Friday Prayer in the US: Critical Eye From Within

Friday Prayer (Salat Al-Jummah) has been a very central event for me throughout my life. This once-a-week sermon (Khotba) and group prayer (Salat) is traditionally considered an obligation for Muslim men (optional for Muslim women). Muslims all over the world find themselves going to the local mosque on Friday around noon looking for a good word followed by a session of bowing and prostration in unison before God Almighty. In addition to Friday prayer being a religious event, it is also very much a social gathering that brings people together one a week. While the prayer tends to be central to the flow of the city in most Muslim-majority countries, it is less so in countries where Muslims make up a small percentage of the population, as is it in the United States. Nonetheless, Friday Prayer plays a unique significance in American Muslim communities in unifying Muslims of different ethnicities, ages, genders, levels of practice and schools of thought. However, this event is not without its own share of criticism, dissatisfaction and inner politics. As an American Muslim, I feel that this influence must be acknowledged if one is to look at the Muslim community critically. The importance of the content, deliverance and language of the sermon is major in shaping the identity of American Muslims today, as well as shaping the face and reputation of our growing communities in the general American community at large.

In the tradition of the past Abrahamic traditions, Islam maintained the idea of gathering one day a week for the sake of worshipping God. The word for Friday, “Jummah” is derived from the root word “jam’a,” which means to gather or collect. When originally established by the Prophet Mohammad, it was meant for an opportunity for the newly founded Muslim community to stop their business and worldly affairs and get together to be reminded, updated, briefed and advised. Many a time when the Prophet observed certain negative traits in society, he sometimes did not confront the individuals directly, but rather delivered a general sermon to the people pointing out these traits and advising against them. Such was the case with three men who were thinking about becoming extreme in their prayer, fasting and abstinence. As soon as the word reached the prophet, he gave a sermon that highlighted the importance of moderation in Islam. Whether it be advice about the sacredness of people’s lives and property or updating the people on matters of homeland security, the Prophet always spoke in matters relevant and applicable to the society in a clear understood language that could be understood by the masses and generations to come.

During my American childhood, I oftentimes accompanied my father to the local Islamic Center in the early 90s. Growing up as a Palestinian in the Palestinian Territories after a childhood in the United States, Jummah Prayer was a very bitter sweet experience for me. In the late 1990s, when conditions were a little calmer in my hometown, Hebron, my father would take me to the part of the city that he grew up in, Old Hebron, to pray at the Ibrahimi Mosque (The Cave of the Patriarchs). At this time, this area was a flourishing Palestinian marketplace with heavy Israeli military (IDF) presence that would work as security details for visiting Israelis (settlers and Israeli Proper citizens). But even with the IDF present, Israelis were allowed to carry heavy weaponry as a means of “self-defense” while Palestinians were prohibited from taking up arms. Needless to say, this wasn’t the most comfortable situation for a child growing up under occupation. In fact, I would always dread Friday because I knew that I would be going to this dangerous risky place, even though there were many mosques away from all this. But in keeping with the general Palestinian mindset, every week I convinced myself that I was stronger and more courageous and that I would defy the fear that they try to impose on us and I would accompany my dad…but that doesn’t mean that I still wasn’t nervous. In the midst of all this, Jummah became an important big deal for me. Why else would we be going through such a hassle every Friday if it wasn’t?


Nonetheless, during these “calmer times” leading up the Intifada in 2000 (spontaneous Palestinian uprising against the Israeli Occupation), even in areas that were away from militarized interfaces, Friday Prayer sermons mostly focused on politics, the occupation and the situation Palestinians found themselves in. This important seat of religion may have been taken advantage of for political gain or propaganda here and there, but overall, the mosques would preach this message because it was very much relevant to the everyday life of the people. Of course, amongst these sermons one would still hear many sermons talking about spiritual matters, social issues, civil affairs and other important topics. After a while and many political sermons, I began to long for sermons that can benefit me personally. As I left Palestine to start high school in the United States, the world of American Islam became fascinating to me. Although I hadn’t been too active in religious matters at the time, I still could appreciate the ease of practicing one’s faith, the vast diversity of Muslims and the amazing interfaith relationships I witnessed in the United States.

It quickly became clear to me that the Friday Sermons delivered to a community from different backgrounds differed significantly from those I heard in Palestine. For starters, the sermon was primarily in English with scripture read in Arabic throughout. The subjects discussed rarely included politics or connection with ongoing events in Muslim majority countries. In fact, in the US, it seems that the focus of many sermons was, well, the faith itself, and understandably so. I looked at this with both an eye of appreciation and an eye of disappointment. The appreciation came from the ability of the sermon to separate between religion and politics, while my disappointment was rooted in the lack of passion and charisma shown by the presenter. In fact, sometimes the sermon giver (Khateeb) would just read what seemed like bullet points off a paper he had prepared earlier, with little effort spent to encourage the audience to listen. Sometimes the Khateeb would focus on issues from Islamic history with little to no relevancy to modern times pushing people far away into a…deep deep sleep, literarily. So needless to say, the Friday Prayer experience in the US had its own set of challenges. But no challenge stood larger than Friday Sermons given in Arabic to an American audience, amongst which Arabic is not a majority spoken language.

