<![CDATA[Khutbah Khaos - Khaos Blog]]>

<![CDATA[Khutbah Khaos - Khaos Blog]]>Tue, 24 May 2016 13:23:01 -0500Weebly<![CDATA[This is why I've been outta the game for so long.]]>Fri, 29 Nov 2013 21:57:39 GMThttp://www.khutbahkhaos.com/khaos-blog/this-is-why-ive-been-outta-the-game-for-so-long

MCC

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu.

WTF.

I apologize for my prolonged departure from the blogosphere, I know you've all pined for me during my absence. But I must confess, it was intentional. It's not because I don't love you. It's because there are a lot of crazy Muslims saying stupid things. I finally decided to post a khutbah critique from my favorite mosque in Chicago. Muslim Community Center, alias, MCC. This acronym can sometimes be misconstrued as a racial slur directed towards the Irish. So don't just throw it around willy nilly.

Action shot? Yeah, action shot.

Loud Egyptian khatib.

The best way to love Allah is to his Prophet (S). People take different routes to love him. They dress like him, have hair like him, they try to look like him. Is this what Allah meant?

Allah said obey Allah and his prophet.

"Go and tell people about me [the Prophet (S)], just one person." He brought to us 6000+ verses. His sahabah spread this. Allah made it so explicit and clear that we have the best example to follow in Muhammad (S). Those who follow are the ones who have the chance to see the face of Allah. Who can enter Jannah without accountability.

Tell everybody about this, that Allah can forgive all the sins. Invite the people to Allah. The character, behavior, attitude will be the star that illuminates people and brings them to Islam. "Tell the believers the good news!" "Its our job!"

Yes, we can pray and fast all our life, and we must. But am I doing my job, am I going out of my way to tell people about the Prophet (S)?

My friend's wife was at home and she heard a knocking on the door, it was two Jehova's Witnesses. They said they wanted to speak to her about Jesus. She told them "Wait one minute!" She ran back into her home and brought the Qur'an to them saying, "This is the best book in the world!" The Jehova's Witnesses both looked at her and asked her, "Is it really the best book in the world?" She replied with, "Yes it is!" They asked, "Then why aren't you telling people about it?"

"Can you believe that?" [Nope.]

Most of us here are immigrants, except I can tell from a few faces that they are not immigrants. America accepted us with open arms. What did we give it in return? They gave us the best education, the best houses, the best cars. We need to give them iman.

I have a theory, on the Day of Judgement, when Allah is going to throw all the Americans in Jahannam (Hell), they will say "Wait, Allah, this guy Muhammad worked in the same office as me and he never told me about Islam. I once say him on the floor and thought he was resting, but he was actually praying in the office and didn't even introduce me to you or Islam!" "Don't throw me into hell, throw him!" And Allah will throw him into hell because he didn't tell Americans about Islam.

We have to preach, we have to rekindle the message of the Prophet (S). We shouldn't stop praying. But our worship doesn't stop at prayer. We have to preach to everyone.

Unfortunately we cling to the surface things of Islam and leave the core of Islam. The best is to invite people to Islam.

One man came to me after a khutbah and said, "That's true, my wife and I were at Home Depot, and a white clerk said 'namaste' to us. My wife got mad and said, "Why he say that?! We are not Hindus!" "Go and tell him we are Muslims!" I told her that it's okay, he didn't know, but she was insistent and you know you have to listen to your wife if you want to be happy, so I went to him and asked him, "Why did you say 'namaste' to us, we are not Hindus, we are Muslims." The white clerk responded, "If your wife was wearing a head covering I would have known you were Muslims and would have said 'Assalamu Alaikum.'"

Wow, can you believe that?! [Nope]

I went to Cairo, a man asked me, 'Anta min Amreeka? Anta min Chicago?" (Are you from American? Are you from Chicago?) I told him I was, he said "America is pregnant with Islam! She needs a good doctor!"

I come to you representing the Al Furqan Foundation. We want to have a Qur'an in every home, hotel, and hospital. We have distributed over 40,000 already. Door to door or other ways.

Yes you may be busy with work, your family, cleaning the masjid, but you must introduce the Qur'an to everyone, it is a fard (religious obligation)!

We hope and pray not only we get into Jannah (Heaven), that we got into the Firdaus (highest heaven).

Stupid emotional rambling that has no relevancy in reality. I'm tired of this.

More nonsense rambling.

"When we die, our din (religion) will stop and our hisab (accounting) will start."

It's awesome when people pray during the khutbah. It's more awesome when they take pictures.

Did you enjoy that?

There are only two ways you could have enjoyed the above khutbah. One is that you took it seriously and were profoundly moved by it. Or two, you knew how ridiculous and pointless it all was.

Allow me to list my grievances:

The khatib was a loud annoying Egyptian Arab who kept raising the volume of his voice. Not appreciated.

The khatib was promoting the Al Furqan Foundation which is a ridiculous and totally unnecessary endeavor.

The khatib made some egregious errors:
He said that when a person dies, his religion stops and his accounting starts. This is a terribly worded sentence. Simply because it makes it seem that a person does not continue to gain good deeds post mortem. (Or in America's case, post- partum, haha). It's well known that there are three ways to continue earning good deeds after death. They are:

Having taught someone something good and they continue to practice it and teach it to others, that's compound interest.
Others praying for you (reciting a Fatihah or Yasin, just generally praying for you).
Any charity you gave to someone or something that is still benefiting them.

So he's wrong there.

