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<P><B><FONT color=#cc0033 face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="COLOR: #cc0033; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-WEIGHT: bold"><A
href="mailto:uma1@yahoogroups.com" title=uma1@yahoogroups.com><FONT
color=#cc0033><SPAN
style="COLOR: #cc0033; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Enough Is
Enough: A Blueprint for Enlightened Friday Sermons in Our
Mosques</SPAN></FONT><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none"><?xml:namespace
prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
/><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="mailto:uma1@yahoogroups.com" title=uma1@yahoogroups.com><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none"><SPAN
style="mso-field-code: ' HYPERLINK \0022http\:\/\/www\.muslimwakeup\.com\/mainarchive\/000297\.php\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022 '"><SPAN
class=GramE><U><FONT color=#000099><SPAN
style="COLOR: #000099">http://www.</SPAN></FONT></U></SPAN><U><FONT
color=#000099><SPAN style="COLOR: #000099">muslimwakeup.<SPAN
class=GramE>com/mainarchive/000297.</SPAN>php</SPAN></FONT></U></SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><B><FONT color=#0000cc face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="COLOR: #0000cc; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-WEIGHT: bold"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=#0000cc><SPAN
style="COLOR: #0000cc; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">By Hasan
Zillur Rahim</SPAN></FONT><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Let’s
face it: the average Friday sermon in American mosques is often a complete waste
of time, reflecting the abject failure of our imams and scholars to articulate
the critical issues facing American Muslims. </SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Instead
of alerting us, say, to the dangers of religious chauvinism or reflexive
anti-Americanism, what we often get are lectures on the obvious and the
irrelevant on the one hand, and a hodgepodge of conspiracy theories and
victimhood grievances on the other. </SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">The
predictable hectoring, the hair-splitting arguments, the opportunistic
invocation of the moral high ground, all these and more often make us wonder if
our leaders can ever deal intelligently with the complex religious and political
issues of our times, instead of glossing over them with platitudes or
denial.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">A large
percentage of the sermons fall in the category of preaching to the converted.
</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">The five
daily prayers are important for our spiritual growth, we are solemnly told. Or,
without zakat, our wealth becomes a catalyst for our downfall. <SPAN
class=GramE>Or, fasting during Ramadan cleanses the body as well as the
soul.</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Reminding
us of the basics of our faith is, of course, useful. </SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">And
occasionally we hear a sermon so eloquent and persuasive--on the transcendence
of prayer, for instance, or the spirituality of caring for others--that it opens
eyes and touches hearts.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">But these
are the exceptions.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><A name=more></A><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">More
often, the sermons contain nothing new even for newcomers to Islam. It isn’t
uncommon for Muslims flocking to the Friday prayers to hear, week after week,
passionate lectures on the importance of consuming halal meat, or for women to
wear hijab, or for sighting the hilal to mark the beginning and end of
Ramadan.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">If an
imam tires of the obvious, he relishes taking us on guilt trips. We don’t pray,
he may lament (what are we doing here then, O wise one?)
</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">and we
don’t read the Qur’an and we don’t fast and we don’t remember Allah often enough
and we don’t visit sick Muslims in hospitals and we don’t do this and we don’t
do that, on and on and on.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">But, at
least, these sermons are benign in that they do not extend beyond issues of
personal piety. </SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">More
malignant are the types of sermons our khatibs routinely feel obliged to deliver
to promote an “us versus them” mentality, “us” being the Umma, the worldwide
community of Muslims, and “them” being the West, particularly America.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">It is
easy to attribute “global Muslim suffering” to an unchanging cabal of
imperialists, Muslim-haters and modern-day Crusaders, but when Muslims
themselves are responsible for the sufferings of other Muslims, the imams ignore
or deny their culpability.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P align=center class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">***<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">The <SPAN
class=GramE>September</SPAN> 11 attacks have raised the bar for the Friday
sermons. After years of resignation, congregants are demanding accountability
from the sermonizers. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Many
Americans are also tuning in. </SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Before
the 9/11 attacks, teachers and students <SPAN class=GramE>from</SPAN> local
schools sometimes visited our mosques on Fridays to observe how we prayed, or to
collect data for a research paper on Islam. Occasionally, a reporter or two
would drop by to get an “Islamic perspective” on a breaking event.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">In the
post-9/11 world, the sermons have become the main draw, offering our fellow
citizens a glimpse into Muslim thinking and a chance to evaluate firsthand where
we stand on various issues.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">A
critical concern for American Muslims is: How can we sustain a high level of
discourse in our sermons in the post-9/11 world? <SPAN class=GramE>How can we
ensure that our imams and scholars are intellectually honest and rigorous when
they ascend the pulpit on Fridays? </SPAN>Can we put in place a system of checks
and balances that will help filter out those who are unworthy of this task and
promote those who are?<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Here are
some ideas that have crossed my mind over the years but that came into focus
only after the 9/11 attacks. </SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">It is not
an exhaustive list but offered as a springboard for discussion. <SPAN
class=GramE>Any Muslim can create her or his own list. </SPAN>The goal is to
come up with a core set of guidelines that will help ensure that the Friday
sermons in our mosques are consistently enlightening and
inspiring.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none"><BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">English-Only
Sermons</SPAN></B><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">In
mosques in America, the Friday sermon should always be delivered in English.
