In the Name of Allaah, the Most Beneficent, the Ever Merciful…

The Friday khutbah (sermon) may be the only time to reach many Muslims. With this in mind, it is essential that the khateeb (the one who delivers the khutbah) deliver it in a way that accomplishes the goal of reminding the Muslims about essential matters of Islamic belief and practice, encouraging them towards goodness and warning them from all types of evil.

As the best guidance is the guidance of the Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace), let us extract from his amazing teachings three relatively easy ways a khateeb can significantly improve his delivery of the Friday khutbah and make it as effective as possible, as it relates to the style, level of involvement, and length.

1 – STYLE: The Khutbah Should be a Passionate and Moving Admonition, not an Academic Lesson!
Jaabir ibn ‘Abdillaah (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported that when the Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) would deliver a khutbah, his eyes would redden, he would raise his voice, and his anger would intensify, to the point that it was like he was warning of an imminent military invasion! [1]

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have Mercy on him) explained:

He used to do that because it is more effective upon the listeners. He would behave this way for a benefit. Otherwise, it was well known that he (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) was the best of the people in character with the softest disposition. However, there is a specific way of addressing each situation. The khutbah must move the hearts and affect the souls, which is accomplished through the content, as well as the method of delivery. [2]

PRACTICAL ADVICE: Instead of teaching an academic breakdown of an important topic, select a few points on the topic where many Muslim neglect matters, and raise your voice with emotional reminders of the importance of those things and what harms they face when they do not give them proper attention. Save the detailed breakdowns for an academic class.

2 – INVOLVEMENT: The Khateeb Should be Connected to the People and Their Needs.
Khateebs who ignore their audience to read speeches directly from paper are rarely effective. Aside from the lack of any real emotion or genuine engagement in the topic, they are usually unaware of what is happening around them. They do not notice violations which need corrected, like people playing with their phones, talking, or sitting in the masjid without offering two rak’ahs first. They fail to provide solutions to problems faced by the listeners which may prevent them from benefitting from the khutbah.

The Prophet (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) taught leaders to be concerned for the needs of their followers. He taught them to consider the weak, elderly, and those occupied by urgent needs. [3] As the imaam of congregational prayer and the best example of leadership this planet has ever seen, he would shorten his prayer if he heard a child crying. [4] He would remind someone who sat without praying to offer two rak’ahs, even interrupting his khutbah to do so! [5] He would listen to the people complain of emergency situations, even during Jumu’ah, like the man who requested him to supplicate for rain during a drought. [6]

PRACTICAL ADVICE: Simply do not read a khutbah! Use an outline of main ideas if needed, but remind your brothers with live, engaging admonitions, while you remain aware of their situation. If they need to move up to make room for more people, tell them! If someone sits without praying, remind him! Take control of the situation and remove obstacles that prevent them from benefitting. Many khateebs may feel this might be overly burdening, yet that is likely due to negligence of the next point…

3 – LENGTH: The Friday Khutbah Needs to be Short and to the Point!
Not only would our finest example (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace).

الصلاة، واقصروا الخطبة
“Verily, the length of a man’s prayer and the brevity of his khutbah are signs of his fiqh (understanding), so lengthen the prayer and shorten the khutbah!” [8]

In the West, many khateebs neglect the time-related needs of their followers. The followers may only have a short lunch break in which they can offer the Jumu’ah Prayer. Others may be missing class at the university to attend Jumu’ah. These needs are not to be neglected by the khateeb. He must manifest his good understanding of the Religion and obey the Prophet (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) by keeping his Friday khutbah short.

PRACTICAL ADVICE: Prepare a concise set of three to five important points and practical tips which a Muslim could adopt and improve his practice of Islam through. Back up these points with some clear evidences from the Book and the Sunnah. Benefit from the writings of the scholars when preparing. This should be easy enough for most khateebs to accomplish.

The trap is like this – Once you believe that a khutbah must be a half-hour or more, you likely need to read it from a paper. This typically becomes a boring speech with more information than most attendees can even take in, even if it is correct. The tempo and style of the khutbah suffers greatly. By the end of a 40-minute khutbah like this, how many people are just wishing you would shut up and pray?!

So, khateebs, may Allaah give you success! Bring back the Prophetic Sunnah! Short, powerful, engaging reminders and warnings, relevant to the people’s needs, will make your masjid the place to be on Friday -in shaa’ Allaah-, not the place to avoid!

And Allaah knows best.

Written by: Moosaa Richardson (1436/10/09).

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Saheeh Muslim (no.867)

[2] Sharh Riyaadh as-Saaliheen (2/334)

[3] ِAs collected by both al-Bukhaaree and Muslim from the report of Aboo Mas’ood al-Ansaaree (may Allaah be pleased with him).

[4] Anas (may Allaah have Mercy on him) reported that the Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) said:

والله إني لأسمع بكاء الصبي وأنا في الصلاة فأخفف، مخافة أن تفتتن أمه
“By Allaah, I hear the crying of a child while praying, so I shorten (the prayer), in fear of his mother facing difficulty (through that).”

It was collected by at-Tirmithee in his Jaami’ (no.376), who called it hasan-saheeh. Al-Albaanee called it saheeh.

[5] As collected by both al-Bukhaaree and Muslim, from the report of Jaabir ibn ‘Abdillaah (may Allaah be pleased with him).

[6] As collected by both al-Bukhaaree and Muslim, from the report of Anas ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with him).

[7] Al-Hakam ibn Hazn described the Prophet’s khutbah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) as, “a few light words, good and blessed.” It was collected by Aboo Daawood in his Sunan (no.1098), and Al-Albaanee called it hasan.)

[8] Saheeh Muslim (no.869)