Fictional sermon
Chaper 6 of "Lethal Mix" includes part of a sermon given by the imam of the mosque that the victims in my story attend. I've drawn extensively on one from the Wirral Deen Centre, which I watched in Facebook. It has a story from the hadith that seemed to me to be the sort of thing that an imam might choose to talk about at a time like that.
I'm still working on it, but here's part of my draft. I hope I've captured the ethos of a Friday Khutbah and the sense of otherness experienced by the two police officers who are in a mosque for the first time.
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‘And the Prophet (Salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) came upon Fudhala yet again. And still he was muttering and mumbling to himself his plans for attacking him and killing him. The Prophet (Salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) could see into his heart and knew what it was that he was planning, but again, he did not challenge him. He did not express anger towards him. Instead, he smiled at him and asked him again, ‘what are you conversing to yourself about, Fudhala?’
‘Not surprisingly, Fudhala was a bit annoyed at being asked this for the third time, but he didn’t want to give away his intentions, so he replied, “Nothing, nothing. I was just making my dua. I am remembering Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala).”
‘Then the Prophet (Salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) smiled again and he said, “I seek forgiveness from Allah for you.” And he put out his hand and held it there on Fudhala’s chest and made dua for him.
‘And from that moment Fudhala’s heart was changed. Up until then he had hated the Prophet (Salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) and he had wanted to kill him; but after that moment, his heart was changed and he loved the Prophet (Salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam). He said to people, “there is no name on earth that is more beloved to me on the Earth than Mohammed (Salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam).”
‘Now Mohammed (Salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) could have arranged for Fudhala to be captured or killed. He could have punished him for scheming to assassinate him. But he chose to be merciful. He chose to show him love. And that, my dear brothers and sisters, is how we are called to act towards people who try to harm us.’
Imran looked round at the rows of faces looking up at him from the brightly coloured mats on the floor of the prayer room. Then he raised his eyes to take in the two police officers sitting in silence on chairs at the back of the women’s area. Sandra stared back, trying to look attentive and wondering how much longer the sermon was going to last.
‘Two days ago, as I’m sure you all know by now,’ Imran resumed, ‘three of our sisters were attacked in the street. Someone came up on a motorbike and sprayed them with acid. Two of them are still being treated in the burns unit at Whiston hospital.’
He paused and looked slowly round the room again.
‘Not surprisingly, I’ve heard some of you expressing anger about this. That’s understandable. I feel angry too. I would like that man to pay for what he has done to our beloved sisters. But I would urge you all, brothers and sisters, to follow the example of the Prophet (Salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam) and put aside your anger. Do not talk of revenge. That is not our religion. That is not our deen. Our deen is to submit to the will of Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala), and we will all be answerable to him for our actions. We will all be answerable – you, me, and the man who attacked our sisters; we will all be answerable to Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala).’
He paused for several seconds allowing this declaration to sink in.
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[I'm planning to include a glossary of Arabic phrases to help non-Muslim readers. I've chosen to have the imam use them, rather than their English equivalents, in order to give them a sense of the unfamiliarity felt by Sandra and her colleague.]
You can watch the sermon video here:https://www.facebook.com/WirralDeenCentre/videos/509009619579269/