The Purification of Hajj

Friday sermon (jum'ah khutbah) by Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - December 2007 - 17 mins 05 secs

As millions of Muslims from all over the world make their way toward Mecca for the great pilgrimage (hajj), we have the opportunity to reflect of the meanings and power of this ancient and beautiful ritual. In this sermon, the sheikh reminds us of some of these, in particular its fundamental link to the renewal and reaffirmation of Divine Unity (tawhid). By physically striving to reach God's House, we engage in a deep purification, reorienting ourselves and our societies toward Him and stripping them of the spiritual and physical encrustations of materialism and idolatry in all its forms. Many well-attested sayings of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) attest to the immense mercy and forgiveness granted through this process. The means by which they are effected through the outward and inward journey and practices of the pilgrim are mysterious but profoundly powerful. Thanks to the coincidence of calendars this year, we are also approaching another, sadly diminished festival, Christmas - a strange, materialistic way to celebrate a messenger who was among the very highest in his asceticism. The sheikh closes by asking God to preserve the spirit of tawhid and charity, and not to allow it to become similarly diluted by indulgence and materialism. May God also accept the pilgrimage of all our brothers and sisters who have gone on hajj this year, and make it a means to true rebirth and renewal.

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Humility & Serenity

Friday sermon (jum'a khutba) - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - 21 November 2008 - 23 mins 58 secs

In this sermon, the sheikh discusses the importance of khushu', a term difficult to translate but that can be rendered as a humility combined with serenity of heart. It is not manifested byan obsequiousness or self-mortification that causes our shoulders to droop and our gazes to fall to the floor. On the contrary, its outward manifestation is a calmness and dignity with respect to the rest if creation that is granted by the true perception of our relationship of submission only to God. This khushu', God tells us in the Qur'an, is a foundation of prayer, itself the foundation of our relationship with Him. It is an inward state without which the outward acts are at best fragile and at worst meaningless. Although thanks to God the Muslim ummah still preserves most of its outward acts like prayer, can we say as confidently that it still preserves the inward state upon which their true significance rests? Everything else in creation is in natural submission to God. The sheikh reminds us that mankind too has this natural state of 'ubudiyya (submission/veneration) and khushu', and that we also have the capacity to deviate from it. Although many people think that religion demands the negation of human desires, it in fact asks quite the opposite - the fullest realisation of mankind's nature. As it is in the nature of the things of the earth to grow following the rain, so too is it within the nature of our hearts to grow when watered by the Divine Guidance of revelation.

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'And We have honoured Bani Adam'

Friday sermon (jum'ah khutba) - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - 14th November 2008 - 25 mins 37 secs

Whilst humans share many of the strengths and weaknesses of any mortal organism in this world there is the palpable sense that Homo sapiens is set apart from all other creation. In this sermon the sheikh elaborates upon this theme, using striking Qur'anic imagery to illustrate God's special favouring (tafdil) towards humankind. This distinction granted us comes with certain qualifications and responsibilities, amongst them the guarding of the sanctity of life. Medical science is developing at breathtaking speed conjuring up ethical dilemmas unconceived by the great fuqaha of old. Using a topical example, the sheikh holds that we must ultimately give recourse to the fitri inclinations of the human conscience in this meeting of jurisprudence and technological possibility.

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The Neighbour, the Brother

Friday sermon (jum'ah khutba) - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - date unknown - 25 mins 35 secs

Many, many words have been expended on the place of Muslims in Britain and the supposed problem of integration or lack of it. Far more edifying with respect to the subject than any number of Home Office reports or volume of columnists' pontificating is the attitude of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions (may God be pleased with them) toward neighbourliness. In this sermon, the sheikh discusses the very high importance attached by them to being a good neighbour, and how the brotherhood of neighbourliness transcends religious or other categories. He relates this to the migrations of the early Muslims to Abyssinia and Medina, and the importance in both cases of a convivial attitude toward people of a different tribe, culture or religion. Where other social connections are becoming increasingly fractured and strained, the sheikh emphasises the increased importance of relations with the neighbour, something almost everyone will always be and have.

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Resisting Injustice

Jum'ah khutba (Friday sermon) - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - date unknown - 32 mins 38 secs

Although this sermon was delivered some time ago, it makes a thought-provoking companion to the last one posted on the credit crunch. In it the sheikh recites the famous verse of the Qur'an about the necessity of bearing witness to justice, even if it be against oneself or one's family. He goes to to explain the place of this call to justice at the heart of the Divine Revelation. The journey to the next world for the Muslim goes through this one, not around it; the message and example of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was not intended to cause people to reject this world, but to change it for the better in accordance with God's guidance. To act with justice is in itself to bear witness to God's Unity (tawhid) because to internalise and live according to La ilaha illa Allah is the most potent weapon against injustice. The sheikh gives examples from the sira (life of the Prophet) that show this transformative power and how it overturned oppression in the Prophet's time, and encourages us to aspire to achieving some fraction of that transformation in ourselves and in the world around us.

