Q: As a person that loves my Shiek he is young like me and we kinder buddies at masjid (XXXXXXXXXXXXXX) I’m very confused if not downright irritated. A long time ago one Shiek did Khutba in Arabic then they switched over to Arabic-English in one Khutba and now I see the Khutba is done half-English and half-Arabic with limited mixturing. By mistake I came to youe masjid and you do something crazy. You do English then you give Athan then you give Arabic. Personally I prefer Arabic because that is my native language. Masjid (XXXXXXXXXXXX) says you are doing bidah and speaking to your masjid members and officials they say masjid (YYYYYYY) is not doing bidah. I want to know what is your qualified professional opinion for doing things the way you do things. I would love to sit down and talk to you about it but I’m afraid to be embarrassed. Ahsanal Jazaa Ya shiek!

Date/Time: February 4, 2014 11:13 am

A: Allah has given Arabic a special position – in this world as well as in the Hereafter. That is why we are called upon to read our salah in Arabic. The Sahaba delivered the khutba in Arabic, regardless of the lands they approached – Spain, parts of the Far East, Africa, etc. Recent history finds that many native languages have been lost entirely in the last two centuries, replaced by more globally reaching tongues — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinct_language. With the loss of languages, we see less diversity and greater uniformity, fewer unique expressions and ideas, and loss of unique characters/manners — which accompany such communication.  It is only in recent times where Muslims have started to feel insecure with the Arabic language, and have taken on the languages of their colonial and imperial masters.  When people feel insecure, they feel the need to adopt.  If one cannot win over another people, they will soon be won over by them.  Sadly, our leadership only fails us when they adopt the tendency of intellectual complacency and a lifestyle of acquiescence to a master culture and master race, ignoring the beauties of the deen and the language, which has served to carry the deen as far as it has.

Not much differently from other waning or disappearing nations/groups, Muslims have sure submitted to their new masters to their own detriment.  The strangest being the following: The very people that have been qualified to lead our nation are often the very people who are divided.  They audaciously demand a khutba spoken in a language other than Arabic. One can understand if an Englishman chooses the English language, and the Frenchman, his own.  Yet, the Imaams qualified to understand, interpret and cherish the beloved texts and language of Allah, are the very one’s to condemn them into disuse!  Strange indeed! Stranger are those Imaams that do so for the very communities that speak the Arabic language! Even stranger yet, is when an imaam cannot articulate to his followers: we have been conquered inside out, lost the essence of the language of Allah, let us get back to our roots and focus on the core aspects of the khutba and do it right. Will asking for such 5 minutes do more harm or good?

 

• The khutba is in the position of salah; in other words, the khutbah serves to provide means of additional spiritual reward for the believers attending. That is why when the khutba is given, we are told to limit unwanted movements, including not talking during the Khutba. One will notice, when people speak in a language other than Arabic, this respect (ihtiraam) is lost. People talk/chat, pray, some read quran, text/play games, etc. Why not? The imaam advocating disuse of Arabic seems to be confused, as you have indicated above. We only lead those that are like us! To be fair, we are living in a very diverse environment. Many children (and adults) are refusing to go to a closer musjid as they don’t feel welcome by the khateeb. Some dislike khutba in Somali, some dislike it in Bosnian, others dislike a confused half and half. To make it easy, since those that claim we need it in the language of the people, we have outlined below what has worked for those that have been colonized and yet wished to keep the integrity of self and religion.
• Although there is a group that allows for a khutba in both languages, all groups agree, it is not forbidden to give the khutba in Arabic. Just as we would say English talks can be given, few would want us to give it in Shakespearean English! Only a fool would say, English is English, so long as it is English it would be fine. Likewise, when we deliver the khutbah in Arabic, we do not indulge the people in 30 minutes of Arabic texts, which no person understands. Allah has made the Khutbah format extremely simple for the one choosing to Arabic: Praise Allah, praise His messenger (SAW), give a little advice (ayah or two, a simple hadith), praise the Sahaba if one can do so, make dua for the ummah!  This format is extremely useful as it presents the wisdom of deen before Musalees of all ages, intellect, and walks of life.
• Imaams are selected as imaams because Allah has, hopefully, bestowed upon them at least a miniscule amount of wisdom, inshaAllah. Thus, the following should be understood and followed with a fraction of intellectual usage.

Thus, the recommended form for Jum’ah, is as follows:

• Give a talk/lecture in the dominant language of the community, such as English (Or Bosnian, Chinese, Somali, Pushtu, Hebrew, Mandrian, Japanese, etc.) Share relevant information/wisdom to the people in the language of choice. Thereafter, have the azaan given, followed by a five to seven minute Arabic khutba. Thereafter, follow it with the Salah.
• As for the style:  Demonstrate some Arabic skill in only the Arabic portion. This would gain respect for the language, the vernacular and the specific words we use and the limits/strength of its depth.  An English word can only convey limited meaning and depth (khauf vs fear, kabir vs great, kabaair vs major sin). At least, this would limit the average person from saying: “Imaams are shy of sharing their Arabic knowledge;” or the opposite: “why should we even bother to read the Qur’an/Ahadeeth in Arabic? Let me read it in English!” As is the now common claim of our youth. Imaams wanting to convert their Masajids into Shakespearean theaters better soon realize the adverse affect they are going to have on their communities. Language affects us all; it affects our understanding of religion but, it also affects our spirituality.  Just as saying surah fatiha in English (and some are saying, which English — Ebonics? Classical? Google translation?) has a particular type of impact, so does saying it in Arabic — surah fatiha in Arabic will always be the same, unlike the English alternative. A similar logic applies to the Arabic khutba.
• Certainly, a few might wonder if the above recommendations are innovative (bidah). It is only bidah if one feels a compulsion that it MUST BE done and that giving the talk in English (or other Non-Arabic language) is part of deen. By contrast, giving a khutba in English and Arabic mixed is bidah without doubt. Khutba is an act of worship, I have never heard of any prophet or a group of Sahaba giving a sermon in English! If anyone says that it can be done in English and it is part of deen then such individuals are only deluding themselves. Surely, other religions may even do things a little differently, such as giving talks, sermons and other services in English or other languages outside of Hebrew/Arabic etc. They may even have prophets who deliver English sermons.  However, as Muslims we follow a different set of rules and ideals from other faiths and communities, when it comes to uniting us globally on Jumu’ah/Eid or through the daily salah – we have a set of standards and values that we are called upon to implement that remain sunnah based. However, as Muslims, our faith-based objective is to unite globally with each other through our most important rituals, which are the daily salaah, the weekly Jumu’ah, and the annual Eids, etc.

May Allah (SWT) continue to guide us, Ameen.

Allah Certainly Knows Best.