On Rating Khutbas
M. Bakri Musa
August 8, 2023
In his recent Friday (August 4, 2023) khutba (sermon) in Morgan Hill, California, our Imam Ilyas Anwar commented on the current and fast-spreading practice of rating khutbas. We are all familiar with the rating of lectures and professors, now the norm on American campuses, with the results scrutinized not just by would-be students but more importantly, faculty review committees.
In my profession such evaluations are standard practice. To secure one’s Continuing Medical Education (CME) certificates one has to complete those evaluations. Among the questions asked are whether the speaker had fully disclosed all possible conflicts of interests (monetary as well as professional, as being paid for or employed by a drug company), and how effective was the presentation, and the extent that it would improve one’s current practice and understanding of the subject matter.
It would be illuminating if we were to apply this practice to Malaysian ulama and religious scholars. Imagine if they were to begin thus: “Assalamualliakum! I am Hadi Awang, leader of the opposition Islamic Party PAS and recipient of funds from 1MDB!” Or, “I am Mufti Albakri and I am paid fulltime by the Muhyiddin Administration.” Yet another, “I am Dr. Abu Bakar and I am well compensated by Citibank to certify its banking products as Islamic and meeting maqasid syariah.” That would certainly help their listeners’ clarify the speakers’ perspectives and then judge their presentations accordingly.
As for rating khutbas, Imam Ilyas had this to say. The khutba is an integral part of the Friday congregational zuhur (noon) prayer. The regular zuhur prayer has four raka’at (or units) but the Friday congregational prayer is truncated to only two, with the khutba given before the prayer proper being in lieu of the first two raka’ats.
Thus the khutba being part of the prayer, the essence then becomes how does one evaluate the impact or value of a prayer? With lectures, listeners’ evaluations are appropriate, and those valuations could be useful to potential advertisers and sponsors. Or in the case with Malaysian Youtube ulama and lecturers (as well as Christian television evangelists), donations from their listeners.
Evaluating a sermon could be seen as that of a prayer, with the focus shifting to the listener or “prayee,” the one performing the prayer. As with my CME courses, the pertinent question should be how does the sermon impact us as listeners, and how would we then be changed in our approach to solving our problems of daily living or dealing with our fellow human beings.
Thus when the khatib quotes a particular Qur’anic ayat, that should prompt us to ponder such questions as when, where, and under what circumstances was it revealed. The ensuing enquiry should also lead us to extrapolate the ayat’s relevance to our current challenges and everyday lives. In what ways are our current conditions similar to those existing during the Prophet’s time and in what way are they different? If the former, then the ayat could be directly applicable. If not, then we would have to use our akal and treat that ayatas being only metaphorical or illustrative, and then expend our intellectual efforts to use the ayat only as the basis (qiyas) and not precedential. Ancient scholars did precisely that; blind imitators or literal followers they were not. Hence their often vigorous differences in views as illustrated by Imam Al Ghazzali’s excoriating criticisms of Ibn Sina.
Likewise when an ahadith is quoted; we should reflect on the comparable situation today where that ahadith would be most appropriate. If none and instead we are facing a very different challenge unique to our time or circumstance, then ponder what our wise Prophet, s.a.w., would have counselled his followers in such comparable situations, akin to the Christians’ asking “What would Jesus do or say today?”
Far too often when our ulama quote a hadith, they are consumed with displaying their flawless memories, erudite Arabic, and rhetorical flourishes. Why not just tell us the approximate translations, and thus meanings of those hadith using contemporary language and idiom? These ulama also waste precious listeners’ time on such futile discussions as to the “sahihness” (authenticity) of the hadith including a long list of their supposed narrators as if what the Prophet, s.a.w., uttered over a millennium and half ago could be determined with certainty today. Quit quibbling about that; focus on the purported purpose and needed lessons that could be derived from those hadith. Grasp the essence.
The khutba should be the beginning or stimulus for one’s subsequent journey of enquiry. Treated as such we would less likely to fall asleep during the sermon and apt to pay more attention as well as stimulate us to pursue the topic further.
Consider the so-called “Sword Verse” (9:5) revealed soon after the Prophet’s migration to Medinah and was striving to build the first Muslim community in an already well-established plural one that remained hostile and threatening to him and the new faith, “. . . [T]hen fight the pagans wherever ye find them, and seize and beleaguer them . . . .” Compare that ayat to the earlier Meccan one, 2:256: “Let there be no compulsion in religion.” Such contrast if not outright contradiction! The former commands us not to turn the other cheek when someone threatens to decapitate you; the latter, to be more tolerant and inclusive.
Ancient scholars used the concept of abrogation to reconcile such differences, as with later Medinah verses “abrogating” earlier Meccan ones. Though well-established and accepted, such an approach would not comport with our concept of Allah as All-Knowing and All-Perfect. Allah does not need any subsequent “editing” of His revelations!
More fruitful would be to ponder why Allah would reveal such seemingly contradictory messages. Since Allah is All-Wise and All-Perfect, such discrepancies must be apparent, not real. It is for us to use our akal(intellect and power of reasoning) endowed by Him to us to discern those differences. That would be much more fruitful than merely and mindlessly reciting an ayat or hadith. Granted, when a Qur’anic verse is recited beautifully with faithful rendition of its exquisite tajweed, that can bring tears of joy and exaltation to believers, akin to a well-executed aria to opera goers.
By all means rate a sermon but do so on its impact on us. It should lead us to better ourselves, for that indeed is Allah’s command.
