cambridge khutbas etc.

Jum'ah khutba - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - 30th November 2012 - 14 mins 56secs 'Shall the reward of doing what is beautiful be other than doing what is beautiful?'  -Surah Ar-Rahman verse 60 In this khutba covering the topic of beauty, the Sheikh begins by noting that the connection linking us to Transcendent is the receptive affirmation of what is beautiful and indicates the Supernatural. To the extent that the sense of beauty, truth and order rules in our hearts, that is how in touch we are with reality. This apprehension is available to any person, no matter how young or unlettered they are.  Indeed the Sheikh notes that the life of the Prophet was a life lived intensely, passionately and lyrically in response to what is beautiful. As human beings we have two ways to respond to beauty; to turn inwards towards individualism, or outwards from our selves, to engage with the Ultimate. We are between tendency upwards, and the tendency down. Ugliness is always due to the engagement with the nafs, the downward. The arrival of the Prophet on the other hand affirms the universal other, not just of Arabs but of human beings as brothers everywhere. Earlier prophets were sent only to their people, but he was sent to all mankind. This is why his way is a path of beauty, and why the deen was able to spread and flourish so magnificently in the following centuries.  The Sheikh closes by telling us that the heart craves beauty. The Sharia makes outward judgements, and so inwardly does the soul. We are asked to live our lives making these soulful judgements, to follow those who act beautifully, and surround ourselves with those beautiful things that bring our hearts peace, for as the Qur'an says 'Verily in the remembrance of Allah do the hearts find rest!'  -Surah Ar-Ra'd verse 28 Calligraphy reading 'He uncovered the darkness by his beauty' from the poem about the Prophet by Shaikh Sa'di, mosque, Istanbul. Taken by the CKETC team. Listen to this khutba Download this khutba (MP3, 13.7MB)

Jum'ah khutba - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - 23rd November 2012 - 15 mins 37secs They prefer others to themselves, though theirs be the greater need. And whoever is protected from the avariciousness of his own self; it is they who are successful.  - Surah Al Hashr verse 9 The Islamic hijri calendar starts with the event that it takes its name from. The Sheikh touches upon some of the reasons why the Hijra, or emigration of Muslims from Mecca to Medina during the time of the Prophet, may Allah's peaces and blessings be upon him, has left such an indelible mark upon the collective Muslim consciousness.  Hijra is to do with human bonding, the ability of ideas, faith and love to ascend about tribal loyalties. The movement of the Muhajirun, Emigrants to Medina was the beginning of the one of the most remarkable social experiments in history. The Ansar, literally 'Helpers', who had only years before been embroiled in bitter internecine conflicts welcomed these strangers with love, generosity and nobility, giving them half of their houses, lands, fields and possessions. As the Sheikh mentioned this was only possible by the New Moon of Muhammad and the message that he brought.  Imam al-Qushayri says of the verse above that the believers preferred others as they were detached from material things of this world. Their hostility had been replaced by a powerful belief through the process of tajrid, the stripping away of avarice leaving one free from ones self. True nobility is being free not to do just as we would please but rather being able to control one's lower impulses. This is why the Ansar were truly noble and free, for real nobility is more likely to come from giving than taking, from sacrifice; not from welcoming the sacrifices of others.  Photo of Sultanahmet Mosque, Istanbul taken on Laylat-ul-Isra' wa Mi'raj by the CKETC team Listen to this khutba Download this khutba (MP3, 14.2MB)

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. Listen to this khutba Download this khutba (MP3, 32.1MB)  Photograph above taken in the Selimiye Mosque, Edirne, by the CKETC team

Circle - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - November 2012 - 1 hour 11 mins 53 secs In a circle that is bound to interest many, the Sheikh discusses his Contentions, a series of aphoristic statements that he writes, the latest of which may be found here. At the heart of these collections is the relationship between Islam and language. The Islamic perception of language is that it is a vehicle of meaning but also a springboard for a new and intoxicating literature. Historically this has been true; one must look at the poetry of the Turkic and Persian peoples for just a few quick examples of this. Theologically this approach to language is also sound; the Qur'an says that 'among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations in your languages and your colours'. Not for Islam then the Babelite curse. Every language may be a fully valid means of connecting with the Truth. This is the context within which the Contentions themselves operate. According to the Sheikh they are there to see what Divine indications are supplied by the English language, they hope to be part of a discovery of the luminosity inherent within it. The point is not necessarily to pose a truth but to evoke an atmosphere. Like our poetry they are closer to music than prose conveying truth claims. The Sheikh ends the circle by talking about the following contentions in the eleventh set: 10: The Liber Asian vs. The Manu Mission: a woman may be Arahat on Arafat 21. Anthropomorphism is gender-biased 38. If you have not seen the saint, you have not seen the sunna  For a full commentary of the whole set written by the Sheikh himself please visit the Quilliam Press website here. A most worthy addition to any library!  Photo of muqarnas taken in the Alhambra Palace by the CKETC team. It has been argued that the muqaras were themselves inspired by the occasionalist theology that the Sheikh mentions so often in this circle. Listen to this circle Download this circle (MP3,  65.8MB)

