Should Arabic be replaced with Urdu for Mosque sermons in Pakistan ??

[Jango]

arabic is a very vast language and you cannot really pump it into somebodys mind...i think the bigger problem is with the maulvees rather than the khutba itself....now adays 80% of the maulvees are teaching absollute nonsense like "gali kay par shia ya wahabi ki masjid main kabhi namaz nhin parhni"!!.....and here in oman the khutba is on a writen paper which is distributed by the ministry of religion or the concerned ministry of the local district.......a hadeh is that a khutba is 2 rakah....and 2 farz of namaz....that makes 4 rakah which are equal to normal time zuhar prayer....so if khutba is in arabic then nobody understands and hence if you are saying that not understanding what you are saying in namaz is bad thing then arabic in khutba is not understood and it is also a bad thing.!!!....I HOPE YOU GET MY POINT.

 

[nana41]

Hi All.

99% our society doesn't understand Arabic , they can just read and write but don't understand the language itself , which means that Masjid which has served as not only a place of worship but a place of Islamic social justice (Islamic socialism) , a school , a marriage hall , conflict solving authority , even a command and control HQ for centuries is now fading.

Put it this way , almost all of us do not understand what Imam is saying in the sermon , we just put our head down and keep listening to Arabic which makes no sense or "a practical difference".

A Masjid is supposed to be a place of problem solving not just a place of worship , imams give their sermons in arabic which creates a language barrier and the "khutba" which really is the "heart of the prayer" remains a no brainer just because of the lingual barrier.

Replacing Arabic with Urdu will just do what its meant to , which is creating understanding among the people about social issues , national issues. It will spark a discussion , followed by questions and answers resulting in widespread education and understanding on outstanding national and social issues and given the fact that half of our population is illiterate its even more important for a Masjid to clarify its message in most simplest of terms that everyone could understand those issues.

An environment where imams can clarify Social evils ie theft , Sood , Riba , drugs , murder , divorce , rape , discrimination against women , discrimination against other religions and sects , unfair trade , corruption , tax evasion etc in the common language will educate people specially those who are illiterate and eventually will result in a common understanding of these crimes followed by reduction in such occurrences.

We have seen in Egypt and Tunisia , now in Yemen how Masjid can mobilize public show of force , how it can serve as a binding force , a hospital even a shelter for a night.

Masses got out of the Masajid from Friday prayers and changed the face of their country - Its raw power and it comes from understanding mainly driven by Imams.

In Pakistan we don't enjoy that luxury , our immas walk in and start giving "khutba" in Arabic , which sometimes include our vital national issues , we shake our heads and forget about it just because we can't understand the language and the practice is widespread in hundreds and thousands of Masajid around Pakistan so the effect on our society is visible to a critical eye.

My personal opinion is that Urdu should be the official language for sermons during Jumma and other prayers and it should be upheld by the law.

Please share your opinion -- lets have a serious debate

Regards:

Aeronaut.

Could you please point out a single Masjid in Lahore where a sermon/Khutba is given in Arabic?.It can be given in any language on earth as long as majority of the attendee understand that language.The Mode of Namaz and all that is recited in it cannot be changed and has to be in Arabic,otherwise every country will be reciting it's own translation and mode and still call it Namaz,just like Christians who read translations,but call it
Bible.If you do not know what are the meanings of what you are reciting in Namaz,it's your fault.Majority of the people at least know the translation if not Tafseer or Mafhoom.

 

[Multani]

Hi All.

99% our society doesn't understand Arabic , they can just read and write but don't understand the language itself , which means that Masjid which has served as not only a place of worship but a place of Islamic social justice (Islamic socialism) , a school , a marriage hall , conflict solving authority , even a command and control HQ for centuries is now fading.

Put it this way , almost all of us do not understand what Imam is saying in the sermon , we just put our head down and keep listening to Arabic which makes no sense or "a practical difference".

A Masjid is supposed to be a place of problem solving not just a place of worship , imams give their sermons in arabic which creates a language barrier and the "khutba" which really is the "heart of the prayer" remains a no brainer just because of the lingual barrier.

Replacing Arabic with Urdu will just do what its meant to , which is creating understanding among the people about social issues , national issues. It will spark a discussion , followed by questions and answers resulting in widespread education and understanding on outstanding national and social issues and given the fact that half of our population is illiterate its even more important for a Masjid to clarify its message in most simplest of terms that everyone could understand those issues.

An environment where imams can clarify Social evils ie theft , Sood , Riba , drugs , murder , divorce , rape , discrimination against women , discrimination against other religions and sects , unfair trade , corruption , tax evasion etc in the common language will educate people specially those who are illiterate and eventually will result in a common understanding of these crimes followed by reduction in such occurrences.

We have seen in Egypt and Tunisia , now in Yemen how Masjid can mobilize public show of force , how it can serve as a binding force , a hospital even a shelter for a night.

