Mr Mirza Yawar Baig

Field Book for the Khateeb Mr Mirza Yawar Baig

Publisher Marketing: Never was it given into the hands of so few to benefit so many as was done when the Juma Salah was gifted to this Ummah. The gift of the Giver of Greatest Generosity to those who stood forth to shoulder the responsibility of enjoining good and forbidding evil. Fourteen centuries later this miracle of connectedness between the Creator and His creatures continues to defy the imagination that people living in a highly materialistic world, characterised by frenetic activity and self-created stress, find the time to stop in the middle of the working day to turn towards their Creator, Allah(SWT). It is such a gathering of people who stopped whatever they were doing to listen to the Word of Allah(SWT) that the Imam/Khateeb addresses. The dream of the salesman is to gain the attention of his audience. What of a salesman whose audience leaves all that they do and come to him voluntarily, only to listen to his pitch? And they do that not because they love him but because they love his and their Creator. Masaajid all over the world come alive on Juma. That is not the ideal situation by any means because a masjid must be alive all the time 24x7 and especially five times a day for the Fardh Salawaat. However we must certainly rejoice that even if it is on Juma alone, we thank Allah(SWT) that He causes people to come to the masjid. I want to begin with this preamble because I want to impress upon you, my young Imam/Khateeb brother, the tremendous potential and good luck that you are presented with every Juma. It is a tragedy that it can perhaps safely be said that for the most part, this is squandered and frittered away without taking advantage of it. You have the attention of all those people, but what do the people get as a result of paying attention to you? What do they learn? What can they use? What is the benefit for them apart from the thawaab? What did they gain after leaving their worldly affairs? What are they taking back with them after listening to you? How has their life changed? What will they do differently after listening to you? These and such questions are the ones that we - the Imams/Khateebs need to be able to answer. Allah(SWT) gave us a great Neyma. I dread the Day when He will ask me what I did with it. How I used it? Or how I wasted it? That is the reason I decided to write this Fieldbook as a sequel to my other book - Understanding Islam, 52 Juma Khutbas. This book has another 52 - my gift to you. But it also focuses on how - not only on what.