Also, all his stories are BS. They were specifically crafted to get a point across, nothing was believable. I won't break the stories down and explain why each point was not convincing, you can do that for yourself if you feel so inclined. But I'm pretty sure you already are convinced that they were totally ridiculous and idiotic. Especially the Jehova's Witnesses story. COME ON!

Then his biggest blunder. He said it was a "Fard" to introduce the Qur'an to people. WOW!!! WTF is wrong with this guy?

In no way is it a Fard to introduce the Qur'an to anyone. Most Muslims don't even understand the Qur'an in the way it ought to be understood. No, only those that have been educated for decades can claim to really understand the Qur'an, the rest of us (including myself) rely on trusted scholars to teach us from the Qur'an. COME ON!

Also, I remember this guy was spewing his nonsense a long time ago, about a year and a half ago. I remembered because the dumb story about America being pregnant with Islam and needing a good doctor to deliver the baby. Check out my previous critique of this creep. Talking about pregnant countries. Nasty mofo.

Can you tell I don't care anymore? I really don't. I think listening to such crap really adversely effects my intellect. God protect us from ignorance. Amin.

]]><![CDATA[Mayor Bloomberg reopens Mosques and introduces Weed]]>Fri, 26 Jul 2013 14:35:06 GMThttp://www.khutbahkhaos.com/khaos-blog/mayor-bloomberg-reopens-mosques-and-introduces-weed1

After a month of mosques being shutdown in the New York City Metropolitan area, tempers have cooled and Mayor Bloomberg, having rolled and then successively smoked a joint, realized he was too rash in his decision to enact a mandate that would effectively close all Muslim prayer places down indefinitely.

He realized that Muslims needed to chill, and he knew the best way to help them.

His new policy is to create a Marijuana delivery service called 'Green Crescent' that will deliver fresh batches of Mary Jane to the homes of every Muslim New Yorker at the time of Iftar. This is a Ramadan concession he has made to appease his Muslim constituents.

Normally, the public would be outraged by a concession such as this to any one group. Yet, incredibly, no one has argued against this proposition.

He was quoted as saying,

"It's crazy! Fasting Muslims have the munchies without toking up! I still think they should puff the magic dragon from time to time."

In a strange twist, it seems many people have "converted" to Islam in the few short hours after the mandate was made public. The Muslim population of New York City has doubled in the last 3 hours alone! Analysts say this trend is likely to continue, predicting an exponential growth. They estimate that all of New York City will have converted to Islam by the end of this weekend!

Well, just in time folks, just in time to enjoy the beauty of Ramadan and light up a doobie at the end of your fast.

Remember kids... It's not haram what goes in, but what goes out.

[This is a joke, for those of you that can't tell.]

]]><![CDATA[Mayor Michael Bloomberg cancels Jummah in NYC]]>Fri, 28 Jun 2013 17:12:46 GMThttp://www.khutbahkhaos.com/khaos-blog/mayor-michael-bloomberg-cancels-jummah-in-nyc

NYC

When reached for a comment, Mayor Bloomberg proceeded to stuff his face.

After my repulsing experience last Friday at the basement mosque of the Ar-Rehman Foundation, I decided to draft a letter to the New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg.

I requested that he help the Muslims of NYC and educate them on proper hygiene as well how to keep their mosques clean. Clearly this goes against the whole separation of mosque and state notion.

But this is America where the rich determine the laws and not the legislators themselves. So, if Mayor Michael Bloomberg really wants to use tax payer money to clean up mosques who's gonna stop him?

Yeah, thought so.

Mayor Bloomberg was so impressed with my initiative he invited me to his office to discuss this plan in further detail. So... as I discussed my "Five Pillar Mosque Purification" plan with him, he grew disenchanted and decided that since mosques already cause problems for non-Muslims and now they are even causing problems for Muslims that it was high time for them to be shut down once and for all.

There was a city-wide announcement made about mosques no longer being allowed to operate. Hence, effectively canceling Jummah prayers and lame ass khutbahs across the city.

You know, a part of me is relieved. Thanks Mayor Bloomberg! You're one stand up fella. Enjoy that latke!

]]><![CDATA[AR-Rehman Foundation - Jummah Khutbah?]]>Fri, 21 Jun 2013 18:41:09 GMThttp://www.khutbahkhaos.com/khaos-blog/ar-rehman-foundation-jummah-khutbah

ARF
(NYC)

View Larger Map

Salam everyone,

Been a while since my last khutbah critique. I am in New York for some time and will attempt to deliver quality khutbah critiques of New York mosques. You excited? Well, I can appreciate the sentiment, but, there is really nothing to be excited about today. For today was a tragedy. A very smelly one.

Check out the map to the left for this mosque's exact coordinate, just in case you can't follow your nose to it.

Ah! What grandeur! Unremarkable splendor! A sight worthy of only the highest kings! (all of that was sarcasm, btw)

I wish I could give you a detailed account of the khutbah like I normally and faithfully do. Unfortunately today, I cannot share any khutbah with you because I didn't stick around to listen to one nor pray Jummah for that matter.

Now now now. Settle down. Before you get your panties into a bunch and start calling me a kafir for deliberately not praying at this mosque when I arrived exactly when they started to say the adhan (call to prayer), hear a "brother" out.

I made every intention to go to this mosque and fulfill the Sunnah of attending the Jummah prayer, you see, SUNNAH (optional), not Fard (obligatory). I walked a mile in the New York summer humidity and heat. The mosque was easy enough to spot, the closer and closer I got to it the more Muslims I started to see, some were minding their shops or food trucks, others were just aimlessly walking along the sidewalks, while others looked like professionals in a hurry to get to the mosque, pray, then head back to work. As I turned onto 29th St. from Broadway Ave. I knew I was heading in the right direction because I started seeing Muslim beggars lining the sidewalks, so I just follows the beggars until I reach the mosque's front entrance.

