Shaykh Amer Jamil will recommend this week that the talk preceding the Friday sermon needs to be relevant to the issues facing youth and delivered in English (since the youth are the majority of the community and their needs should take priority).
But some think this can go further so that the khutba itself is delivered in English. What do you think?
salaams.the khutba i feel for todays generation shouild most definitely be in english.but the problem is that our older generations cannot understand english very well. maybe it could be done in such a way that the khutba be given half in english and half in urdu.
Salaam, I’m not the best in knowledge but I think historically there is a religious reason to why the khutba has to be in arabic.. its actually deemed a part of prayer where you are not meant to talk etc, and so there is a resultant shortened prayer ie 2 rakahs rather than 4 rakahs.. correct me if I am wrong, knowing me got the wrong end of the stick.
If this is the case then the sermon itself is the only place where we can have english. For many people who work or attend educatational establishments waiting for the urdu to be over before the english one starts can be time consuming as people have work to get back to..
Being in the uk surely most muslims should be expected to understand english by now?
If not then guess they need to choose the mosque which has the sermon in the language they prefer.
Just a thought
I have personally delivered khutbahs in English (along with Arabic quotations of Qur’an and hadiths etc.), and found that it was an effective means of reaching out to the youth and other people in the society who don’t understand Arabic. If we have any chance of having one shared language here in Scotland, it will be English, despite the importance of teaching Arabic. I find it sad that there are sometimes Imams delivering Arabic khutbahs while even they are struggling to understand what they are saying!
But it should be remarked that this is not just a matter of voting, but it’s a fiqh issue that should be considered according to the texts and rulings of scholars. We know the strongly argued position of Deobandi scholars such as Mufti Taqi Usmani, while there are alternative views including that of Imam Abu Hanifa himself. What we need of our scholars in this country is to consider those opinions (as the European Council of Fatwa has done, see link above) and give advice that is within the bounds of Islamic law and according to its general aims, even if that is contrary to what many people are used to culturally.
The position taken by Hanafi scholars from the Indian Subcontinent is that it is prohibitively offensive to give the khutba in other than Arabic. They have researched the issue thoroughly, as found in many fatwa works, books, and well-research papers; it is a ‘familiar’ issue for them (given that their native languages are not Arabic).
At a practical level, it is not a problem to give a khutba this way:
1. One gives an English sermon (called ‘bayan’ instead of khutba),
2. Then the 2nd Adhan is given
3. A (minimal) Arabic khutba (of 2 parts) is given.
Functionally, there is little difference, and it is much more cautious and proper.
In general, the fuqaha tell us that whenever there is difference of opinion, even with other madhhabs, on an issue it is recommended to do that which takes out of the difference of opinion, as long it does not entail doing something disliked in one’s own madhhab. [Mentioned by Ibn Abidin in his Radd al-Muhtar, and by scholars of all four madhhabs.]
Wassalam,
Salaam Guys,
I definitely dont think the Khutba should be in english. I feel the sermon before the khutba, should be appropriate to the audience.
A lot of young people are at work and cant make it to the sermon, we barely make it in for the actual khutba. Its actually the older generation that are present during this time. I think its really important that we dont alienate our older generation or say that everything that they did was wrong.
wassalaam
Salaam,
Clearly this is not a matter for the public to vote on. The majority of todays non arab speaking Muslim youth in Scotland couldn’t tell the difference between the public address (a.k.a. talk / bayan) delivered prior to the Jumuah salaah and the Kutbah which is considered as a part of the Jumuah salaah.
A clear defenition explaining of each at the top of this blog would be beneficial. I personally feel the wording is confusing.
The issue of the public address being concentrated on the youth should be seperated from the issue of whether the Khutba should be in English. Shaykh Amer Jamil is a respected scholar and member of the Muslim community in Scotland. To refer to his recommendations that he will be making, then taking a vote on a seperate obviously more controversial topicon the same page is simply wrong. There will be someone who assumes that it is the view of Sheikh Amer Jamil that the Khutba should be in English. Is it?
Thanks to our goverment’s and media’a campaign against Islam we Muslims are not so easily trapped by such manipulation of words any more be they intentional or coincidental.
I would like to see this page take a vote on whether the public address on Friday should be geared towards the youth. Even then the results will be flawed since its unlikely that a) Our English language challenged respected elders would not be able to participate in the poll as its not in their mother tongue and b) not many of them know how to turn on a PC let alone navigate themselves to this page. Having said that i believe if the matter is treated justly we will find many of our respected elders in favour of the public address being in English.
Our beloved elders have done their duty by coming to the UK and facilitating the building, furnishing and maintaining of Masjids – All thanks be to Allah. We now need our youth many of whom English is their only language to match that effort and occupy the Masjids so that the Muslim community can continue to have a positive influence on the wider society.
Any Masjid Imam in Scotland would have the logic to know that if the youth are to be addressed then any language other than english would render the delivery of that address useless.
As for the topic on whether the Khutba should be in English…. well that would be like asking the lay population on whether surgeons should perform an Open Apendectomy, or a Laproscopic Apendectomy when removing our appendix (i have just heard someone shout “English Please!”).
