i agree 100%… Muslims can and should benefit from the Friday sermon… so it should be in a language understood by the majority of attendees… otherwise, it’s in one ear and out the other… there is, of course, the fiqh opinion (not shared by all) that the sermon must be in Arabic and only in Arabic (see second link below)… not sure if that stands up to scrutiny though as there are valid arguments against it if i recall…
Muslims ‘want sermons in English’
BBC, 11 August 2005
A majority of British Muslims say clerics should preach in the English language, a BBC survey suggests.
The Mori poll for the BBC found 65% of Muslims backed such a move, compared with 39% of the national population.
I agree 100%. For years the khudbah at my local masjid was delivered in the really formal complex urdu that I could not follow more than one word in 5 of. I felt really sorry for the arabs and somalis in the audience who weren't able to follow the khudbah at all.
When I went to university, the student Islamic society there did its khudbahs in english. All of a sudden I could actually listen to and understand the khudbahs and learn from them; whereas previously, being in my local masjid during the khudbah was a struggle to keep awake.
It’s pretty common for Khudbas to be done in urdu. The overwhelming majority of hte Muslim population of Britain has always been Pakistani, or desis anyway.
Idea that God Almighty, creator of the universe cannot understand languages or will not like his followers to speak any other language sounds rather dubious and an insult to the concept of an all knowing God.
When Khutbas can be delivered in English then why not Salaat??
Amongst many other reasons, arabic cannot be translated exactly into any other language. Hence you have multiple versions of the Quran in English and urdu and any other language.
Fartg, salat is performed in Arabic following the tradition of the Holy Prophet (saw) and a matter of fiqh.
Salat itself is not very long and translation is easy to understand & remember. I don't know Arabic, if someone is speaking Arabic in front of me I can probably pick words here and there but can't make a sentence out of it. Though, I know the translation of the whole salat word by word and I learned it when I was 8-9 years old. As I say my prayers, I totally understand what I am praying for.
I generally pray in my own language during sajda for things little & big but towards the end of the salat I pray reciting the different prayers mentioned in the Quran. Shias pray after rakoh & most sunnis pray in their own language after completing the salat.
I have hardly met any new convert insisting on praying in his or her own language because they are eager to follow the traditions, though it does take 'em a while to learn it. Usually born Muslims tend to challenge this tradition.
I like saying my salaat in Arabic - makes it seem more holy for some reason. Not that I care for the Arabic language much outside namaaz though.
Sermons should be in English - here, I don't know of one masjid that has not switched into English - although the Khutba is done in Arabic. But he also translates - but then our masjid is very multicultural.
True. Differences in understanding the Quran can aslo be found amongst the Arabic speaking scholars. Salaat is supposed to be every individuals Dua (prayer) to his Almighty Allah, when that individual has no idea what they r saying then how is he/she communicating to his god?
When salaat will be offered in the local langauges the listeners can relate and feel more closer to their prayers. Right now we are depending upon their reverence and faith in their beliefs, nothing wrong with that, but it basically cultivates drones of followers with little understanding of their religion.
I do not know whether u offer Taraweeh, if u have then do u know what is being said throughout the month? Those who have learnt the basics of salaat and made an effort to know what they r saying in the non-arabic world (majority of muslims) are actually a minority. More importantly, how do we spread the message of Islam? DO we tell the 1.4billion Chinese that they have to learnb arabic first to understand what Islam is all about?
fartguru, there are at least three components to salat... recitation of Qur'an, glorifying God and supplicating to Him... if someone wants to conduct the latter in a language of their understanding if it makes it easier for them to beseech God then that is acceptable as some scholars have argued... the Qur'an component of salat, however, is recited in Arabic... it is an Arabic Qur'an after all... a translation is just that, a translation, it is not the Qur'an...
the argument about everyone having to learn Arabic before being able to understand Islam is, of course, a complete red herring
Say prayers in Arabic
Pray facing Arabia
Greet each other in Arabic
Make pilgrimage to Arabia
Dress like Arabs
Take Arabic names
At what point does culture end and God's true wishes begin? Is Arabic culture that superior that God requires man to imitate it in order to receive his mercy?