May Allah bless your community with His mercy and may Allah give you the ability to relate to your neighbors in a dynamic way.
Here are some notes and tips Muslim communities can use for this Friday:
- Choose your best Khateeb for this Friday Prayer
- Have local police and the Masjid security committee work together.
- Make sure that Juma prayer takes place. At least in one city, local police have advised Muslims not to hold Juma. We don't want to second judge an opinion in special circumstances, but we strongly suggest that the Friday prayers must be held. Police and private security personal must protect the community of worshipers. If you are a small congregation, let half of the people pray first and the other half guard. The second half pray while the first half guard.
Please use this Friday to inform Muslims and educate them as best as you can. Since Khutba is normally not more than 15 minutes, either ask people to stay after Juma for more information, print out the information from our website or give out the url where more information could be found.
The Khutbah
Start off by conveying the Muslim position & response to the bombing by saying:
- The terrorist attacks were inhuman, unIslamic, vicious, and cowardly. Please convey the feelings from the perspective of a person who is the mother of one of those people who died in the tragedy.
- No political cause could ever be assisted by such immoral acts.
- An untold number of American Muslims were killed in the World Trade Center attacks. Their families have been devastated like the families of other victims.
- There are hundreds of Muslim doctors and medical health professionals in New York and Washington fighting to save the lives of victims.
- Muslim mosques and charities are donating blood and raising funds to help those in need.
- All major Islamic organizations in the U.S. and Canada have strongly condemned the attacks.
Following this, request Muslims to take action in the following ways:
- Ask Muslims to call media if they see any reports implicating Muslims in the crime as a result of generalizations and stereotypes about their faith.
- Provide the url for more media tips (www.soundvision.com/terrorism/mediatips.asp)
- Ask Muslims to be careful and vigilant
- Ask them to take security tips and checking out the following url for this www.soundvison.com/terrorism/securitytips
You can use the following Quranic Verses which can set the tone for this Khutba:
The Believers ward off evil with good: Quran 13:22
Who are steadfast in seeking the good pleasure of their Lord; who establish Prayer and spend both secretly and openly out of the wealth We have provided them, and who ward off evil with good.
Explanation: Instead of engaging in evil, the believers ward off evil with good. If they are wronged by others, they do not subject the latter to wrong in return. Even when others lie against them, they still tell the truth about them. No matter how dishonest others might have been in their dealings with them, they remain honest.
The conduct of the believers has been aptly portrayed in the following saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be on him): 'Do not follow the ways of others, saying: "If others do good, we will also do good to them; but if others wrong us, we will also wrong them." Discipline yourself to a principle. If people do good to you, do good to them; and if they mistreat you, still refrain from being unjust.' Tirmidhi
Of similar import is the tradition in which the Prophet mentions that his Lord had enjoined nine commands. Four of those commands are as follows: 'That I should speak with justice in anger and happiness; that I should render the right of him who deprives me; that I should give him who denies me; that I should forgive him who wrongs me." Another tradition expresses the same idea in another saying of the Prophet: 'Do not betray him who betrays you' Tirmidhi.
Caliph Umar has also said something to the same effect: 'The best way to punish someone who has not behaved towards you in a God-fearing manner is that you behave with him in a God-fearing way.'
Other relevent Quranic verses: 41:34, 29:46, 23:96, 16:125
Finally, alleviate the community's fears. Remind listeners to have Tawakkul (Reliance) on Allah and suggest Duas they can read.
"FEMA - 3921 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-16-2001 in New York" by Andrea Booher - This image is from the FEMA Photo Library.. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FEMA_-_3921_-_Photograph_by_Andrea_Booher_taken_on_09-16-2001_in_New_York.jpg#mediaviewer/File:FEMA_-_3921_-_Photograph_by_Andrea_Booher_taken_on_09-16-2001_in_New_York.jpg
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