Masses got out of the Masajid from Friday prayers and changed the face of their country - Its raw power and it comes from understanding mainly driven by Imams.

In Pakistan we don't enjoy that luxury , our immas walk in and start giving "khutba" in Arabic , which sometimes include our vital national issues , we shake our heads and forget about it just because we can't understand the language and the practice is widespread in hundreds and thousands of Masajid around Pakistan so the effect on our society is visible to a critical eye.

My personal opinion is that Urdu should be the official language for sermons during Jumma and other prayers and it should be upheld by the law.

Please share your opinion -- lets have a serious debate

Regards:

Aeronaut.

Arabic is not the language of Pakistani Muslims in general. So, it makes no sense to preach to the people in that language.

Local languages should be used for Sermons.

However, since the vast majority of Pakistani Muslims are Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi School, it is wajib that there be an Arabic section in the Khutba,

So, after the Urdu or local language bayan, the khutba is always done in Arabic on Fridays by Hanafi Sunnis of Pakistan.

In Indonesia its a wide spread practice , they give sermon both in Arabic and Indonesian.

Indonesia is deeply linked to HaDramaut, Yemen. Indonesian Sunni Shafii Imams are trained there. Indonesian bahasa is more prone to Arabic bilingualism than Urdu, even though Urdu probably has more Arabic words.

Indonesia has a 1 million strong Sayyid population with significant numbers of bilinguals.

Its Indonesian culture. Besides, in the Shafií madhab, a Friday sermon is incomplete without the Arabic Khutba, just like in the Hanafi madhab, but the Shafi'is are more strict about this in their jurisprudence.

 

[nana41]

Hi All.

99% our society doesn't understand Arabic , they can just read and write but don't understand the language itself , which means that Masjid which has served as not only a place of worship but a place of Islamic social justice (Islamic socialism) , a school , a marriage hall , conflict solving authority , even a command and control HQ for centuries is now fading.

Put it this way , almost all of us do not understand what Imam is saying in the sermon , we just put our head down and keep listening to Arabic which makes no sense or "a practical difference".

A Masjid is supposed to be a place of problem solving not just a place of worship , imams give their sermons in arabic which creates a language barrier and the "khutba" which really is the "heart of the prayer" remains a no brainer just because of the lingual barrier.

Replacing Arabic with Urdu will just do what its meant to , which is creating understanding among the people about social issues , national issues. It will spark a discussion , followed by questions and answers resulting in widespread education and understanding on outstanding national and social issues and given the fact that half of our population is illiterate its even more important for a Masjid to clarify its message in most simplest of terms that everyone could understand those issues.

An environment where imams can clarify Social evils ie theft , Sood , Riba , drugs , murder , divorce , rape , discrimination against women , discrimination against other religions and sects , unfair trade , corruption , tax evasion etc in the common language will educate people specially those who are illiterate and eventually will result in a common understanding of these crimes followed by reduction in such occurrences.

We have seen in Egypt and Tunisia , now in Yemen how Masjid can mobilize public show of force , how it can serve as a binding force , a hospital even a shelter for a night.

Masses got out of the Masajid from Friday prayers and changed the face of their country - Its raw power and it comes from understanding mainly driven by Imams.

In Pakistan we don't enjoy that luxury , our immas walk in and start giving "khutba" in Arabic , which sometimes include our vital national issues , we shake our heads and forget about it just because we can't understand the language and the practice is widespread in hundreds and thousands of Masajid around Pakistan so the effect on our society is visible to a critical eye.

My personal opinion is that Urdu should be the official language for sermons during Jumma and other prayers and it should be upheld by the law.

Please share your opinion -- lets have a serious debate

Regards:

Aeronaut.

On the face of it,looks like a trick question.

 

[Multani]

On the face of it,looks like a trick question.

yes it does look like a trick question lol

 

[SBD-3]

No, sermons should be conducted in language the worshipers understand in Pakistan, in this case Urdu. Maybe they Imam can recite the Khutbah in Arabic then in Urdu for understanding purposes. Just like in a classroom teacher must address the class in the official language(s).

Bhai sahib agar apko jumma aur eid parhnay ka itifaq hua ho to there are two sermons in Juma, one is in urdu-before azan e jumma- the second one is in Arabic which is before jamat.Likewise the sermon before eid's jamat is also in urdu while the sermon after eid is in arabic....Other than that 99.99% of the sermons are in Urdu or local language.

 

[Multani]

Hi All.

99% our society doesn't understand Arabic , they can just read and write but don't understand the language itself , which means that Masjid which has served as not only a place of worship but a place of Islamic social justice (Islamic socialism) , a school , a marriage hall , conflict solving authority , even a command and control HQ for centuries is now fading.

Put it this way , almost all of us do not understand what Imam is saying in the sermon , we just put our head down and keep listening to Arabic which makes no sense or "a practical difference".

