Khutbah #1 - 20/02/98

Bismillah - Alhamdulillah

What am I doing here? - That is certainly for me the main question of the day. You don't know me. So it looks like I'm going to have to work fast over the next few weeks if you are going to. I'm not going to give you my CV - though I should tell you that I've given hundreds of hours of talks on Islam, but this is only my second Khutbah - so I'm very new to the game and had to think about what it all involved.

What is a Khutbah? Around the world there are clearly many different understandings of the word.

A ceremony? A ritual? (An all male ritual?) An Arabic recitation from a book of traditional set speeches - which the Imam might not even understand? That's what you get in some Glasgow mosques.

Am I here to Instruct? That seems to be a common understanding - the Imam as the voice of authority. But when Abu Bakr stood before the congregation he said "Please tell me when I say something wrong" - even though within a few years muslim leaders could be heard saying "I am the key to the lock on the Gates of Paradise." Listen and Obey. No free expression - the voice in the mosque authorised and controlled by the power of the state. That doesn't sound like Abu Bakr. And how does that relate to the Qur'an saying that there is no clergy in Islam?

Am I here to Teach? What does that mean - as opposed to Instruction? How do you teach? This is a University - what does teaching mean here? I did consider giving the Khutbah with a white-board and OHP's - would that not perhaps be more in keeping than a mimbar? Is it to Discuss? But despite Abu Bakr, you are unlikely to hear more than one voice during the Khutbah these days. As discussions go it is mostly one hand clapping.

Well is it just to Voice something - that's probably closest to what I expect to do - my Khutbahs can be looked on as someone thinking out loud. And it's me - not Abu Bakr (you should disagree with lots I say), so don't bother telling me I'm wrong during the Khutbah - we don't have time - tell me after, and we can either discuss it or I'll continue the topic another week.

I am not a Caliph (though I try to be God's steward) - I claim no authority - mainly I will be doing something very strange to most muslims - I will ask questions. That doesn't mean that I necessarily want an answer - they will mostly be rhetorical. I don't necessarily believe that there is one answer - but there are subjects that warrant thought - Ijtihad - imagination - not looking for answers but possibilities.

Here's a quote - see if you recognise it: "Imagination is more important than knowledge, for knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress and giving birth to evolution."(Einstein) Is our recent lack of imagination linked to the lack of muslim contribution to modern science, I wonder?

If you want legal pronouncements - you've come to the wrong place - I'm too ignorant to give judgements - though if you want fatwas, I've got plenty of opinions. I am very ignorant of Arabic and the Qur'an, however, and so have a grave concern as to my ability to lead the prayer before Arab speakers. Yet part of the Khutbah traditionally revolves around the Qur'an. How do I approach it? What I see in the Qur'an is Universal and Eternal - things tied in with Imagination, Poetry and Symbol, but that's not everyone's taste.

I had an Arab friend, Salih, who asked me for the best translation of the Qur'an. When I said "Well, this is the one I read. It's the only one in which you can hear the poetry of the Arabic" he said "I'm not interested in poetry. I'm an engineer. Which is the best translation!". 

When I look at Qur'an I don't see it as a history book (though it contains history) or a book of Law (it says it is a book of Guidance, not of Law). It is a book of here and now as well as there and then, and it seems that to approach it in any other way is to reduce it to a shadow.

I am much more concerned with understanding than recitation. So in my early days as a muslim I selected Surahs for learning which held the most meaning for me. But even then I soon stopped, as I quickly realised that I was learning mistakes that would be hard to get rid of later (As was made clear in Abu Dhabi when an Arab friend was very stern about the inadequacies of my pronunciation). But I try not to recite what I don't understand, so unless I'm really awful - don't correct me. If I lose the flow things could get even worse. 

If you know better than me, remember the story of Mullah Nasruddin who was invited to the mosque to give a talk. He stood on the mimbar and said "Do you know what I'm going to talk to you about?" and they said "Yes", so he said "Well then, you don't need me to tell you" and went home". Next week he came and said "Do you know what I'm going to talk to you about?" and they said "No", so he said "Well then you're obviously not going to understand" and went home. The third week he said "Do you know what I'm going to talk about?" and they said "some of us do and some of us don't", so he said "Well, let those who do tell those who don't" and left them the final time.