Jum'ah khutba - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - October 2012 - 27mins 39secs 'Do not push aside those who call upon their Lord morning and night desiring His Face...' Surah Al-'An`ām, verse 52 The Sheikh begins this khutba with this ayah, which touches on the key Qur'anic concept of irada and niyya, will and intention. A 'key counterbalance to excessive exteriority', these principles are the gateways the Almighty uses to judge our actions in this earthly realm. Famously Imam Bukhari begins his great corpus of Sahih Hadith with the foundational narration starting "actions are by intentions". Quite often when discussing intentions, the idea of sincerity is mentioned, a translation of ikhlas. Whilst this translation is common, the Sheikh points out that ikhlas can be defined not simply as sincerity but rather as a purification of an entity to its most singular essence. Thus in this context the believer is asked to have a singularity of intention in all his or her affairs. Judgement is not by ones goods and wealth but with, as the Qur'an says a sound heart, qalbin saleem. As Imam Ghazali notes one can't have singularity of intention without having a sound heart. The uproarious tumult of our desires doesn't settle just because we simply want to have a pure intention. This comes only with the purification of the heart, for as the Qur'an says "truly he succeeds that purifies it". Photo of the grave of Umm Haram, known as Hala Sultan taken at the Hala Sultan Tekke in Larnaca, Cyprus by the CKETC team. Listen to this khutba Download thus khutba (MP3, 25.3MB)

Talk - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - 18th June 2012 - 45mins 38secs Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds! Qur'an, Al-Fatiha, Verse 1  Islam is not just a large religion, it is religion at large. "I am sent to all mankind"  Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad, Contentions 16:95     As British society agonises over cases of prejudice against ethnic minorities in this supposedly post-racist age the universalising message of Islam is a much welcome one. The Sheikh discusses this message, why classical Islamic civilisations were able to be so diverse.  One reason may be that the Qur'an, unlike the Bible, is not about the continuity of a people but rather principles. It is not about the drama of a people, not a Judaism of the Arabs. The Islamic story begins with Abraham and Hagar rather than one of his descendents, echoed in the central rites of Hajj. the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and the Arabs are of Semitic lineage but also from the gentile Hagar, something that calls on Islam to be a message for the world, not one particular tribe. This is noted in the language of the Qur'an itself: when Arab is mentioned it usually denotes the language rather than the people. Classically in Maliki law an Arab is one who can speak the language well, rather than one who has a certain set of genes. If anything the Qur'an disparages 'it's people', the contemporary Arabs as they were they propagators of the jahiliyya that Islam came to destroy. Thus the Sheikh notes that Abraham is the forefather of a universalism that co-exists with particularism. Most Islamic cities were incredibly heterogenous, yet the set of core practices remained stable and familiar. The sacred law itself is race-blind, and so whilst we have a legitimate claim to belong to the culture of our ancestors, we also know that this matters not to the Heavenly Judge in terms of proximity to Him in this life and the next. Picture of a courtyard in the Alcazar, Seville. Taken by the CKETC team Listen to this talk Download this talk (MP3, 41.8MB)

Talk - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - 24th June 2012 - 14mins 20secs After this year's Summer Stroll fundraising event for the new Cambridge Mosque the Sheikh offered a few thoughts after spending some time in Cambridgeshire's countryside. He began by noting that iman, faith, is the entity that connects and binds us to Reality, as it involves the internalising and experiencing of the principle of Tawhid. Thus our becoming monotheists involves not only mental function but also the life of the heart. We have to allow the heart to see things, just as the Qur'an describes the heart as something that sees. This is how we heal the painful divide between the ghayb and shahada, what is hidden and what is seen. Engaging in nature is engaging in this effort, a wisdom the Qur'an sends for this time when we the world seems stuck in a solely positivistic viewing of the creation. This iman makes the Muslim at home anywhere, as he knows where he is going, where he has been and what the purpose of existence is. This, the Sheikh prposes, is one of the meanings of the Prophet's words, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, 'for me, the whole earth has been made a mosque, and made pure'.  The image above is a scale model of the proposed Cambridge mosque revealed at a pre-planning exhibition on September 7th, 2011 Listen to this talk Download this talk (MP3, MB)

Friday sermon (jum'ah khutba) - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - June 2012 - 26mins 22secs Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of Night and Day, - indeed there are signs for men of understanding.  Surah Al-Imran verse 190 The Sheikh began this beautiful khutba with the above verses that allude to one of the key activities we are commanded to partake in; fikr. This is not surface thought but deep reflection with the substance that makes up the core of man, variously described as the qalb, ruh, nafs or in this verse as the lubb. This translates as the core, or seed of the human being and as the Sheikh points out it needs to sprout and grow, but can only do so with the water of Divine remembrance. Part of this fikr is about contemplating creation, intuiting that the beauty in nature is not an end in and of itself but something that points to the Jameel. Just as everything praises and exalts the Creator, and states its absolute dependence on Him, human beings are likewise commanded to do the same; "the Source wants us to be part of this cosmic symphony". Unfortunately humanity has an ability to forget, ignore or manipulate the wonders of Creation. Changing the signposts or milestones is a serious offence in Sharia, and it is arguably an even more grievous offence when we tamper with the Signs of this world. Instead of reading the ayat of creation we plunder the earth's resources and treasures for a relative pittance. As the examples of 'Ad and Thamud show there is only a limited amount of time we are given before Allah's punishment is met for the violation of His creation and order. Picture taken in the Master's Garden, Selwyn College by the CKETC team Download this khutba Listen to this khutba (MP3, 24.2MB)