What a grimy site that was. Just look back at the picture at the top. I at once felt uneasy when I discovered this was a basement mosque. Basement mosques tend to not be the nicest. Well, I was determined to be brave and I stepped forth into the subterranean layer that is this mosque. I got a few paces in,

Walking down into the abyss.

The prayer area... I guess I mean, "The mosque".

and started gasping... the air was so thick and foul, I had never experienced anything like it. It smelled putrid and disgusting. I immediately ran back up the stairs.

After I caught my breath, I decided I wasn't going to pray in such a filthy and foul smelling place. Clearly I am not obligated to. But, I knew what my readers wanted, so I took a deep inhale of fresh sweet air and walked back down to take the two pictures you see above.

I'm too good to you all.

In any case, that's what I didn't get you guys a nice new khutbah critique. I can only imagine how marvelous the khutbah would have been in such a nasty place.

Am I crazy or something? Isn't cleanliness 50% of our Iman (faith)? Then why the hell don't people keep their mosques clean?! This is ridiculous, how do you not keep your place of worship clean and smelling lovely and feeling comfortable?

Ironically enough, I was warned by a Muslim New Yorker that the mosques in New York have a terrible bed bug problem. I'm glad I didn't have to find out the hard way.

I really hope these people get some sense and start fumigating their mosques regularly as well as trying to keep it clean and hospitable. I mean you don't see churches like this, especially in New York. You have beautiful and CLEAN structures like St. Patrick's Cathedral or St. Bart's, or the Episcopal Church on 5th Ave. Come on Muslims! Get your act together!

A word of advice, don't think the need to pray Jummah outweighs the necessity of being able to pray in a clean space, for in fact, praying in a clean space is a prerequisite to offering the prayer. Knowledge is power. Also, since i had the intention to pray but was thwarted by the heinous odor wafting through this mosque and was unable to find another mosque or place to pray in time, I really think I got the credit for it anyway. Haha, Insha'Allah.

Happy Friday everyone!

{Ar-Rehman Foundation = ARF... More like BARF)

]]><![CDATA[So-So Khutbah at MEC... Could have been worse.]]>Fri, 19 Apr 2013 23:45:48 GMThttp://www.khutbahkhaos.com/khaos-blog/so-so-khutbah-at-mec-could-have-been-worse

MEC	I returned to MEC today for their Jummah Khutbah. I never like going here, but I am an optimist and really want people to succeed, even if they tend to be the obstacles to their own success. Today's khutbah is proof of that. The khutbah is transcribed below for your enjoyment.

Get a better look by clicking

We ask Allah sincerely on this day, in this house of Allah, at this time, we hope Allah accepts the dua. There is a special time that we do not know during the day of Jummah that Allah accepts prayers.

We ask Allah to give us the best way to die. That is the goal of every Muslim in this dunya. That we die saying the shahadah (Testimony of faith).

We will be talking about a verse from Surah Ibrahim.

The ayah, what does this ayah mean. "Closest translation in English. If you were to count, ni'mah, blessing, you cannot [count them]." Sneezing is a big blessing. What is the biggest blessing we have? Din (religion), number one, for which we recite Alhamdulillah for that.

Indeed Allah is very merciful and forgiving.

Dear Muslims, the question is this, once we bring our children together and read this ayah, how can we understand what Allah is saying to us?

Before we eat we say Bismillah and eat with the right hand. Unless you are handicapped, just fear Allah as much as you can.

Sit down eat together, not running around, sunnah of prophet.

Hadith by Sahih Muslim and Bukhari:

Anas (R) said, the Prophet (S) said, Allah indeed is pleased with his servants when he eats and says Alhamdulillah.

If Allah is pleased with you, this is an honor for us. We must teach our children to say Alhamdulillah and not waste or over spend.

People don't even have clean water, and all we have to do is turn on the faucet and there is water.

When we read the Qur'an, we see the family of Daud (A), 24/7 someone in the family is doing something good, praying, charity, etc. Allah said for him to continue being grateful.

Abdul Shakur, what does this name mean. The one and only....[khatib trailed off]

The Prophet never complained about food. We have divorces in the community, not this one specifically, generally, divorce because the wife cooked the food in a certain way. We should not be a nation of arrogant people.

Once the Prophet came in front of a man and he started shaking with nervousness, the prophet told him not to, I am just a son of a woman. And this is the Messenger saying this.

We can't go around calling everyone shaikh, we have to be humble.

We ask Allah to make us among those that are thankful.

The Prophet said that whoever does not thank the people does not give thanks to Allah.

You must respect the stop sign, if you don't, you have taken the right of another. Look our din controls us before that red sign.

This hadith, the Prophet describes the time that will come, fitan is plural of fitnah. Fitnah is controversy. Problems, it will come like a dark night, we ask Allah to protect us from this. A man will wake up a mumin (believer) and sleep a kafir (non-believer).

"We ask Allah to teach this din to our children. We have to teach our children, be patient and hold to your din until you meet me in the harb...."

The people of Lut (A) were homosexual, homosexuality has not been accepted by our din, Allah accepts male and female and puts regulations between them, we must explain them, you want to go to Jannah, don't be like the people of Lut (A). Allah made the angels lift up the city and crush it. It is the lowest point on earth, if you look on google, you will see this.