*****

The humour of which leads me to the next traditional part of the Khutba, on the theme of the Prophet. My first understanding of the Prophet - which drew me through the final stage of becoming muslim. The first half of the Kalima was no problem, but it took three months for me to be able to add the second half, declaring Muhammad's messengership. I didn't know the man. This is how I got to know him: - 

"His name means the Praiseworthy.

"Muhammad was forbearing, honest, just and chaste. His hand never touched the hand of a woman over whom he did not have rights, with whom he did not have sexual relations, or who was not lawful for him to marry. He was the most generous of men. Neither a dinar nor a dirham was left to him in the evening. If anything remained and there was no one to give it to, night having fallen suddenly, he would not retire to his apartment until he was able to give this excess to whoever needed it. He was never asked for anything but that he gave it to the asker. He would prefer the seeker to himself and his family, and so often his store of grain for the year was used up before the end of the year. He patched his sandals and clothing, did household chores, and ate with his women-folk. He was shy and would not stare into people's faces. He answered the invitation of the slave and the free-born, and he accepted presents even if they consisted of merely a draught of milk or a rabbit's leg, while because of hunger he would at times tie two stones around his stomach.

"He ate what was at hand, and did not refrain from any permitted food. He did not eat reclining. He attended feasts, visited the sick, attended funerals, and walked among his enemies without a guard. He was the humblest of men, the most silent without being insolent, and the most eloquent without being lengthy. He was always joyful and never awed by the affairs of this world. He rode a horse, a male camel, a mule, an ass, he walked barefoot and bareheaded at different times. He loved perfumes and disliked foul smells. He sat and ate with the poor. He tyrannized nobody and accepted the excuse of the one who begged his pardon.

"He joked but he only spoke the truth. He laughed but did not burst out laughing. He did not eat better food than his servants.

"The conduct of this perfect ruler was untaught. He could neither read nor write, he grew up with shepherds in an ignorant desert land, and was an orphan without father or mother. Her refused to curse his enemy saying, 'I was sent to forgive not to curse.' When asked to wish evil on anyone he blessed them instead.

"Anas ibn Malik, his servant, said: 'He never said to me about anything that he disapproved, "Why did you do it?" Moreover his wives would not rebuke me without his saying, "Let it be. It was meant to happen".'

"If there was a bed he slept on it, if not he reclined on the earth. He was always the first to extend a greeting. In a handshake he was never the first to release his hand. He preferred his guest over himself and would offer the cushion on which he reclined until it was accepted. He called his companions by their surnames so as to show honour to them, and the children so as to soften their hearts. One did not argue in his presence. He only spoke the truth. He was the most smiling and laughing of men in the presence of his companions, admiring what they said and mingling with them.

"He never found fault with his food. If he was pleased with it he ate it and if he disliked it he left it. If he disliked it he did not make it hateful to someone else. He did not eat very hot food, and he ate what was in front of him on the plate, within his reach, eating with three fingers. He wiped the dish clean with his fingers saying 'The last morsel is very blessed.' He did not wash his hands until he had licked them clean of food. He quaffed milk but sipped water.

"Sayyedina 'Ali, his closest Companion, said: 'Of all men he was the most generous, the most open hearted, the most truthful, the most fulfilling of promise, the gentlest of temper, and the noblest towards his family. Whoever saw him unexpectedly was awed by him, and whoever was his intimate loved him'." (The Way of Muhammad)

The most laughing and smiling of men! On the few occasions I have been in the mosque and heard something to lift my spirits enough to make me laugh, there's usually been someone around to tell me it's forbidden. But if you see a man with a face like thunder, who looks as though he never knew how to laugh or smile - think very carefully before accepting his understanding of what is required to follow the example of the Prophet. So - I will try to speak the Truth as I see it - if you disapprove of what I say please show patience.

Wa tawassaw bil Haqq wa tawassaw bi Sabr