Our respected Scholars and Imams are well equiped to balance the need to propogate Islam without compromising its core values. With all the time they have spent studying jurisprudence – if they can’t do it then it still does not fall upon us to bring about change.
I wonder what life in Britain would be like today with a parliment that could change fundamental laws without having to go through the law lords. the phrase ‘more democratic’ comes to mind…
Wassalaam
Salam Mu Alaikum,
I think a balance needs to be struck, and Shikh Amer is on the right track by including a prolouge to the Juma in English whiloe retaining the Juma sermon itself in Arabic.
I believe as a Muslim Ummah to stop looking for Islam to make exceptions for us and strive ourselves to reach a level where we can truly appreciate Islam and the language it was revealed to us in. When most of us have dedicated 6, 7 and even 12 years to the aquisition of secular knowledge why is it then hard for us to dedicate 12 months of our life to learn Arabic to a level where we can understand A Juma sermon in the Language of the Blessed Prophet Peace and blessings be Upon Him.
Allah knows best
Ali Husamuddeen
(Sydney)
Selam aleykum, it is always best to follow what the earlier Muslims have done. It is essential to give the Hutbaas in Arabic and followed by both English and may be Urdu. If we do it two langauges , summaries in third language as well. Then everyone benefits.
Selam aleykum
Salaam,
I agree with Ali, there needs to be a balance, keeping the traditional Arabic as well as educating people.
Well done Shaykh Amer! if it means helping the Muslim Ummah understand more about the Friday Sermon.
salam,
correct me if im wrong, but although the imam can give a ‘bayan’ in english, urdu or whatever language he pleases, in which case it should be in what the locals understand, the actual jummah khutbah, is and has to be in arabic. the language chosen by allah swt. during which everyone must sit quietly.
your poll isnt clear enough for people to understand. khutabh has to be arabic, but the other talks the imam does, which all imams do should be in the language which the majority can understand, and the topics should be relevant.
from my understanding our local Masjid already does that, english and urdu is spoken, and the topics do relate however can vary at times when an imam comes from outside your town.
WS
T
Salaam Tahira, see fatwas linked in the main post.
In general response to other comments, I understand that the vast majority of the imams in Scotland follow an Indo-Pak Hanafi fatwa that says it has to be in Arabic. And yes, this is a matter of fiqh rather than pure polling. But what the poll does indicate is where people fall in relation to the fatawa.
If three-quarters of people do follow valid and strong Islamic opinion that it should be in English, is it right that the fiqh of a minority of people holds sway on all mosques in Scotland, save one, possibly two?
Salam
lols
:: Arabic Khutbahs ::
:: ONLY ::
http://www.central-mosque.com/fiqh/khutar.htm
Luv n Duas
wa’ sallamu alaiqum
Salaam,
This like many issues is one where we need to negotiate a variety of existing opinions, and it is good that we do acquaint ourselves with this diversity. For some people, it is completely obvious that the Khutbah itself must be in Arabic. For others, it is equally obvious that the goal of the Khutbah is to be understood, and this often requires the use of other languages.
So what is the way forward? As our respected Imam indicated above, we can take the cautious approach in order to keep within what all madh-habs accept. Or we may argue that there are other types of consideration when giving fatwa in an environment like ours, as the ECFR take into account when debating the issues. Without wanting to controversialise the current practices, I do wonder why we are so comfortable with *adding* a speech to the Jumu’ah routine not from the Prophetic practice, while so uncomfortable with adding another language to the Khutbah itself.
Some of you may have seen an article in the Sunday Herald which over-sensationalised the issue, talking about “reformations” and comparing it to what happened in Christendom:
http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.2514270.0.islamic_reformation_brewing_as_english_services_demanded.php
My response to that is that the Qur’an is already translated into hundreds of languages, and there are dozens of English translations available: this is something Muslims are very content with, as a means to appreciate the meanings of the Arabic text. That original revelation is still what we recite for worship and to deeply research the Qur’anic teachings.
NB: always be sceptical when a journalist claims “Some have said…” without specifying who these people are. It’s probably just his own baseless opinion thrown in for dramatic effect.
Learning Arabic is a solution, we as communities need to ensure that we have facilities where the language of the Quran is taught rather than just the mere recitation.
Assalammualaikum;
I am Malaysian, study here in Glasgow. In Malaysia, our Khutbah is in Bahasa together with the quoted verses in Al-Quran and Hadith. It was allowed based on our fatawas from the Shafie mazhab. Furthermore in some mosque at town area we used LCD projector / powerpoint to highlight some of the important point when the Khatib recite the Khutbah.
However, in UK (with the understanding of mix mazhab) especially in Scotland I would suggest there is a need for bilingual or to have the ‘bayan’ before the khutbah in English as it help the young generation to understand. In some places the population nowadays would be mix from others Muslim all around the world. Thus, the used of language that give more clear message is important for the sake of Dakwah bil Hikmah.
TQ.
I’m agree with Shazia