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A Common Word in Cambridge

Various lectures & talks - Cambridge - 11 & 14 October 2008

Cambridge was very lucky recently to host a gathering of highly respected scholars and theologians for the second inter-faith dialogue meeting of the A Common Word initiative.

Before the conference proper began, the Radical Middle Way project took advantage of this event to organise a remarkable panel of Muslim scholars to talk about A Common Word and why Muslims should support it - Habib 'Umar bin Hafiz; Grand Mufti Sheikh 'Ali Goma'a; Grand Mufti Dr. Mustafa Ceric; Dr. Ingrid Mattson; and Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad. The talks are being uploaded to the RMW website here; needless to say, they are very well worth a wider audience.

In conjunction with the RMW, Cambridge University Islamic Society also hosted a special open Q & A session with Sheikh 'Ali Goma'a, which should also be posted on the RMW site. We will post the link as soon as it is available, God willing.

To open the conference itself, Sheikh 'Ali Goma'a and the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams, each addressed the delegates with their thoughts on the future of inter-faith dialgoue between Christians and Muslims. These talks, introduced by Prof. David Ford and Sheikh Abdal Hakim, both of the Divinity Faculty at Cambridge, are available below.

Listen to the lectures of Dr. Rowan Williams and Sheikh 'Ali Goma'a (1hr 10 mins 36 secs)

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Accounting, Here & Hereafter

Jumu'ah khutba (Friday sermon) - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - 17 October 2008 - 28 minutes 45 seconds

TRANSCRIPTION PENDING

Worldwide shares tumbling,
Where do we put our trust now?
Return to The One!

A very topical sermon this time as the sheikh relates the Qur'anic injunction against riba' (interest) to the current problems of the world financial system. Although of course the Qur'an and the example of the Prophet (peace be upon him) validate and even valorise trade, they present a radically different ethical approach to business than the dehumanised modern economic system. Highly recommended listening to anyone seeking a sound framework to think about the economic crisis.

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Gender & Gentility

Friday sermon (khutba) by Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - May 2008 - 24 mins 54 secs

Continuing the theme of the previous post from another aspect, the sheikh in this sermon encourages us to consider the importance of decorous and respectful relations between the sexes, and to reflect on the characteristic modesty (haya') of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Influenced by the relentlessly immodest and hyper-sexualised world of mass entertainment and advertising, it can often seem to us today that the limits of the shari'a (Islamic law) on this issue are too rigid and that 'a good intention' will be sufficient to guard us in all situations. However, the sheikh warns us that this issue is far from the marginal, even faintly risible, question we sometimes risk making it. He points to the impact in British society - the home in earlier times of the quintessential gentleman - when respectability was abandoned as a serious concern, and how this relates to declining religious observance. To illustrate this point, he recites some of the poetry of John Betjeman - not something, it must be admitted, you will hear at the mosque every Friday.


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Some Islamic Perspectives on Gender

Talk by Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - date unknown - 45 mins 37 secs

TRANSCRIPTION PENDING

In this talk the sheikh discusses that crucial but perenially prickly issue of gender. He doesn't offer a comprehensive 'Muslim view' or really touch on the topics that are often discussed in this context such as women's rights in divorce and inheritance. Rather he offers a series of reflections on some of the underlying structures that underpin Islamic approaches to gender, offering some comparative remarks also on recent Christian theology. One main element relates to how we gain knowledge of God through His Divine Names, and how these can be seen to offer some insight into the relationship of 'masculine' and 'feminine' principles or virtues. The second element considers the females role models or ideals found in Islam, including: Hajar (Hagar), mother of Ismail (peace be upon him) and spiritual and physical ancestress to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him); Asiya, wife of Pharoah and adoptive mother of Musa (Moses - peace be upon him); Khadija, first wife and also employer of the Prophet; and Aisha, his later wife and an archetype of Islamic scholarship and teaching (may God be pleased with all of them.)

Questions follow the talk at 38 mins 19 secs.