We ask Allah on this day of Jummah to protect us and gve us patience. Amin.

______________________________________________________________________________

The khutbah was mediocre at best. Nothing inflammatory really sticks out. The khatib made some good points, I just wish he expanded on them a little more.

For example, the khatib referenced the hadith regarding when a man who was in the presence of the Prophet (S) began to tremble, and out of the Prophet's wisdom and consideration calmed the man and humbly told him that he was a son of a woman as well. Fortunately, the khatib said this immediately after, "And this is the Messenger saying this." For one, this point affirms, in my mind, that the khatib is not leaning towards Salafism where they degrade the maqam or station of the Prophet to that of an ordinary human being.

The Prophet was indeed extraordinary. He refered to himself as a man, as commanded by God, but also as a kind, also commanded by God. There is a hadith about a man who was forcefully brought to the Prophet for having committed adultery, now we all know that is a serious offense in any morally conscience society including Islamic society. What did the Prophet do? He said, and I am paraphrasing, "Don't bring a criminal to the king otherwise the king will be forced to exact justice."

Now we see two sides of the same holy man. He was always humble and always merciful. The Prophet is known to have not gazed at people for too long, simply because he understood the weight and magnitude of his gaze and how it affected people. Those who were in his presence were in utter awe and his gaze was heavy for them. As would a gaze of anyone whom you hold in high esteem and have immense love and respect for. This is the Prophet, the weight of his gaze can only be imagined by us today.

Now, this all needs to be taken into deep consideration, because the Prophet is not simply a man as the Salafists suggest. They like to bring him down to their dirty level. He is above us in every single way. That's why we follow him. Why on earth would anyone follow someone who is at their level? No legitimate religious tradition was founded by mediocre men.

Christ was not mediocre.

[Christianity]

Moses was not mediocre.

[Judiasm]

Siddhartha Guatama, also known as the Bhudda, was not mediocre.

[Bhuddism]

Lao Tzu was not mediocre.

[Taoism]

Swami Prabhupada was not mediocre.

[Hari Krishna, a spiritual order of Hinduism]

And our Blessed and Holy Prophet Muhammad (S) was certainly greater than all these men. Yet knowing him, he would have been humble before them. As they would have been before him.
Kings greeting kings.

As Muslims we don't deny respect to other traditions and those whom these blessed traditions sprung forth from.

Aside from that, what I was REALLY hoping the khatib would talk about was the Boston Marathon Bombing, and possibly address an appropriate way to help our fellow Americans. These khutbahs that are just found lying around on the internet are not always the best. I know khatibs look for stock khutbahs in the interests of convenience and time. I realize they are busy also, but some special effort should be made for the weekly gatherings at the masjid. More useful and profound thoughts need to be shared. Alas, be happy with what you get. Contentment isn't a bad thing.

Btw, I laughed at how the khatib snuck in that jab against homosexuals right at the end (it didn't even have anything to do with the khutbah), and clearly our faith does not encourage it. Yet, when you do speak to your children about not becoming a homosexual, do so with adding that they are human beings also and should be treated with respect. Do you really think the Prophet (S) would have mistreated a homosexual or ANYONE for that matter? Exactly.

Now here's an example of someone who is most certainly below mediocre:

'Ibn Abdul Wahab

[Salafism]

The image is that of a typical Saudi since all Salafis look the same... ignorant.

Hope you all enjoyed that. Have a wonderful weekend folks!

]]><![CDATA[Back at ICC Yo]]>Fri, 22 Mar 2013 22:10:04 GMThttp://www.khutbahkhaos.com/khaos-blog/back-at-icc-yo

ICC	This week I returned to the ICC mosque for Jummah. For the most part, the khutbahs here are mild and short. Just how I like them. Yeah, so read on.

Beloved brothers and sisters in Islam. Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu.

We begin by praising Allah for allowing us to spend a jummah with Him and then sending blessings upon the Prophet (S).

We have many reminders, an alarm clock, calendars, street lights.

Allah has a reminder know as dhikr. This benefits us. Coming to the masjid and listening to this talk should not be a ritualistic habit, it should be something we do with meaning.

"As a kid when I was leaning to drive I would veer off to the right or left and my dad would tell me no get on the straight path."

This world has been created, look how the prophet describes man and this world. This world serves us, the sun benefits us, animals to eat, elements present to serve us. Everything is subservient to us. But you are created not for this world, yearn for the hereafter.

Allah says you prefer this world, but the hereafter is far better.

The hereafter is everlasting, the little kids I teach ask if we will get bored in Jannah since its eternal but you will not.

Ali (R) said, verily this world is coming to an end. Every day that ends brings us closer to the hereafter.

Today there is action without any account. We have robberies and murders, you can do anything and not be accountable. Allah is giving us a chance to return to him.

Every little thing, every iota will be counted by Allah. We have to become people of the akhira.

The Prophet said, when nur enters a mans heart it creates spaciousness. The Sahabahs asked if there was any sign this has happened. The Prophet responded that the one this has happened to feels distant from the house of fraud.

Beautiful house, cars, women, men, are just play in this dunya. The one who does not have dunya in their heart. That is not to say that we cannot have nice things. But you shouldn't be attached to them.

The intelligent person overcomes his nafs, base desires, and works for the akhira.

Prophet said when anyone has these qualities then the light of God has entered his heart.

May we all have this. Ameen.

We have to make a strong intention, a firm resolve, ya Allah from this day forth, we have to understand that our life and death is for Allah.

Call to action in this moment, make the intention to please and worship Allah.

Second step, do the fard and mandatory acts.