A Masjid is supposed to be a place of problem solving not just a place of worship , imams give their sermons in arabic which creates a language barrier and the "khutba" which really is the "heart of the prayer" remains a no brainer just because of the lingual barrier.

Replacing Arabic with Urdu will just do what its meant to , which is creating understanding among the people about social issues , national issues. It will spark a discussion , followed by questions and answers resulting in widespread education and understanding on outstanding national and social issues and given the fact that half of our population is illiterate its even more important for a Masjid to clarify its message in most simplest of terms that everyone could understand those issues.

An environment where imams can clarify Social evils ie theft , Sood , Riba , drugs , murder , divorce , rape , discrimination against women , discrimination against other religions and sects , unfair trade , corruption , tax evasion etc in the common language will educate people specially those who are illiterate and eventually will result in a common understanding of these crimes followed by reduction in such occurrences.

We have seen in Egypt and Tunisia , now in Yemen how Masjid can mobilize public show of force , how it can serve as a binding force , a hospital even a shelter for a night.

Masses got out of the Masajid from Friday prayers and changed the face of their country - Its raw power and it comes from understanding mainly driven by Imams.

In Pakistan we don't enjoy that luxury , our immas walk in and start giving "khutba" in Arabic , which sometimes include our vital national issues , we shake our heads and forget about it just because we can't understand the language and the practice is widespread in hundreds and thousands of Masajid around Pakistan so the effect on our society is visible to a critical eye.

My personal opinion is that Urdu should be the official language for sermons during Jumma and other prayers and it should be upheld by the law.

Please share your opinion -- lets have a serious debate

Regards:

Aeronaut.

btw, the imam in the picture above is Shakh Hisham Kabbani, a Lebanese Sunni Shafii Naqshbandi Sufi, settled in the US

His own Shaykh, Nazim Haqqani passed away recently in Cyprus

 

[Hyperion]

It should be replaced with Latin, for all what I care. As long as any measure that reduces fundos in society, I'm all for it. That includes lynching Zarvi types!

 

[Shahmir]

We have no interest in "urdu", in our area mosques have punjabi sermons/speech on Friday which we enjoy a lot.

 

[Jungibaaz]

The point of a sermon is to get through to people. We must, must keep it in Urdu.

As if Pakistanis weren't already enough detached from understanding what they claim to believe and preach.

 

[nana41]

It should be replaced with Latin, for all what I care. As long as any measure that reduces fundos in society, I'm all for it. That includes lynching Zarvi types!

What if ZARVI "type" start recommending the same Generic type of medicine for your Fascistic ills?.

 

[Multani]

What if ZARVI "type" start recommending the same Generic type of medicine for your Fascistic ills?.

@Hyperion is more complex than @Zarvan

zarvan is straightforward and says plainly what he feels in his heart.

 

[Menace2Society]

Can't we convert these sermons into Pakistani history lessons?

We have over indulged in religion and it has destroyed the balance in our society.

 

[Dubious]

I dont believe the sermons should be in Arabic....It is true it is "encouraged" to learn Arabic so you can grasp the concept better but it has never been forced...By making sermons in Arabic you are forcing people to read it...While others will ignore it as they ignore any good advises!

However a better Idea might be giving short sermons in Arabic and then say it in Urdu or the local language this way you have both...However I emphasized on short sermons coz a long one is given and then its translation, it might just take too much time and the already few who go to masjid and dont get an ounce of word of understanding (they hear yet they may not listen) might stop going to the the Masjid altogether hence even "the hearing" some good words would stop!

Can't we convert these sermons into Pakistani history lessons?

We have over indulged in religion and it has destroyed the balance in our society.

Really? That is interesting...Over indulge would be having a proper shariah court, having a balanced society not having classes...no discrimination (this would be indulging the religion not even going over yet)....When did we do this? 630 AD maybe


BTW, kind words this is not a thread for you as it is for mosque sermons in Pakistan...

Maybe in your temple in India you can have History lessons instead of Pooja...but good advice...dont forget to mention it to the local pundit in your town to give history lessons only in mandirs..

 

[Menace2Society]

Really? That is interesting...Over indulge would be having a proper shariah court, having a balanced society not having classes...no discrimination (this would be indulging the religion not even going over yet)....When did we do this? 630 AD maybe


BTW, kind words this is not a thread for you as it is for mosque sermons in Pakistan...

Maybe in your temple in India you can have History lessons instead of Pooja...but good advice...dont forget to mention it to the local pundit in your town to give history lessons only in mandirs..

I am not Indian.

Pakistan up until the end of the 70s was a much more balanced society. Religion has its place. But right now everyone and anyone is using religion to justify their criminal activities.

In Mosques we need lessons on morality, ethics and Pakistani history intertwined with examples from Islam in URDU so people can actually understand.

We have been culturally invaded by Taliban and their pathetic viewpoint on the world and what religion should be. It is an infection which must be treated before we become culturally bankrupt.

Take Zarvan as an example. Such a good person at heart and a patriot, but my God is he lost.