UIC | Today, I returned to the basement of the Student Center East building on the UIC loop campus. The UIC MSA were eager as ever to have Jummah. The khateeb, however, was not all bad, he was actually more good than bad, judging simply by what he said during the khutbah. He began the khutbah by reciting verses 103 and 104 from Surah al Kahf. |
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Say, [O Muhammad], "Shall we [believers] inform you of the greatest losers as to [their] deeds?
[They are] those whose effort is lost in worldly life, while they think that they are doing well in work."
He talked about how reciting these verses would protect one from the evil of Dajjal and that reciting all of Surah Kahf every Friday would pardon one's sins between each Jummah prayer. Nice, thank you for sharing that.
The khateeb, however, said something that I did not agree with. He brought our attention to verse 103 and the word 'we' that is being used here. He explained that whenever the word 'I' is seen, that is the Prophet (S) speaking directly to us through the Qur'an, while whenever the word 'we' is seen, that is both the Prophet and God. Absolutely false.
It is God who speaks through the Qur'an, not the Prophet (S). And whenever the word 'We' (note that upper case 'w') is used, God is speaking of Himself alone, it is the royal 'We,' used by monarchs since time immemorial, after all, God is indeed a monarch.
However, the 'we' used in this verse is not the royal 'We', if one reads carefully, God is directing the Prophet (S) to say something along with all those who believe, the mu'min, which is not restricted to those who are present along with the Prophet at this time, or even to Muslims. God makes a distinction between the Mu'min, believer, and the Muslim for a reason. So, no, the khateeb was incorrect in stating that this verse is both God and the Prophet (S) speaking.
Moving along, I got slightly annoyed by how often the khateeb used the phrase "You know?" He said it way too often, yet I understand that public speaking is not the most comfortable activity to partake in, so I give him credit for trying. He also had that typical berating style of speech, it sounded more like a bemoaning lecture than a khutbah, but I have come to expect this style of speaking from the UIC MSA Jummah gang. It's something I have to endure.
The khateeb, however, said something that I did not agree with. He brought our attention to verse 103 and the word 'we' that is being used here. He explained that whenever the word 'I' is seen, that is the Prophet (S) speaking directly to us through the Qur'an, while whenever the word 'we' is seen, that is both the Prophet and God. Absolutely false.
It is God who speaks through the Qur'an, not the Prophet (S). And whenever the word 'We' (note that upper case 'w') is used, God is speaking of Himself alone, it is the royal 'We,' used by monarchs since time immemorial, after all, God is indeed a monarch.
However, the 'we' used in this verse is not the royal 'We', if one reads carefully, God is directing the Prophet (S) to say something along with all those who believe, the mu'min, which is not restricted to those who are present along with the Prophet at this time, or even to Muslims. God makes a distinction between the Mu'min, believer, and the Muslim for a reason. So, no, the khateeb was incorrect in stating that this verse is both God and the Prophet (S) speaking.
Moving along, I got slightly annoyed by how often the khateeb used the phrase "You know?" He said it way too often, yet I understand that public speaking is not the most comfortable activity to partake in, so I give him credit for trying. He also had that typical berating style of speech, it sounded more like a bemoaning lecture than a khutbah, but I have come to expect this style of speaking from the UIC MSA Jummah gang. It's something I have to endure.
Trend-setter
Oh, also, in case you were wondering what the khateeb looked like, he was a young man, clearly an undergrad, he was indeed brown or desi, and he had that whimsically crafted Wahabi beard sans mustache facial hair. I know what hadith they interpreted to come up with that ridiculous look, then again, maybe they all just really love Abraham Lincoln, which wouldn't be the worst thing in the world...
Haha, Wahabis, taking things too far since 1740.
Haha, Wahabis, taking things too far since 1740.
There was a point where the khateeb indirectly suggested it was up to us to interpret the Qur'an for ourselves, oh dear. The "Protestization" of Islam is really happening isn't it? I am totally against people just picking up the Qur'an, or even Hadith for that matter, and interpreting in their own personal way. It was not done and should not be done. Why do we have scholars that have trained themselves in the religious sciences? So we can ignore them and make up our own minds without any necessary training, wisdom, or insight? I could continue ranting, so I wrote this article, The Protestant Trap, please enjoy!
Moving along, the khateeb decided to share a story about Hazreti Ali (R), which I thought was amazing since it's been well over a year since I have heard a khateeb talk about Hazreti Ali (R), it sounds crazy, but it's true. People don't even mention him when speaking about the Khulafah Ar Rashidun, the Four Rightly Guided Khaliphas, whom Hazareti Ali (R) was the fourth! The story was good too:
Moving along, the khateeb decided to share a story about Hazreti Ali (R), which I thought was amazing since it's been well over a year since I have heard a khateeb talk about Hazreti Ali (R), it sounds crazy, but it's true. People don't even mention him when speaking about the Khulafah Ar Rashidun, the Four Rightly Guided Khaliphas, whom Hazareti Ali (R) was the fourth! The story was good too:
Hazreti Ali (R) was on the battlefield of Badr,
He was facing his oponent, one on one,
He struck his oponent down to the ground,
He was about to deliver the final blow when!
His opponent had spit in his face!
Hazreti Ali (R) lowered his sword and walked away,
The defeated man, puzzled, asked him why he did that,
Hazreti Ali (R) responded by saying that,
"Before you spit in my face I was going to kill you for God's sake,
But when you spit at me, I grew angry and realized,
That killing you would have been done for my sake,
This is haram for me, so I stopped."
The man was so amazed at Hazreti Ali (R)'s character,
He accepted Islam.
He was facing his oponent, one on one,
He struck his oponent down to the ground,
He was about to deliver the final blow when!
His opponent had spit in his face!
Hazreti Ali (R) lowered his sword and walked away,
The defeated man, puzzled, asked him why he did that,
Hazreti Ali (R) responded by saying that,
"Before you spit in my face I was going to kill you for God's sake,
But when you spit at me, I grew angry and realized,
That killing you would have been done for my sake,
This is haram for me, so I stopped."
The man was so amazed at Hazreti Ali (R)'s character,
He accepted Islam.
The khateeb didn't go into such detail as I did, so I helped him out and gave a more full account of the events that the khateeb attempted to describe. Either way, it's a very nice story. He told everyone that Hazreti Ali (R) did not give in to his ego, which would have wanted the life of the man simply because an insult was given.
He began to focus on the evils of pride and made very good points about how doing righteous acts with wrong intentions actually harm you rather than help you. He also said that one must never forget God's mercy, that if you sin a million times that God is ready to forgive a million times.
Overall, this was a decent khutbah and I did not hate it.
[Abu Fulan]
He began to focus on the evils of pride and made very good points about how doing righteous acts with wrong intentions actually harm you rather than help you. He also said that one must never forget God's mercy, that if you sin a million times that God is ready to forgive a million times.
Overall, this was a decent khutbah and I did not hate it.
[Abu Fulan]