Allah says that nothing brings my slave closer to me than the obligatory actions.

How punctual are we on praying the five daily prayers? Today on jummah it's packed, but it will not be for Asr.

This is what the ummah is lacking, including myself, that we are not performing the mandatory actions.

Prophet said, shall I tell you the best of deeds better than fighting for Allah? It is the dhikr of Allah, the Qur'an is the best way to do dhikr.

We have to be attached to the Qur'an to be good human beings.

Any new gadget we get an instruction booklet, what about the complex human being, the Qur'an is the instruction manual and the Prophet is the teacher.

We have to be attached to the Qur'an.

To be like the people of Allah we should be with the people of Allah. We have Masha'Allah beautiful programs at this masjid and so many others.

The sahabah were not called the friends of the Prophet but the companions, they were with him.

May Allah makes us people of the hereafter and remove temptation from this dunya.

__________________________________________

Solid khutbah. Well done sir.

]]><![CDATA[NYU Jummah Khutbah]]>Fri, 01 Mar 2013 21:22:11 GMThttp://www.khutbahkhaos.com/khaos-blog/nyu-jummah-khutbah

IC
NYU

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu.

I am pleased to announce the end of my New York campaign. It's been fun, and Alhamdulillah, ALL the khutbahs in the Big Apple have been worth listening to. The last Jummah I attended was a couple hours ago at the NYU Islamic Center. They had a nice little room on campus, couldn't tell if it was a permanent spot, but it definitely felt like praying in a university. All the tell tale signs were there. People loitering outside while Qur'an is being recited inside. Shoes galore. Brothas and sistas trying not to bump into each other while stealing subtle glances at one another. (Yeah I saw that pink hijabi chick wink at the brotha in front of me, good for him, good for him). Not to mention that you had all the typical characters.

The Usual Suspects

White Convert Brotha - He is trying WAY too hard, has the longest beard, sitting dead center in the first row, looks nerdy as hell and has no game with the ladies.
Shameless Ankle Revealing Brotha - Typically a Desi and a FOB, has a scraggly beard, smells funny but is probably really intelligent. Also has no game with the ladies.
Gangsta Wannabe Brotha - Wearing them ridiculous oversized baseball caps, all crooked and shi... Pencil thin douchebag beard. Walking around and looking in different directions like a confused pigeon. Trying to look "hard."
Arab Wannabe Brotha - This goes for Arabs too, but mostly Desis, that Thowb it out. I call it "Islamic Peacocking" trying to show everyone how UNBELIEVABLY Muslim you are by dressing as "Arab" as possible. Please... I've seen it all... and all of it looks ridiculous.
Metro Brotha - This ain't bad, this is actually normal, so long as he's not wearing a fedora (for goodness sake) or anything else that is unnecessary, just wear some nice dress pants, a dress shirt and a coat, you good to go.

I won't start categorizing the sistas, simply because I respect and want to get with the sistas. I mean that in a wholly Islamic and respectful manner. (Sistas, leave your numbers in the contact form).

Enough joking, ready for a khutbah? Well keep reading!

Khatib up top in white

Young Desi, probably mid 30s, full and clean beard with mustache, wearing white turban.

I bear witness to Allah to His might and glory. I bear witness that Muhammad (S) is His final messenger.

It is said that in the early years of Islam the situation was really bad for Muslims. They were treated harshly, men and women were abused and beaten, people lost their lives.

Then certain people began to accept Islam, such as Hamza (R) and Umar (R), and the Meccans now had to respond differently.

The Meccans had to make a deal with the Muslims after all that happened in Madina. How did the Muslims come back to take Mecca? It took patience.

The community that exists today that has people coming from different cultures and continents and eating different foods and speaking different languages. We find ourselves in a place today that there is no misfortune for us, but our brothers and sisters in India and Bangladesh are suffering. In Bangladesh the brothers and sisters had to attend Jummah with heavy military presence. How was their Jummah experience today?

You build something and have patience to see something come forth beyond you. Individuals build communities. It was a reality for the Prophet (S) and it is reality for us today.

You are the people that can make a benefit to society. You have the degrees and real world experience. Sometimes you can't do it as an individual though. You lay down the framework and foundation and have the patience to know that this will last for decades. Beyond our time. Other religious groups are doing this, we are not.

I was at a U.S. Housing Department (might have mis-noted what the khatib actually said) meeting, there was 10 of us who sat at the table. The Chair spoke to the people present, Christians, Sikhs, Bhuddists, they began to explain how 3000 churches helped with the aftermath of Sandy, Hindus spents tens of thousands of dollars distributing food, Sikhs provided clothing. The bishop next to me said his group would ensure housing for those that needed it.

I thought, what do we bring to this conversation? How is your being a Muslim bringing benefit to anyone?

The most remarkable person there was a man of Indian background, a Hindu, he is a business man. He established a mechanism that allows people from his community to help those affected by natural disasters.

Why can't we do this? Scholarship is not the only form of leadership. There are other ways. I'm not saying that scholarship is bad or that it's not a good form of leadership.

Harun al Rashid, one of the great Khalifas, had brought scholars to translate Arabic documents into Greek, Latin, even Sanskrit, and he made a library and and it was known as Bayt ul Hikmah (House of Wisdom). The next khalifa expanded it. It became one of the most remarkable institutions in the history of Islam. What do we learn from this, building something that is long lasting?

The caliphs were not the writers or translators, but they had the ability to bring talented people together to bring benefit to all humanity.