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Self-Knowledge

Talk by Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Islamic Society Freshers' Dinner, Cambridge - October 2006 - 34 mins 22 secs

TRANSCRIPTION PENDING

The sheikh begins this talk by considering the mystery of the relationship between self-knowledge and knowledge of God, referring to the Qu'ranic verse in which He promises to show us signs within ourselves. The sheikh contrasts this type of vision or perception granted by God with modern exhortations toward self-discovery. The latter are frustrated by the confusion which surrounds material definitions of human consciousness; modern man is told to fulfil himself without really knowing what the self is. From an Islamic perspective, the efforts of a disembodied intellect can never overcome this problem: rather, the body, mind and spirit are integrated and their effects on one another absolutely connected. Different aspects of the religion illustrate this, such as the physical dimensions of different acts of worship ('ibada) and bodily resurrection after death. The sheikh relates this idea in particular to the mi'raj, the ascent to Heaven of the Prophet (peace be upon him), and contrasts it with the rebellion of Iblis, who refused to act on the signs shown to him by God. Self-transcendence or self-knowledge from an Islamic point of view is presented not as abandoning the body or as some kind of 'out-of-body experience', but as a model of spiritual practice that keeps us in the world while granting us surer comprehension of our place in it.

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Eid al-Fitr

Eid al-Fitr khutba by Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - Eid al-Fitr 1427 (23 October 2006) - 27 mins 05 secs

Eid Mubarak to one and all. May God accept the fast and good deeds of all the Muslims during the past blessed month. No prizes for guessing the topic of the sermon in this post . . .

The sheikh mentions the hoped-for fruit of fasting: increased taqwa (God-consciousness), an awareness of our own fragility, dependence on God and need for guidance. Forcing ourselves to abstain from many of His Blessings helps us to appreciate them; but by a merciful paradox, it increases us in the one blessing that truly matters, which is iman (faith). Eid is above all a day of gratitude. Many who saw the last were taken back to God before the next; so we enjoy God's blessings freely again but also reflect on how they remind us about the essence of our existence. The message of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was rooted in this essence; and his own understanding and embodiment of it brought the fundamental sakina (inner peace) that radiated in his face and smile. The sheikh therefore describes Eid as at once a serious day but also one that encourages the inner peace upon which true happiness and celebration are founded.

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Qasida al-Burda - The Poem of the Mantle

Rendition of 'The Poem of the Mantle' led by Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - 14th June 2007 - 52 minutes 20 seconds

The Sheikh leads a rendition of the Qasida al-Burda - a poem famous across the Muslim world - after the Maghrebi fashion. The poem, properly known as al-Kawakib ad-Durriya fi Madh Khayr al-Bariya ("Celestial Lights in Praise of the Best of Creation") was written in Egypt in the 13th century by Imam Salih Sharaf ad-Din Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Busiri. Previously a court poet famed for his panegyrics of contemporary figures of authority, an intractable period of paralysis inspired him to turn his talents towards praise of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Tradition holds that upon completion of the poem the Imam was visited in his sleep by the Prophet himself, who with a sweep of his cloak (Burda) cured him of his malady. The Qasida's fame quickly spread and soon after the poem could be heard recited regularly in the far corners of the Islamic world, much loved by Muslims due to its beauty and expression of love for the Prophet (peace be upon him).

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This resource may be of use in following the poem:

http://www.deenislam.co.uk/burdah/burdah.htm

The Sheikh can also be heard talking about the poem on the following video

Kemal Pashazade, Sheikh al-Islam

Talk by Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - date unknown - 1 hr 53 mins 30 secs

In this talk, the sheikh discusses the religious institutions of the Ottoman Empire and how they embodied Sunni Islam as articulated by the great scholar Imam al-Ghazzali (may God have Mercy on him). He reminds us that the Ottoman dynasty spanned more than half the history of Islam, lasting from the 13th century CE until within living memory. Although their medieval origins as warriors and herdsmen of Anatolia seem very distant today, the long history of the empire as a sacred civilisation has a lot to teach us; in particular, how they managed plurality - of different religions and different Muslim groups - within an Islamic framework.

The sheikh talks specifically about Ahmed b. Kemal, known as Kemal Pashazade (may God have Mercy on him), who was appointed Sheikh al-Islam by Sultan Suleyman I Kanuni (the Lawgiver). This scholar gave up his early career as a cavalryman to become one of the most prolific and important scholars in Ottoman and Islamic history. Sheikh Abdal Hakim reads from and explains one of Kemal Pashazade's works, al-Risala al-Munira, which was written to help local imams (religious leaders) and qadis (judges) resolve the conflicts caused by the existence of many different sects and groups in the empire.

Questions and a discussion follow after about 1 hr 5 mins.

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Counsel & Purity of Heart

Jum'ah khutba (Friday sermon) by Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - 26th January 2007 - 27 mins 12 secs

The word nasiha is usually translated as advice or counsel. However, in this sermon the sheikh explains another connotation, which is to be pure and sincere. The Qur'an and hadith urge us to have nasiha toward God and and His Prophets (peace be upon them), which gives the sense of having a pure and open heart toward them. This is related to ikhlas (sincerity) and also a reverent longing which can make worship easier and more joyful. The sheikh also relates this to nasiha in the sense of giving advice - whether from a learned person to a tyrant or from one believer to another - and the adab (good manners) of doing so.

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