From Hippy To Imam: John Muhammad Butt

A wonderful report from the BBC on the life and work of Imam John Muhammad Butt, who works as the Muslim Chaplain of Cambridge University during his time in the UK each year. He arrived in 1960s Pakistan via the hippy traveller trail, and was so attracted to the region, its people and their religion that he became Muslim and went on to graduate from the prestigious Darul-Ulum Deoband.

An amazing life story from which we can all take inspiration. Jaan-Muhammad Sahib, please pray for us back in Cambridge, and we look forward to seeing you soon inshaAllah!

Read the full story here.

The Mawlid of Imam al-Barzanji

Mishkat Media has released a beautiful live recording of the celebrated Mawlid of Imam al-Barzanji. A classic of Islamic culture, it is a sung celebration of the birth and greatness of the Holy Prophet Muhammad.

The recording was made in Cape Town at the annual Mawlid Jama’at at the Al-Zawiya mosque, under the direction of Shaykh Seraj Hendricks.

The performance is available on DVD, with full English subtitles of the Arabic recitation as well as several bonus features, including an explanation by Shaykh Seraj on ‘Understanding the Mawlid’. It is also available as an MP3 with the recitation of the mawlid only.

Like all Mishkat Media products, all profits go to the Cambridge New Mosque Project!

The History of Sheikh Abdullah Quilliam

The name of Abdullah Quilliam is one that has been thrust into prominence recently, but how much closer are we to discovering who the man really was and what he was about? In what promises to be a fascinating broadcast Shaykh Abdal Hakim goes in search of the truth behind the remarkable story of the first Shaykh ul-Islam of the British Isles.

Find out when the programme will be broadcast

Unity & the Manners of Difference

Talk by Mufti Muhammad al-Kawthari - 11 December 2010 - Cambridge - 56 mins 22 secs

TRANSCRIPTION PENDING

Another talk at the recent FOSIS Winter Conference in Cambridge was by the renowned scholar Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari. In it he addresses the perennial problem of the lack of respect for others with different opinions. He explains the nature of the unity of ahl al-sunnah wa-l-jama'ah and the proper adab (manners) for engaging in debate and respectful disagreement.

Listen to this talk

Download this talk (MP3, 52MB)

Can You Help This Site?

UPDATE 26 JANUARY 2011: Many, many thanks to all who have volunteered for this project, jazakum Allah kheir. It's great to make this blog more of a group effort! It will take us some time to process the transcriptions we have promised so far, so we don't need any more volunteers for the time being. InshaAllah we will start to post transcriptions in the next few weeks.

If you have promised a transcription in the Comments section but not emailed in yet, please do so we can have your address to stay in touch - cambridgekhutbasetc [at] gmail [dot] com

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We are looking for volunteers to help us develop the resources at cambridge khutbas etc. by transcribing one or more sermons or talks.

If you have benefited from the resources on this site, why not help others do the same?

InshaAllah we will then use these firstly to provide transcriptions of the talks here for the benefit of the deaf and hard of hearing and anyone else who would like to read instead of listen.

Secondly, we intend to translate as many of the talks as possible to give speakers of other languages access to good free resources about Islam. We will focus on European languages, as Muslims living outside traditionally Muslim countries generally have less extensive resources.

As you can imagine, transcribing and translating more than 100 talks on this site will be very time-consuming, so we need your help!

Imagine the reward you could receive inshaAllah if you transcribed a talk and it helped someone increase in their belief? Or if someone listened to that talk and then donated to the Cambridge New Mosque Project?

So if you have an hour or a few hours to spare in the coming weeks, please do a wonderful deed by transcribing a talk or sermon of your choice and emailing it to us at the address here. If you do not feel confident transcribing any parts in Arabic, don't worry - just send us the talk without those and we can add them in, but please indicate the time in the recording of the parts you have left out so we can find them easily to add them in.

If you start a transcription for a particular talk, let us know and we will add a note to that entry so no one starts a transcription someone else is already doing. Once the transcription has been sent in, we will update the entry again and add a downloadable file.

If you think you could help with translation, please get in touch as well. We are focusing initially on French and Spanish, but other European languages are welcome - as long as you are fluent enough to give accurate and idiomatic translations. We already have one highly qualified translator working on this project alhamdulilah.

So what are you waiting for? We're waiting for your transcriptions!

The Power of Monotheism

Talk by Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - 11 December 2010 - Cambridge - 46 mins 59 secs

TRANSCRIPTION PENDING

In this subtle and beautiful talk, delivered at the FOSIS Winter Conference, held late last year in Cambridge, Sheikh Abdal Hakim reflects on the amazing transformative power of a true understanding of the Divine Unity (tawhid). Why was it that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forgave the people of Mecca when he had conquered them? How was it that Islam was welcomed and honoured as it spread? What is it that brings people from all over the world to the Two Holy Cities in peace and brotherhood? Each of these and many many more examples testify to the unparalleled power of the pure monotheism of Islam to overcome hostility, division and the lust for revenge. By fully perceiving the One True Reality, we let go of the petty hatreds of our many apparent differences. But perhaps because we are so familiar with these stories, we seem to have forgotten how clearly this real capacity for forgiveness and empathy contrasts with the usual course of human behaviour. Certainly the state of the world today strongly suggests we are failing badly in our responsibility to enact the message of La ilaha illa Allah. May Allah grant us a true understanding of tawhid that will transform our hearts and through our hearts the world around us.

Listen to this talk

Download this talk (MP3, 43MB)