Many of you have that ability. How will you use your talent? How will you use your work experience to make society better? We should go out and build something with patience. The Prophet did this, can you understand what he endured during his first year of revelation? Not forgetting the multitude of hardships he faced in the following years.

He didn't stop, he kept going, he has the patience to deal with it and understand there is something good and it it is worth building upon. It took him over two decades to get to the point he was waiting for.

I will not be the one to build a domestic violence shelter, a clinic, a political advocacy group, because I do not have the skill set to do this, but you do, you must build these for the community. We are being called to the table but are not showing the right people. We need to do this.

We can come together and start small, after a year we see its growth, after 5 years more growth, then it becomes sustainable in 10 years.

Or we could stay stuck in the same mentality of only building mosques and a couple years later building a school.

How will you use your Islam? You don't have to leave your job, just put in an hour or two every month into meaningful conversation. Then when you are ready to build something, build it.

I know a brother who took 30 years to memeorize Qur'an, but he did it and no one can take that away from him.

Build something today and see it grow tomorrow.

Put your trust in Allah, tie your camel and go out and do it.

May Allah guide us protect us all. Ameen.

The building on the right, on the 5th Floor has the prayer area for Jummah. 238 W. Thompson St.

The view opposite, Freedom Tower in distance

It was a pretty good khutbah, don't you think? I didn't fully enjoy his manner of delivery, it was very quick, but I guess the urgency of his point was conveyed in the urgency of his delivery.

I totally agree with him, however, it's high time Muslims stopped thinking about themselves and really started looking out for everyone around them. But let's not dismiss the multitude of organizations already doing this. There are many Muslim organizations already actively engaged in community help and outreach, that is not focused on whether or not the person is Muslim. But in any case, there definitely needs to be more of it.

I am utterly relieved that I did not really come across any Salafi or Wahabi ideology at any of the mosques in Manhattan. I mean, where I prayed at today was just a few blocks away from Ground Zero.

Haha, speaking of Ground Zero, I wanted to go to that Park 51 place of Imam Faisal Abdal Rauf, so while googling the location, I came across this article.

Did you read it? I highly suggest you do. I don't know how valid the criticism is, but if it's indeed true, I am not surprised... Wow... you had to do it with a Muslim community center that's adjacent to Ground Zero too... Brilliant. Way to honor the Sunnah of the Prophet (S) by spending lavishly on yourselves using money that was intended to better the conditions of all the Muslims and Non-Muslims in New York City, not just you and your wife...

We not only lack community consideration, we also lack tact. Let's take it one step at a time folks.

The khatib was speaking about setting up all these community services, but the brothas in the jama'a today couldn't even form straight lines that were spaced well apart from one another during the prayer. People were praying on top of each other, some dude's foot was in my hair... come on now...

Lord help us.

God bless you all.

]]><![CDATA[Masjid Manhattan - Love the Prophet (S)!]]>Fri, 22 Feb 2013 20:03:37 GMThttp://www.khutbahkhaos.com/khaos-blog/masjid-manhattan-love-the-prophet-s

MM	Today, I attended Jummah at Masjid Manhattan. It's a multi-story building, much like the first mosque I attended while in New York, Masjid Uthman ibn Affan, or better known as the Midtown Mosque.

Television Khatib. More entertaining than a normal khatib.

This khutbah is about: The love the sahabah had for the Prophet (S), the ansar. They didn't throw away the water he made wudu with. Some even used to drink that water.
Do you think these companions that love him so much will ever disobey him?

And if we say we love the Prophet (S), let'sprove it by obeying him. You should always remember him, always mention him when speaking to others.

We should constantly send Salam to him [also known as Salawat]. God has appointed angels that accept that Salam and deliver it the Prophet (S), it reaches him.

He cared for humanity, loved humanity. He gave good counsel and advice. And if you love the Prophet (S), you will show that by loving humanity as well!

When the Prophet (S) went to Ta'if, and he was stoned, he was insulted and tormented, the angels came to ask if they should destroy them, he said no, maybe their children or grandchildren will believe. This is how merciful he was and how much he loved humanity.

If you love the Prophet (S)you will try to follow the examples of those that truly love the Prophet (S), the sahabah (companions). How much do we know about today's celebrities? We don't need to know about who's pregnant. The sahabah should be our celebrities. Know what they did, how they proved their love for the Prophet (S) and we should emulate them.

You have the perfect example in the Prophet (S). Whatever Allah sent him with, even if our limited intellect does not understand it, we follow it because it will be good for us. If we love him, we will defend him and his teachings. How do we defend him? Not foolishly, not angrily or with emotion, not with stupid demonstrations, but with wisdom. We should feel sorry for those that insult the prophet and try to educate them.

My dear gathering if you want to love the prophet, you have to be connected to him and what he came with, the Qur'an. Ibn Masud said if you want to be connected to the Prophet (S), read the Qur'an. How often do you read the Qur'an? We should read it once a day.

I pray to Allah to help us and get close to His book and follow and love His Prophet (S).

Middle aged Arab man.

My dear gathering, the Prophet (S) was not just a political or a military leader, he was a father, brother, husband, son, a human being. His personality is what we need to study. How he, this is what relates to all of us, how did he conduct.himself as a family man? In order to increase our love for him, we need to know him in detail.

Make an effort to know him more, the more you know him the more you will love him.

Unfortunately shaytan has been successful in keeping us away from our roots and from knowing the Prophet (S). Once you know him, you will love him, it will make you better, it will make you a refined human being.

The Prophet (S) said he came to refine our character, to teach us how to behave with our family, wife, children, and everyone.