This may seem obvious but is by no means a given.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Any
Muslim, and any interested American, should <SPAN class=GramE>be</SPAN> able to
understand the Friday sermon in any mosque in America. That leaves only English
as the language of choice for the sermon. If an imam or a scholar or a shaykh,
no matter how lofty the reputation, has not invested the time and the effort to
master English, he shouldn’t be allowed to deliver sermons in our
mosques.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Some
Muslims may object. </SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">After
all, if the sermon is followed by an English translation, as is sometimes the
case, why should it prevent a Muslim from sharing his knowledge in other
languages?<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">For
someone who has seen this practiced innumerable times, I can only say that it
just doesn’t work. <SPAN class=GramE>The experience is surreal. </SPAN>The
non-English-speaking khatib gesticulates, raises his voice, lowers and raises it
again, and pleads and admonishes as his eyes sweep the congregation from one
side of the prayer area to the other, and we sit there transfixed by the
performance, not understanding a word.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">By the
time the translator attempts to summarize the sermon for us, with his own ebb
and flow, there is a complete disconnect and the mind has wandered
away.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">For
Muslims born in America whose only language is English, having to sit through a
sermon incomprehensible at the elemental level of language can be particularly
discouraging. Frustration leads to tension with the parents and a reluctance to
return to the mosque.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">The need
for English-only sermons have become even more important after 9/11, with
Americans visiting our mosques in greater numbers than ever before to get a
pulse on Muslim thinking and perspective.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">There
are, of course, mosques in America where most, if not all, of the congregants
share a common ethnic background. </SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">They may
<SPAN class=GramE>be</SPAN> from Bangladesh or Afghanistan or Pakistan or Saudi
Arabia. <SPAN class=GramE>I have attended such mosques myself, in which the
Khutba is given exclusively in Bengali or Pashtu or Urdu or Arabic. </SPAN>These
mosques promote clannish behavior and project an insular image that can only
<SPAN class=GramE>be</SPAN> detrimental to our future. Board members of these
mosques should actively try to recruit khatibs fluent in
English.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">English
is the lingua franca of the land. As American Muslims, it is in our interest to
ensure that the Friday sermons are delivered in English.
</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Not only
will the maximum number of congregants benefit from this policy, it will also
help improve the quality of the sermons
themselves.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none"><BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Diversity of
Views</SPAN></B><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">When I
was settling down in Northern California in the late ‘70s, there were relatively
few mosques in the San Francisco Bay Area, and hardly any with permanent imams.
</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">As our
numbers grew, Muslim communities began looking for qualified imams for their
mosques. <SPAN class=GramE>The imams were expected to lead the daily prayers,
teach in the Sunday Islamic Schools, and deliver the Friday sermons.
</SPAN>Muslim communities in other states were conducting similar
searches.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">The
positions were filled soon enough. <SPAN class=GramE>While the selected imams,
mostly from the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East, performed reasonably
well in leading the prayers and in teaching Arabic, they floundered with the
Friday sermons. </SPAN>I have stated some of the problems: preaching to the
converted, repeating the obvious and sometimes being irresponsible and
incendiary.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Meanwhile,
the number of Muslims increased dramatically as a new generation came of age.
