On Friday Sermons

o "A'uzu Bilahi Minash-Shaitanir Rajeem", which means,
"I seek refuge in Allah from the outcast Satan"

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The Title of my Khutba is “Discussing the importance, requirements and understanding Jummah Sermons”

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The word Jumu’ah is derived from the Arabic verb Jamma “to put together, to gather or to add. The days name Al Jummah therefore signifies a day of coming together.

The Jummah gathering serves a social purpose. The Khutba and prayer serve an educational and spiritual purpose.

Allah commands us to hasten to the remembrance of Allah and quit commerce and other wordly transactions.

Translation of the verse I narrated in as follows

“O you who believe! When the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday (the Day of Assembly) hasten earnestly to the remembrance of Allah, and leave off business: that is best for you, if you but knew! (62:9)

To take a critical view of Jumma today, unfortunately many of us, with me included at times , come here or any other place and have a reflex action the minute we sit on the floor. And that is the khateeb starts and we see the visual and the we loose audio

(There could be almost a voice at that time which says Huston we have video, but lost sound.

So you could take the crowd and break it up in 3 types

1) Are the Kalula crowd, (the people who take power naps during Jumma) sleep throughout and wake up when you hear the iqama and as they pray they go down the places to eat and menu.

2) Are the ones who seem as though they are Refrees at Jumma who have a whistle in their mouths (which they cannot blow) and howler Bidda and Astagfirullah when listening to the khateeb

They analyze the clothes , the accent (Egyptian, desi boater, arab) , they analyze whether the person looks like a good muslim or not so good muslim and count the flaws and disagreements they have with the view points of the khateeb. At times they even voice it during the sermon.

The third group is the ideal attendee. The attendee which we all strive to be, this is what my talk will focus on with respects from the Quranic teachings and Prophetic examples.

1) Importance of Coming to Jummah (Surah Jummah)

O ye who believe! When the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday (the Day of Assembly), hasten earnestly to the Remembrance of Allah, and leave off business (and traffic): That is best for you if ye but knew!

10. And when the Prayer is finished, then may ye disperse through the land, and seek of the Bounty of Allah: and remember Allah frequently that ye may prosper.

11. But when they see some bargain or some pastime, they disperse headlong to it, and leave thee standing. Say: "That which Allah has is better than any pastime or bargain! and Allah is the Best to provide (for all needs)." (explained in a hadith that people came from the Sham and they saw some goods coming in…)

Coming to Jummah is and should be a priority for each and every one of us. Whether we have work, class or other things, try your best to see how to accommodate around it. Most of the time it will work.

2) Cleaning up

Narrated 'Abdullah bin Umar:

Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) said, "Anyone of you attending the Friday (prayers) should take a bath."

Narrated Abu Said:

I testify that Allah's Apostle said, "The taking of a bath on Friday is compulsory for every male Muslim who has attained the age of puberty and (also) the cleaning of his teeth with Siwak, and the using of perfume if it is available

**Eat, sleep and concentrate mentally and physically.

2) Arriving on Time Volume 2, Book 13, Number 51:

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet said, "When it is a Friday, the angels stand at the gate of the mosque and keep on writing the names of the persons coming to the mosque in succession according to their arrivals. The example of the one who enters the mosque in the earliest hour is that of one offering a camel (in sacrifice). The one coming next is like one offering a cow and then a ram and then a chicken and then an egg respectively. When the Imam comes out (for Jumua prayer) they (i.e. angels) fold their papers and listen to the Khutba."

***Additional point that the duration should not be too long as well , people have work and classes and the Prophet would always keep the sermon short.

3) Going to Prayer

Disorderliness is not permitted also, incase you are late due to unavoidable circumstances.

Volume 2, Book 13, Number 31:

Narrated Abu Huraira:

heard Allah's Apostles (p.b.u.h) saying, "If the prayer is started do not run for it but just walk for it calmly and pray whatever you get, and complete whatever is missed. "

4) Praying 2 Rakats

You are also supposed to pray 2 rakats when arriving here.