This is how he conducted himself:

How he spoke, when he wanted to say something, he spent time in contemplation and said only what was beneficial.
He would walk with a sense of urgency, even if he was walking at a steady pace his companions would be out of breath.
When someone spoke, he would listen and allow them to finish before he himself spoke.
He never criticized anyone or blamed anyone for anything. Even in the battle of Badr if he was injured he would not blame anyone.
His wives described him as a smiling person, he always smiled, he would joke but not lie in his joking.

Learn about him to be better

I pray to Allah to help us to understand him so we can be better husbands, bolrothers, human beings. If we follow and love him, Allah will love us. Insha'Allah.

The view of the street where Masjid Manhattan is located. 30 Cliff St.

This was a superb khutbah. I am really glad I decided to randomly go to this mosque. I had no plans today on which mosque to attend, fortunately, I made the right decision by going here.

The congregation was really diverse, which is to be expected, but the dominant ethnic groups present were Arabs and Desis, you had your smattering of Africans as well.

I can't really complain, this was the best experience in New York thus far.

I really don't have to say anything more, read the khutbah again, it's a good reminder for all of us.

]]><![CDATA[96th Street Mosque - Word.]]>Fri, 15 Feb 2013 19:41:10 GMThttp://www.khutbahkhaos.com/khaos-blog/96th-street-mosque-word

ICC
NY

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu.

I hope you are all doing magnificently well, Insha'Allah. I do have a present for you all, a khutbah critique, Today, I went to the Islamic Cultural Center of New York located on 96th St and 3rd Ave. It's a nice center and they have a private school that they run there as well. It was a nice and clean mosque, the people were mixed in both ethnicity and perhaps even religious alignment, please continue reading for more insight.

The mimbar was really interesting, quite modern in design.

Old Arab khatib with henna stained beard.

Starts by giving Arabic khutbah.

Keeps giving khutbah in Arabic.

16 minutes into it.

All praise be to Allah, I bear witness there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad (S) is his messenger.

Our subject today is between us and Islam, our din (religion).

Allah said "O you who believe, sincerely fear Allah. No lying, backbiting, cheating, whatever Allah says to stay away from you must.

But if you disobey him, knowingly, you leave the masjid and sin, what is the quality of your servanthood?

No matter what, stick to your din. The prophets are gonna get into Jannah (Heaven) but they had the very heavy tests. Adam, David, Solomon, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Joseph, they all had heavy tests.

If you backbite someone, he gets your good deeds and you get his sins. Stop your hand from taking anything haram, your eyes from seeing anything haram, your tongue from saying anything haram, and your foot from going anywhere haram.

Are you the servant of Allah or shaytan? You choose what you are gonna be. Don't make any excuses. Allah knows what you can do and what you can't do. "Fear Allah, truth and live with truth." When you live with truth Allah will help you to do only good things. Whoever believes in Allah and you do good things, you will be among those that are successful in this life and the hereafter.

Ask yourself every where you go, are you the servant of Allah or shaytan and your desires? People cannot go to jannah using money. Qaroon is still sinking in the earth.

Omar Ibn Al Khatab (R), when he was dying, sahabah said, make agreement to make one of your family a khalipha (caliph). He said no, its enough for me to be judged in the next life, not my family. [Couldn't find a source for this, not negating that this happened, but looking for source texts]

Don't let Allah see you in any time place or position in which you are disobeying him.

99% of the prophets were poor. So say Alhamdulillah.

Read the Qur'an and practice it the way the Prophet has taught you, not in the way you interpret it not in the way you want.

Get ready until the time the angel of death comes and says "Let's go."

He won't give you a warning, "Get ready I am coming next week." Only the prophet knew this, we will not.

When you judge be halal, you talk be halal, etc.

If you are close to Allah in dunya (life) you will be close to him in akhira (after life).

Brothers I have said what I tried to get from Allah, and Qur'an and sunnah, if I said something wrong it is from the shaytan and my nafs. I tried to share what Allah and His Prophet taught.

Baller status mosque decor, unforunately they still have barren walls without either God's or the Prophet's names.

Overall, this khutbah was luke warm. The khatib got heated a few times, I still don't understand why you need to yell when explaining something that doesn't require such emotion. Even in general, it's better to never raise your voice, as our Prophet (S) practiced. In any case, the khutbah was good, it sounded quite orthodox, leaning toward Salafi ideology. I don't say this lightly, sure, whatever the khatib said was correct, you must follow Islam, our Prophet (S), God, the whole shebang. However, the khatib made it sound like there was no recourse for sinners, he totally brushed past God's unlimited mercy.

This is what I truly dislike about khatibs that speak so passionately about a thing but don't fully develop the thought or provide you will all the knowledge. Now, granted this jama'at (congregation) could be of the type that needs to have their palms smacked with a stick every now and then, the khatib would know best, but let's be honest, this is a big mosque in an international city, the crowd is ever-changing, so in this particular case, there is not support for that line of defense.

Coming back to the khutbah, it would have been nice if the khatib made all the points he did, the way he did, but as an appropriate denouement, he should have addressed God's mercy, His love for His creation, and explained that we must never lose hope. Even if we mess up again and again, that we continue trying and never fall into despair which would only lead us to our utter ruin.

I did like when he said: "Read the Qur'an and practice it the way the Prophet has taught you, not in the way you interpret it not in the way you want." This was quite appropriate to add, that not just anybody can interpret the Qur'an for themselves, we must trust how our Prophet interpreted it and by extension those trusted and noble scholars that can comprehend the Qur'an better than we can.