</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Expectations
for the sermons grew proportionately, as did the discontent.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">In a
sense, it was unfair on the imams. </SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">They were
expected to maintain a high level of discourse week after week without becoming
predictable and repetitive, a tall order for
anyone.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Ultimately,
the board of directors of many mosques decided to switch to a new format: keep a
core group of speakers<SPAN class=GramE>--</SPAN>teachers, doctors, engineers,
lawyers and other professionals who were also keen students of Islam--and rotate
among them for the Friday sermons, with enough flexibility to accommodate
visiting scholars. In some mosques, the traditional imam became a member of the
core group, in others, not.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">This has
worked out rather well and the routine of rotation among speakers is catching on
in mosques throughout America. <SPAN class=GramE>Muslims are exposed to
different ideas, sometimes even contradictory ideas, and find themselves more
intellectually and spiritually challenged. </SPAN>The practice is consistent
with what the Prophet Muhammad (saw) had said: “The differences of opinion among
the learned in my community are a sign of God’s
grace.”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">There are
many mosques in America that still rely on the same person for the Friday
sermons most of the time. Those responsible for running these mosques should
consider the benefit of having different speakers for the congregational
prayers.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none"><BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">The American
Context</SPAN></B><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">In the
early ‘90s, on a business trip to Hong Kong, I attended the Jum’a prayers at one
of the beautiful mosques in the then British colony. The congregation consisted
mostly of local Chinese, South and South East Asian Muslims, with a sprinkling
of Western converts. </SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">There was
a cosmopolitan feel to the setting, much like the city itself, and I eagerly
looked forward to the Khutba.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">At the
appointed time, the imam, an immigrant, began to speak.
</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">To say
that I was disappointed would be an understatement. <SPAN class=GramE>His
plaintive sermon was all about his native country, how it had fallen on hard
times, how corrupt politicians were destroying it, how his once proud and
beautiful land had lost its moorings and how Islam was disappearing from it,
along with modest women and respectful children. </SPAN>He continued in this
vein for the entire length of the sermon, his lamentations becoming increasingly
teary. At the end, with voice breaking, he asked us to join him in praying for
the salvation of his homeland and the sanity of its
leaders.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">I have
had my share of “homesick” sermons in America, although none quite as extreme as
the one in Hong Kong. </SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Here,
though, the yearning is not so much for a specific country as it is for a
certain era. I am all for understanding what made the golden age of Islam from
the 8th through the 14th centuries possible and why it regressed, with lessons
for us today. Instead, what we get is only a yearning for it that typically
includes a recitation of the achievements of some of the Muslim scientists and
physicians of that period. <SPAN class=GramE>This serves no purpose
whatsoever.</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Nostalgia
can <SPAN class=GramE>be</SPAN> a powerful narcotic. <SPAN class=GramE>It can
mask reality while easing the slide toward denial. </SPAN>Whether theological,
social, economic or political, the issues raised in our sermons should be framed
in a way that makes sense for Muslims living in contemporary America. <SPAN
class=GramE>To do this requires, at the very least, some knowledge of American
history and government, and an awareness of the key issues of the day.
</SPAN>How do we engage in the pro-choice versus pro-life debate, for instance?
<SPAN class=GramE>Where do we stand on the death penalty? What can we do about
the failing public school systems? How can we live up to our environmental
responsibility? How concerned are we with the obesity epidemic in the country?
How can we help reduce the violence and promiscuity that pervades much of our
entertainment industry? </SPAN>In what ways can we influence our government in
pursuing prudent policies at home and
abroad?<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Our
khatibs must <SPAN class=GramE>be</SPAN> intelligent and constructive about
addressing these issues. <SPAN class=GramE>The last thing we need from them is
sanctimonious bombast. </SPAN>For too long, they have been waving the magic wand
of Umma to make us docile and malleable for accepting their opportunistic
rhetoric and unexamined ideas. <SPAN class=GramE>This will not work any longer.
