MEC | I apologize for the lack of updates to the site. Life has been busy. Insha'Allah, I plan on being more consistent with updating the content of the site, I have recruited several writers as well.You will soon be able to read their articles and posts. But in the meantime, allow me to share with you notes from a khutbah I attended before Ramadan started. |

The khateeb was an old desi guy.
He blessed the young people and prayed that God make them better than us.
"It's a pleasure to see so many young people in the audience."
Recited two verses describing Ramadan. And recited all of Surah Al 'Asr.
The verse reminds us to be thoughtful and mindful of god, building taqwa. The second verse says to adopt taqwa. "The month of Ramadan is coming for taqwa development."
Surah Asr. Everyone in humanity is lost except those who believe, and those who do good deeds. Alhamdulillah you have all come for Jummah and this is a good deed. There is no guarantee that we will make it to Ramadan, nor is there any guarantee that I will finish my khutbah.
He then recited an ayah about Ramadan. "When you fast it is likely that you will develop taqwa."
Ramadan is a time of reflection.
46% of college age Muslims drink. Many Muslims are away from Islam. Don't give up on people.
I was on a train, and a man came aboard with a brown bag with liquor in it and he saw me and said something about Ramadan. I gave up on him but I was wrong to.
The khateeb is yelling a lot for no reason. I can't understand some of the words he says.
"Ramadan is not about feasting, wrong spelling, it is about fasting." About eating less and not eating more. On the campus the MSA weighed themselves before and after Ramadan, all of them gained weight.
Leave the shaytan outside!
Six states have banned Shariah. Muslims don't know what is Shariah, or at least we all describe it in different ways.
Imam Ghazali said there are over 200 ayahs about wudu in the Qur'an. This is following Shariah. Living Islam is living Shariah.
No Muslim organization wants to implement Shariah in the US. You cannot impose Shariah on people. It's not going to replace the constitution, because it's not a constitution.
"If we don't educate people about Shariah they will google it, the way they spell it, and see the nasty sites, including pornographic images, please be careful when searching this."
Shariah 101 project. Several Chicago mosques and organizations are helping this program.
This is the last weekend before Ramadan, please do a family halaqah.
Please attend my lecture called "100 tips on how to have a very fruitful Ramadan."
So. This khutbah had promise, it for the most part delivered a good message, the delivery was a bit weak, but for the most part, not a terrible khutbah.
The category of khateebs this fellow, however, falls into is that of "Immigrant Desi that is educated but not socially up to date, attempting social activism, but not really understanding how to go about it."
That's a category I just came up with, I think it's pretty specific, but you will be surprised how many people can actually fall into it. As for social activism? There are more productive things to do.
I like that the khateeb referenced Imam Ghazali, that was nice.
However, his transition from speaking about Ramadan to discussing the issue of Sharia law in the US was practically non-existent. It was quite abrupt and although I appreciated hearing about both topics, it didn't make sense to be hearing about them side by side like that. At least not in the way he presented it.
Also, I would really like to know where he got that statistic from, "46% of college age Muslims drink." I don't buy, just from personal experience. Then again, 87% of statistics are made up on the spot.