I also like how he ended the khutbah, saying he did his best to relay his message and that for any inaccuracies they are due to his nafs (ego), that was a humble way to end it.

Hmm... anything else worth commenting on? Oh yeah!

The African brother next to me was annoyingly persistent about touching my feet during the prayer, I kept moving it away from his and he kept stuffing it in the 1 inch empty gap. I was getting thoroughly annoyed and wanted to reprimand him after the prayer. But I understood that although there is no compulsion in religion, he may not have understood what he was doing as forcing me to accept his feet touching mine. It's really really stupid, but there you have it. Some people are ignorant and we should respond with mercy and compassion instead of anger and lecturing, they will never come around if you berate them. Ha, take that Salafis!

More from NYC next week Insha'Allah!

God bless you all.

]]><![CDATA[KK is on Safari! [Subtext = Jummah in the Big Apple]]]>Fri, 01 Feb 2013 22:04:52 GMThttp://www.khutbahkhaos.com/khaos-blog/kk-is-on-safari-subtext-jummah-in-the-big-apple

ISMM

Salam everyone,

As life would have it, I am to be stationed in Manhattan for several weeks, why? Well, that's none of your business. But, what is indeed your business are the continued stream of khutbah critiques. I have successfully chronicled 13 months of khutbahs in my beloved Windy City, I guess it's time to see how some of the other big cities compare.

I went to the Islamic Society of Mid Manhattan, the mosque itself is called "Masjid Uthman Ibn Affan" (named after the third Khalifa), located near 55th and Lexington. A convenient location for me. I actually missed it the first time I tried to look for it a couple days ago. It's just a slender door in the side of a tall building, but it seems to be multi-layered, I know for sure they have at least 5 floors. It's actually very similar to the DIC in Chicago. Anyway, I went in, not knowing what to expect, saw many different kinds of people, some that even looked like me, haha. There were cabbies, business people, food cart owners, the whole garden variety of Muslims, or shall I say, "New York Muslims"? Because there is indeed a distinction to be made between Chicago Muslims and New York Muslims, I will share my findings once I have them.

Arab man, gives khutbah in Arabic first.

Talks about the outward and the inward, praises the 4 khaliphas and recognizes the servant hood and high station of the prophet.

Dear brothers,

Praise be to Allah and only to him.

Whomever Allah guide none can misguide and whoever goes astray cannot be guided.

Look at the sirah, in the life and way of our messenger. And how did his struggle for his invitation for this din to invite those that don't believe in god or his onenness or monotheism. Muhammad was the seal of prophets, for all mankind and Jinn.

You want to invite people to this din, learn from our prophet.

The quraysh tortured those who accepted Islam for ten years. After ten years, the Muslims were dying, no food or water, (sanctions). They were cornered. After they came out of that, his wife khadijah, may Allah be pleased with her, died. That kind lady, who sheltered him in his strife. Then his uncle also died, abu talib.

That's when he decided to leave Mecca for Ta'if. He went walking, not riding.

Look at our messenger, what did he do, he walked to taif to spread Islam. He came to three people who were the heads of the tribes of taif, he incited them and explained Islam and the oneness of god, because if he gets them, their tribes will follow.

Not a single one if then answered him or tried to speak to him, the prophet asked simply for them to keep this to themselves. He went to all the chiefs of the tribe and not a single one answered him.

So held spoke to the ignorant ones, mostly servants, this angered the people of fair and they chased him out by throwing stones at him and he left bleeding. They injured his head, spilled his holy blood.

One of his companions was with him and tried to keep the stone from hitting him.

We have to learn from our messenger, how did he do.

They chased him for three miles throwing stones at him, until he came to a garden. The Christian men there saw the prophet injured they felt sorry and sent his servant to bring him grapes.

The proohet accepted the grapes and said bismillah. They asked him where he was from since no one I. Taif says those words, he told them and they said that a righteous man is there who is a prophet, the prophet asked them how they knew and they responded...

After the prophet suffered through the events of taif, he goes to the site of Allah and asks him by praising Allah first, saying you are by lord a d the lord of the weak people, to whole you let me go get protection from then, they went against me, cursed me, hurt me, they don't want to accept your message, I don't want anything if you are not angry with me, your protection is good enough for me.

He asked Allah to be his protector and will return only to him.

That is how we have to follow. After that Allah sent a cloud over his head while he was walking and when he looked at the cloud he saw jibril, and Allah sent his Salam, and Allah sent him the angel of the mountains to be commanded by Muhammad, this angel asked if he should destroy the people of taif by smashing the mountains on them.

This was an opportunity for revenge, but what did the prophet say, don't do that, I pray Allah will bro g from these people offspring that will worship Allah.

After all thus, Allah gave the prophet isra al miraj, took him from Mecca to Jerusalem, then uo to the highest heavens.

If we follow him, our protection is from Allah.

May Allah accept our dua and makes us one of those who follow our prophet.

This was an excellent khutbah.

I hope NYC continues to treat me well and allow me to hear good khutbahs like this one. I only have one complaint, and it is a meager one. One of the uncles (who's actually a third generation Ukrainian convert) who helps to maintain the mosque was going around collecting donations for the mosque while people were listening to Qur'an or reading it themselves. There was a box at the door. I am not mentioning this because he did it once, he did it several times in short time frame and even nudged people and waited until they put something in the box, that can be an embarrassing situation. However, since I had a conversation this man several days ago, I understood that he may have some quirks, I just hope his quirks don't land him in trouble with an agitated congregant.

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ARF (NYC)

ARF
(NYC)