</SPAN>We have goals and aspirations for America that transcend our ethnic
backgrounds. <SPAN class=GramE>Our imams and scholars risk ridicule and
rejection if they fail to recognize this simple truth and accordingly transform
themselves.</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none"><BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Confront Difficult
Topics</SPAN></B><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Our
tendency to tiptoe around difficult topics, or ignore them altogether,
particularly when it relates to the actions of other Muslims, is one of our most
serious failings. </SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">We must
engage in honest discussion of problems that beset us and recognize that the
Friday sermons provide the best forum for enunciating them. Where candor is
called for, clichés and playing to the congregation reflect only cowardice and
irresponsibility. We must demand that our khatibs confront such issues as the
immorality of suicide bombings, the absurdity of reducing Shari’a to stoning and
amputation, the undeniable presence of misogyny among Muslims, the nihilism
inherent in striving for a utopia of yore through tyranny, misusing the sayings
of Prophet Muhammad to advance personal opinions, and so on.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">When such
issues occasionally find their way into the sermons, the khatibs undermine them
with an equivocal “but<SPAN class=GramE>.”</SPAN> <SPAN class=GramE>Yes, we
condemn suicide bombings but … and you get an earful of root causes and
rapacious policies, as if past and present wrongs can justify this particular
abomination. </SPAN>Or: Yes, Muslim extremists are destroying the image of Islam
but … and you end up with a lecture on Western imperialism, beginning with the
Crusades.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Like our
Catholic counterparts who have confronted sexual abuses in their churches, we
have done better in confronting some of the social scourges<SPAN
class=GramE>--</SPAN>domestic violence, to name one--that bedevil Muslim
communities in America. We must <SPAN class=GramE>be</SPAN> as forthright in
discussing painful political and theological issues involving our coreligionists
as we are about our social problems. This requires that we rid ourselves of the
“Yes, but” syndrome; otherwise, the good works of many Muslims will be
undermined by the acts of a few.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none"><BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Invite Neighbors and
Friends</SPAN></B><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">A month
or so after the 9/11 attacks, a colleague approached <SPAN
class=GramE>me</SPAN>. “I know you are a Muslim<SPAN class=GramE>,”</SPAN> he
said, “but I know nothing about your religion. <SPAN class=GramE>I don’t know
what to make of all the stuff being written about Islam. It’s complicated and
contradictory. </SPAN>Can you give me a tutorial?”
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">I
promised to do that but I also invited him to accompany <SPAN
class=GramE>me</SPAN> to the Friday prayers at a mosque that
week.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">It turned
out to be an eye-opener for him. Starting with the call to prayers to the sermon
to the actual prayer itself and, afterwards, talking with some of the
congregants and visiting the mosque bookstore and eating a halal sandwich, he
said he learned more about Islam in an hour than in several weeks of media <SPAN
class=GramE>bombardment</SPAN>. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">To which
I could only say, “Amen!”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">While
there has been a steady increase in the number of American visitors to our
mosques since 9/11, these visits are often organized by interfaith groups and
local schools and colleges. <SPAN class=GramE>But individual Muslims can also
occasionally invite their neighbors, friends and co-workers to the Jum’a prayers
at their mosques. </SPAN>This can go a long way toward removing misconceptions
and helping us to discover how open-minded most Americans are, or can be, in
their outlook.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">In the
same vein, Muslims should also visit churches, synagogues, temples and other
places of worship from time to time to maintain a perspective on the values that
bind us together. However brief, a first-hand encounter will always <SPAN
class=GramE>be</SPAN> more meaningful than the second and third-hand chatter of
overrated opinion makers and rush-to-judgment
pundits.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none"><BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Make Use of the
Internet</SPAN></B><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Several
years ago, I was handed a flyer at the end of the Friday prayers that was unlike
any I had seen before. Instead of announcing an upcoming religious event or
advertising the sale of halal meat at a Muslim grocery store, this one sought
our opinion on the sermon we had just heard. “Your feedback will help us improve
the quality of the Khutba,” it said. </SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Finally,
I thought!<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">There was
a special box marked “Khutba feedback” on a table beside boxes for donations.
<SPAN class=GramE>But the congregants were in a hurry to return to work and,
although filling out the form would have taken only a few minutes, most said
they would do so later. </SPAN>“Later” never materialized and the well-meaning
experiment fizzled.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">But the
sermon feedback is now making a comeback, thanks to the Internet. Some mosques
are soliciting feedback on the Friday sermons over the Web, with questions that
pertain not only to the content of the sermon (Was the sermon relevant? What was
positive about it? What was negative?)</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">, <SPAN
class=GramE>but</SPAN> also to the style and preparedness of the speaker. <SPAN
class=GramE>In fact, it gets fairly personal. “Should we invite this speaker
back?” asks</SPAN> one question. <SPAN class=GramE>“Does the speaker need
additional communication skills?” </SPAN>asks
another.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">This is a
wonderful development. Congregants are writing back, helping to weed out those
who fall short in substance or style, while elevating the deserving.