Personally, I have no problem with Arabic Sermons. I understand them perfectly. I’ve heard my share in Palestine and I have developed my own criteria of judging them. My problem had become with the ideology in which Arabic Sermons were suitable to an American audience. I started thinking about Muslims around me who had take time off work, which is difficult to do sometimes at noon on Fridays, who have come to the sermon to hear a good word, have an experience that would lift the spirit and go back to their lives rejuvenated only to immediately feel alienated by an Arabic-speaking Khateeb, who sometimes spoke with high volume voice that may turn many people off in a culture in which that style of presenting is not practiced regularly. As I went back and forth between Palestine and the US, I developed certain expectations when going to Friday Prayer. I don’t mean to say that I expected the content to always agree with my outlook on life, but rather, I began to expect certain etiquette of presentation. This etiquette became a key criterion in judging the success or failure of a Friday Sermon to live up to its purpose.

One may ask, what’s the big deal? If the audience is turned off by an Arabic sermon, couldn’t they just stay at home that week and avoid the scene? This is most definitely a possible scenario and in many cases, this indeed does happen. However, Friday Prayer is considered a personal obligation on Muslim men to attend, and talking during the speech is traditionally forbidden. So while the worshipper may not agree with what he/she sees and hears, there is little one can do during the actual sermon. It then becomes the duty of the administration and the ones who organize the speakers (influenced by the community) to plan accordingly to create high quality sermons that reach out to as many people as possible, without abandoning the original traditional minimum requirements of the sermon as demonstrated by the Prophet.

However, in young Muslim communities in the United States, as practicing Muslims begin a process of forming an American Muslim culture, there exists within these communities many different conflicting ideologies on how to approach the issue of Islam in America. While some argue stagnant tradition with the goal of keep the faith free of corruption in a “foreign land,” others have developed a more “local” approach in which the best of “both worlds” may be sorted out and applied. Nonetheless, in regards to the Friday Sermon, due to its restricted Prophetic traditions, often times, it becomes an arena for these debates to emerge.

First, there are those who advocate giving the sermon strictly in Arabic, regardless of who is in the audience according to the prophetic tradition. Others may argue that the sermon must be in English only (still reading scripture in Arabic), and then there are those who have “compromised” by allowing Arabic-speaking Khateeb to deliver the Khotba, if there is an immediate translator during the course of the prayer. Today, this matter continues to bring up much disagreement within the community, however, the continuation of Friday Khotbas to be given in Arabic, with or without an immediate translator has had a very negative effects on the image of the mosque to worshippers, caused much dissatisfaction with the experience of the mosque and overall and has allowed for a small minority opinion to go unchallenged, catering more to immigrants who come from Muslim-majority countries and less so to an emerging, permanent, “home grown,” American Muslim population. This has created an alienating, unpleasant experience for the majority of worshippers in American mosques at a time when Islamic centers should be doing more to embrace Muslims in America.

It is not just etiquette, language and content that I feel are important criteria in determining the value of sermons on Friday, but also the methods in which the sermon givers (Khateebs) are chosen to deliver their sermons. Unfortunately, it seems that this important seat sometimes has the least number of qualifications. With subjective decision making dictated by the “elders” of the community, often times speakers who visit the community are “tested” by allowing them to climb the steps of the minbar (pulpit for the sermon) and give a sermon with little to no background check to who they are or what they will deliver a sermon about. Needless to say, this has caused many people to either deliver low quality sermons in all the criteria I’ve already mentioned or to spew extremist propaganda to a group of people who are well equipped to recognize it, but with no power to speak out against it, immediately, due to the traditional restrictions I had mentioned. Often times, scholars who have originated from Arabic speaking countries are given the stand, even though they lack the proper language and culture to portray that scholarship to an audience longing for it. Instead, the moderate majority in the audience are overpowered by a minority who want things to happen like it does “back home,” allowing for such personalities to remain on the minbar unchallenged.

The bottom line from a personal perspective is that our time is valuable. Our intellect is valuable. Our minds are valuable. Most important of all, our faith and religion is valuable, and I think it’s a shame to surrender all these valuable things to a group of literalists that care more about traditional constructs than the essence and value of Friday Prayer in the name of doing things the way they are done “back home.” While Prophetic traditions have given us a framework to operate within in regards to Friday Prayer, this framework still allows for much flexibility and ease in keeping Friday sermons relevant. The administration of mosques specifically and the Muslim community generally must put tackling this issue top priority in the many challenges that face the Muslim community today in the midst of a very aggressive body of think tanks and propaganda working against the name of Islam every day. Without the proper tools and experiences to counter such waves of negativity from the place people look up to most for guidance, many members of the Muslim community may stray away from the faith onto destructive paths, such as apathy or other forms of extremism. Every land has its own standards and culture and this important aspect of people must not be disregarded in planning events that affect those people directly. This is the Prophetic way and we must not get caught up in the details that return no benefit to community.