Friday Khutbahs (Sermons)
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 15. September 2023
On so many occasions in the Qur'an, God puts us on notice for something that, if we were people with any level of reflection and deliberation, we would already know innately and intuitively. God alerts us to the sheer capacity for ifsad—for corruption, spoliation, and exploitation—that human beings do, indeed, possess. In Surah al-Rum, God tells us that corruption has spread everywhere, and that the source of this corruption is human beings themselves through the exercise of their volition...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 08. September 2023
How many times in the Qur'an does God call upon us to have a solid core of conviction, a solid core of morality, and a solid core of ethics? One of the many approaches the Qur'an takes to this issue is when God tells us not to take as awliya’ those whom God is not pleased with, those whom God has condemned, or those of whom God disapproves (Q 3:28). Or when God tells us in Surah al-Ma’ida to not take as awliya’ those who make a mockery of our religion (Q 5:57). We are accustomed to...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 01. September 2023
As I often do, I was recently looking at some books on Amazon, and I noticed something rather interesting. I noticed some titles on black magic and books on nefarious rituals that teach people how to perform rituals for whatever their heart desires. For many of these books, especially those with more prominent titles, it is not unusual to see as many as one thousand reviews or more. The sad irony is that if an Islamic book manages to get 20 reviews on Amazon, that is considered a pretty good...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 25. August 2023
There is always the challenge of trying to think through all the challenges that confront us as Muslims. Once you have a full awareness of what Islam is truly about, in every fiber of your being, then it is as if you are privy to a truth, as if you have been handed the key to enlightenment. That key is the key of Islam. Once you know this truth, you know that many other religions have aspired toward monotheism but ultimately failed to achieve it. Other religions deified human beings. In...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 18. August 2023
As I was preparing for this week’s khutbah, I was struck by how many issues I could choose to focus on. There are so many incidents and events unfolding, so many occurrences that, in direct and indirect ways, are relevant to Muslims. When confronted by so many grand issues that drown the consciousness and overwhelm the intellect, I often escape to micro-level events, for these help us to unpack and unravel the much larger events that surround us in the world. This week, what caught my...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 11. August 2023
We are quickly approaching the end of August. For many families, it is a time of considerable promise, excitement, trepidation, nervousness, and anticipation. The summer is wrapping up, and many families find their children returning to college. Other families are facing the more burdensome and transformative occasion of their children leaving to go to college for the first time. In both cases, it is a critical time in which the child stands at the doorsteps of adulthood, with all its promises...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 04. August 2023
As many of you may know, the body that was created after World War II, the United Nations, was an extension of earlier plans for global governance, such as the ill-fated League of Nations. The Industrial Revolution enabled a select number of nations to colonize the globe. In an attempt to avoid disastrous conflicts between these imperial powers, the idea of world governance through a body in which nations could talk out their plans, their aspirations, and their differences emerged and became a...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 28. July 2023
Every jumu‘a, within the span of a single week, so many issues unfold that should be of critical importance to the Muslim Ummah and to the very idea of Islam as a faith and a set of normative values that shape and anchor our identity. The challenge for the intelligent, reflecting, and thinking Muslim is what to take away from these issues. What do the affairs of the world, as they directly pertain to Muslims and Islam, teach the reflective Muslim about God's purpose? What is God saying to...
![The Rise [and Fall] of Virtue](https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/none/path/sb756561c0e32c802/image/ic33ff3ddfd7f6530/version/1691208873/the-rise-and-fall-of-virtue.png)
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 21. July 2023
It is remarkable to think that God, through the Qur’an, told the Prophet a single word that proved to be transformative, a single word that changed the face of the earth. God told the Prophet to “Rise,” meaning to emerge and transform, with the allusion of a human being who is concealed by covers and veils (Q 74:2). God alludes to a person under covers in both Surah al-Muddaththir (Q 74) and in Surah al-Muzzammil (Q 73). In both surahs, there is an image of a human being covered by a...
Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) · 14. July 2023
Some days ago, a friend alerted me to the fact that a very important American Muslim personality passed away, and did so in near absolute silence and obliviousness by the Muslim community. The person I am referring to is Ahmad Jamal, a world-class jazz musician who died on April 16th. Ahmad Jamal converted to Islam when he was 20 years old and went on to be a gigantic figure in the field of jazz music. While I personally do not follow jazz music, the record is undeniable that his influence in...