</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">As a
result, we are hearing fresh and progressive voices that lay dormant for far too
long in our mosques.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Mosque
management can take the feedback <SPAN class=GramE>format</SPAN> one step
further by posting summaries of sermons on their
Websites.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Unfortunately,
most mosques in America do not yet have any Web presence.
</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">They are
missing out on an opportunity to make the Friday sermons a more meaningful
experience for their congregants. <SPAN class=GramE>The Internet is now woven
into the fabric of our lives. By facilitating the free flow of competing ideas,
it can help weaken the extremists and strengthen the moderates. </SPAN>We ignore
this powerful medium at our
peril.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">There are
also many independent Muslim Web sites that cover a vast range of topics, from
piety to politics and Rumi to Ramadan. The authors can enhance the value of
their sites by bringing the Friday sermon into the loop.
</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">By
posting sermon summaries from as many American mosques as possible, they can
also help Muslims around the world differentiate between regressive and
regenerative sermons.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none"><BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Promote Independent
Thinking</SPAN></B><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Perhaps
the most valuable contribution khatibs can make in their sermons is to promote
ijtihad, the practice of independent thinking and reasoning among Muslims on
theological issues.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Although
many Muslims believe in the need for interpreting sacred text in the context of
the times, the overall record of most traditional imams and scholars in this
department has been poor at best and disastrous at
worst.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">In one
breath these insecure imams and scholars will acknowledge the need for ijtihad
but in the next they will proclaim that only those who have, like themselves,
“paid their dues,” that is, studied at religious universities or were tutored by
shaykhs with established reputations, have the right to engage in
it.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">The
result is the perpetuation of an old boys’ club that tries to subvert any
attempt by ordinary Muslims to reflect on the Qur’an and apply it to new and
changing conditions.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">What
compounds the status quo is the acquiescence of some Muslims to this line of
thinking and their sheep-like following of the certitude-laden clergy. These
alims have all the answers in advance and expect only deference from their
underlings. </SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">I cannot
count the number of times I have listened to such scholars who say the most
banal thing, yet their groveling disciples act as if an oracle had spoken, and
take offense when the rest of us fail to share in their
enthusiasm.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Fortunately,
this is changing. </SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">After
9/11, many Muslims are awaking to the importance of individual inquiry for
insight into Islam, in keeping with the Quranic injunction for believers to
think and reflect. They are realizing that in theology, as in other fields,
knowledge comes from using one’s faculties to the best of one’s ability, that
received wisdom is no wisdom unless subjected to personal reason and reflection,
and that the path to God cannot be defined by others for us but must be
continually sought and chosen.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><SPAN
class=GramE><FONT color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">The
opposite of ijtihad is taqlid, which means blind imitation, and imitation, as
Ralph Waldo Emerson pointed out, is suicide.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P align=center class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">***<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">The
pulpit has the power to shape perception. <SPAN class=GramE>Rank-and-file
Muslims have never been more aware of this truth than now. </SPAN>Whether the
topic is faith or foreign policy, science or social responsibility, citizenship
or civil rights, we are demanding honesty, integrity and even a certain amount
of imaginative daring from those who speak to us on Fridays.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">We can
set an example for Muslims around the world by the quality of the sermons in our
mosques and the creative thoughts and deeds they inspire. In many Muslim
countries, anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism are staple subjects for the Friday
sermons. <SPAN class=GramE>We can help change this sad situation. </SPAN>In the
battle for the soul of Islam, the sermons can play an important role in
empowering the moderates and marginalizing the extremists.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">But this
requires American Muslims to <SPAN class=GramE>be</SPAN> ever demanding of
themselves and of their imams and scholars. The price for enlightened sermons is
vigilance.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><EM><I><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://www.muslimwakeup.com/mainarchive/000297.php" target=_blank><FONT
color=black><SPAN
style="COLOR: windowtext; TEXT-DECORATION: none; text-underline: none">Dr. Hasan
Zillur Rahim is Ph.D. in Physics, is a Commentator for Pacific
News Service and is the past editor of Iqra magazine of South Bay Islamic
Association, San Jose, California. His articles have been published in San Jose
Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Arizona Daily Star and
Washington Report on the Middle East Affairs.</SPAN></FONT><FONT
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