The People of Harmony

Jum'ah khutba - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - 11 March 2016 - 21 mins 26 secs

'And keep yourself patient [by being] with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His countenance. And let not your eyes pass beyond them, desiring adornments of the worldly life, and do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his desire and whose affair is ever [in] neglect.' 

(Surah Al-Kahf, Verse 28)

In this sermon the Shaykh talks about the qualities of the people who desire only to please the Almighty. The Shaykh mentions the ‘wool wearers’ amongst the sahaba (ra) who were the best examples of those who submitted fully to Allah. He goes on to mention how the modern material world gives us a delusional notion of status, pushing us to fantasise about being with those who have nothing to offer our spiritual soul, seeking for role models amongst celebrities and the elite of society; thus going directly against the prophetic tradition of seeking the company of the people who are in remembrance of their Lord.   

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Honour Thy Neighbour

Jum'ah khutba - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - 30 October 2015 - 22 mins 24 secs

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'Worship Allah, and do not associate with Him anything, and be good to parents and to kinsmen and orphans and the needy and the close neighbour and the distant neighbour… ' 

(Surah An-Nisa, Verse 36)

The Quran and the Hadith emphasise the importance of honouring our neighbours.  Who are our neighbours and what are their rights.  In this sermon the Shaykh explores this fundamental aspect of our Deen which instructs us on how we should conduct ourselves with those around us regardless of their faith. The right relationships with our neighbours is paramount to the building of cohesive communities and to ultimately earn the pleasure of Allah Almighly.

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The Fully Integrated Life

Jum'ah khutba - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - 9 October 2015 - 25 mins 16 secs

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'Allah bears witness that there is no god except He, and the Angels and the ones endowed with knowledge, upright with equity (bear witness). There is no god except He, The Ever-Mighty, The Ever-Wise...' 

(Surah al-Imran, Verse 18)

As the new academic year begins the Shaykh talks about how one should approach the balance needed in life, to put everything where it deserves to be put. How should one manage the different influences and complexity of life as a student. How does one find the right balance between what may seem Deen and what may seem Dunya. The Shaykh explains how we must strive for the fully integrated life and shares some useful tips from the works of Hujjat ul-Islam Imam Al-Ghazali.

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Repentance and Muharram

Jum'ah khutba - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - 11 November 2013 - 19 mins 13 secs

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'And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed.' 

-Surah An-Nūr (The Light)

As another Muharram approaches, in this sermon the Shaykh reminds us of this opportunity for new beginnings. He clarifies the importance of Tawba at this time, and the three conditions that are required in order for the Tawba to be real and thus accepted by Allah All Mighty. He points to the ups and downs of the human condition and the cycles of repentance and wrong doing that the Shaytan loves to take advantage of, in order to drag the soul into despair.

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The most beautiful of stories

Jum'ah khutba - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - 2nd November 2012 - 35mins 01secs

"We shall recite unto you the most beautiful of stories in that of which We have revealed in this Qur'an, something of which you were hitherto of those that who do not know"

 Surah Yusuf verse 3

The Sheikh begins the khutba with the above verse from Surah Yusuf. One of the reasons why the Qur'an refers to this as the 'greatest story' is that it is so fecund in terms of messages and meanings for us to reflect on. Not for the first time, the Sheikh focuses on the Surah, this time looking at its take on the states of consciousness and dreams.

Throughout the khutba the Sheikh looks at the various dreams within the Surah: the stars and moon bowing to Yusuf (upon him be peace), the dreams of the two men who share a prison cell with the prophet and Pharoah's dreams of seven fat and seven lean cows. Other episodes in the Surah such as the encounter of the brothers with Jacob (upon him be peace) and Yusuf with the Master's wife are also touched upon. Whilst looking at the individual lessons to be learned the Sheikh notes that the common element linking them all together is the idea that there is are alternative higher realities in existence beyond what is empirical.

The Sheikh in his inimitable style then goes on to explore the higher vistas of consciousness visited by the purified soul in an exposition covering amongst other things love, beauty, time and astrophysics.

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Photograph above taken in the Selimiye Mosque, Edirne, by the CKETC team

Come Dine with Me

Talk - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - London - 10th May 2011 -  50mins 45secs

You were a prized falcon, trapped by an old woman.

Then you heard the Drummer's call,

and flew beyond space and time...

Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi (may God be pleased with him)

Earlier this year Sheikh Abdal Hakim gave an address at an event hosted by Ulfa Aid. He began by outlining the homogenous monoculture bequeathed to us by globalisation, with its lack of family values but perhaps more importantly lack of a belief in the unseen, the magical. This age that we find ourselves in is not modern or post-modern but rather "post-everything"; an age in which the sarcastic quip and the cynical put-down is king. 

Despite this the Sheikh reminds us that within all humans is a capacity for wide-eyed amazement that cannot be entirely blunted. As a respected astrophysicist would have it, 'the strangest thing in existence is that existence itself can be perceived', and answers to the inevitable questions that arise can be found within Islam's cosmological narrative. In this age the truth is posited precisely where the power structures of the day would say it is not; God is not to be found with the well-fed investment bankers but with the seemingly impoverished taxi drivers that drive them around. These are the inheritors to the Ishmaelite tradition, for God is with the outcast, the downtrodden, the despised.

As Mevlana Rumi notes our task in this life is to respond to the calling of the drum. Humanity is not inherently sinful; rather we have forgotten our origins and the incessant beating of the drum led by the Prophets urges us to waken from our slumber, for as Mevlana says 'an-nawmu 'ala-l-ashiqi haram': 'sleep for the lovers is forbidden'. At its start this path can seem exacting. However this is a small effort to be made for us to become falcons, spread our wings and fly to that Court that lies 'beyond space and time'.

Talk published with kind permission of Ulfa Aid. Please visit the Ulfa Aid website, we can't recommend highly enough the work that they have been doing for countless around the world, may Allah bless their efforts and accept it from them.  They will be holding a 'Night Walk' along Southbank, London on 29th October to raise money for victims of the recent Japan earthquake, some more details to be found here. Another exciting development is the opening of the Ulfa Aid shop in Willesden Green next week. Called 'Rumi's Cave' it will be a versatile space that will - insha-Allah - be used as a cafe, antique shop, exhibition area and community centre. Please check the website and mailing list for more details.

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Photograph and videos taken from the Ulfa Aid website, 'Come Dine with Me' event.

 

Come Dine With Me - Abdul Hakim Murad ( Timothy Winter ) from Ulfa Aid on Vimeo.

Come Dine With Me - Abdul Hakim Murad ( Timothy Winter ) Q&A from Ulfa Aid on Vimeo.

Self-Knowledge

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

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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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