Volume 2, Book 13, Number 52:

Narrated Jabir bin 'Abdullah:

A person entered the mosque while the Prophet was delivering the Khutba on a Friday. The Prophet said to him, "Have you prayed?" The man replied in the negative. The Prophet said, "Get up and pray two Rakat."

5) Listen attentively

Listening to the khateeb, sitting together is act that is extremely important and will be rewarded according to the Prophet M.

Eat, sleep, concentrate, turn of the laundry list.

Volume 2, Book 13, Number 56:

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) said, "When the Imam is delivering the Khutba, and you ask your companion to keep quiet and listen, then no doubt you have done an evil act."

Volume 2, Book 13, Number 8:

Narrated Salman-Al-Farsi:

The Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, "Whoever takes a bath on Friday, purifies himself as much as he can, then uses his (hair) oil or perfumes himself with the scent of his house, then proceeds (for the Jumua prayer) and does not separate two persons sitting together (in the mosque), then prays as much as (Allah has) written for him and then remains silent while the Imam is delivering the Khutba, his sins in-between the present and the last Friday would be forgiven."

6) Meet and Greet

Your asked to stand with one another. Shoulder to shoulder and feet to feet. Symbolically bringing you together to people you may or may not know. Greet them after prayers. Get to know them and invite them to attend in the future.

7) Reflection and Introspection

Reinforcement of message, many things you might already know, but as you hear them again the messages are reinforced and refreshed in your memory.

Secondly it’s a time to weekly recalibrate yourself. If you learnt something this week, and you apply it then assess where you stand the week after. After hearing Allahs message it should recalibrate you to everything your doing.

Third, share and discuss the positive things you have learnt with family and friends. This will make you remember what you learnt but you will receive ajar for sharing it with others.

AQool cooli haza wastagfirullah lee walakum fastagfiroo inna hul ghfoorur raheem

1. Before he sits down, he should ask the congregating Muslims to ask Allah for forgiveness, guidance and mercy. He should ask forgiveness for himself, also.

Alhamdu Lillahi Wassalatu 'Ala Rasulillahi Wa 'Ala Alihi Wa Sahbihi Wa Man Wala

Because I am speaking to an audience that consists of MSA members and executive board, few relavent features at Jummah from an organizers standpoint would be

1) Jummah is a powerful tool in our community. All type of muslims attend, the religious, the not so religious, the msa, non msa etc, which means it is an excellent time to educate the masses. We should not discount the learning experience that happens here. On an average we attend 52 khutbas in a year which should amount to a substantial information sessions through out the year.

2) That the khateeb chosen should be at the same wavelength as the audience. He should be educated and, knowledgeable in his talk and should be able to connect to the people. Often times we find mosques unfortunately where the khateeb is not even close in educational standards as the people attending and thus his word is ignored or taken without much credibility due to that fact.

3) Rotation of speakers keeps peoples attention as the attendees are exposed to numerous view points and avoids listeners fatigue.

4) Constructive criticism should be gathered from the attendees and forwarded to the organizers and khateeb so we see that their is constant improvement.

5) The atmosphere should be clean and avoid distractions. Its hard enough to pray with full concentration and to see that we have

· a microphone so people can hear

· clean place to pray on, and that’s why I presume the sheets are here. People walk on this carpet day in and out, and many have concerns on the cleanliness after using the rest room and then praying on it.

· And anything else that would make people comfortable in the process of standing in front of Allah in worship.

Allahuma Salla 'Ala Muhammadin Wa 'Ala Ali Muhammadin, Kama Sallaita 'Ala Ibrahima Wa 'Ala Ali Ibrahim, Allahuma Barik 'Ala Muhammadin Wa 'Ala Ali Muhammad, Kama Barakta 'Ala Ibrahima Wa 'Ala Ali Ibrahim. Fil 'Alameena Inaka Hameedun Mujeed."

Ws

Farhan Latif