Enjoining Good, Forbidding Wrong

Friday sermon (jum'ah khutbah) - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - 4 February 2011 - Cambridge - 23 mins 32 secs

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In the past days and weeks people all over the world have been following the events in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere. The people's struggle for freedom inspires hope, but the dangers they face provoke fear and anxiety. Many question the role of religion in such difficult circumstances. Some fear mixing politics and religion. Others criticise the absence of leadership from religious figures, and say the ulema are out-dated and irrelevant. In this sermon, Sheikh Abdal Hakim provides a timely reminder of the fundamental importance for our leaders of 'enjoining the good and forbidding the bad' (amr bi-l-ma'ruf wa-nahy 'an al-muhkar) - so important that Imam al-Ghazali called it 'the greatest pillar' (al-rukn al-'azim) of the religion.

Among the many great scholars and saints who have discharged this weighty responsibility, despite the grave threat to their livelihoods and even their lives, Sheikh Abdal Hakim mentions Hasan Kaimi Baba of Bosnia, Sheikh al-Hasan al-Yusi of Morocco and Sheikh Amadou Bamba of Senegal. They were true followers of the Prophetic example, because they resisted injustice and oppression. May Allah grant our leaders, our scholars and us ourselves the determination to do the same, and may He in His All-Encompassing Mercy guide and protect the people of Tunisia, Egypt and all over the world wherever they face cruelty, corruption and repression.

Ya Qawiyyu ya Matin ikfi sharr al-zalimin, aslah Allah umur al-muslimin, sarraf Allah sharr al-mu'dhin.

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Outward Compassion, Inward Rigour

Talk by Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - 16 June 2005 - Cambridge - 1 hr 35 mins 56 secs

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In this talk, the sheikh discusses the role of the shari'a and the ulema in our age. We are closer now to the time when, in the words of the well-known hadith, a person who does one-tenth of what is prescribed will be saved. It is an age when we fear that being too demanding in our religion will drive people away from it, yet without steadfastness and scrupulousness we risk being swamped by the demands and temptations of modernity. The sheikh discusses how people of genuine knowledge resolves this tension by being gentle and compassionate with others and helping them see the Mercy of Allah, glorified and exalted is He; but at the same time themselves practising and worshipping with rigour and discipline. In this of course, they have the supreme example in the life of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who was a mercy to the worlds and in his daily life the most generous and hospitable of men; but who in his own behaviour and worship was the most ascetic and self-denying. Sadly many people today act in the opposite away, and so by ostensibly (and often ostentatiously) calling people toward good they actually subvert the real role of religion in people's lives. In the second half of the talk, the sheikh discusses the life and work of Imam Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, who notably embodied the wisdom of being attuned to the needs of the age. Born in Baghdad in 736 AH (1335 CE), he lived in a society still traumatised by the aftermath of the Crusades and even more so by the Mongol invasions. He exemplified the work of the real ulema whose teaching and preaching was a source of healing and comfort to those around him. May Allah reward him and protect the people of knowledge who live among us today.

Please don't be put off by the faint sounds in the background coming from another room (including apparently a choir practice!). Such is life in Cambridge!

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