Back View

Al hamdulillaah the Jumu’ah far exceeded our wildest expectations. Depending solely (after Allah) on only word-of-mouth announcements, a few emails, a post on Qatar living, more than 900 people attended and the mosque was filled almost to capacity – Allahu Akbar. It looks as though we will have to make arrangement for rugs outside the mosque for next Jumu’ah in order to accommodate the next wave, once the word spreads!!

The khutbah topic was on Jumu’ah itself and I hope to have it up here soon. In the first half, I spoke about Allah’s choice of Friday for Muslims, after ordaining Saturday for the Jews and permitting by Qadar Sunday to be chosen by the Christians.  Then I discussed the status of Friday as the Eed of the week, and why fasting on Friday was prohibited. Also I focused on the relationship between Jumu’ah and daily prayers and the benefits of purification from sin attributed to both Jumu’ah and daily prayers.

From the Last Row

In the second half I spoke about the etiquettes of Jumu’ah. Why we are doing it in English and why it is not considered Bid’ah to do so. I clarified that there was no “sunnah” prayers between the two athaans and the rules concerning talking and playing during the khutbah. The issue of bringing children to the mosque was also elaborated on and the responsibility of parents in keeping a close watch on their children was stressed. I also touched on the importance of the 2 rak’aat prior to sitting in the mosque, the importance of the first lines and sitting attentively, as well as preparations for Jumu’ah and Soorah al-Kahf.

Front View

Beside the Khalifa Stadium and next to Villagio

Al hamdulillaah, the Qatar Awqaf’s approval for a second mosque in Doha in which the Friday khutbah will be given in English was finalized yesterday, and today the official formalities were completed with me as the designated Khateeb.

Some pictures of the mosque will be added later and the khutbah will be recorded – in shaa Allaah. Perhaps we will also try to arrange live streaming of the khutbah, as someone suggested recently.

Anyway, Allahu Akbar! We have been trying unsuccessfully to get this beautifully designed mosque for this purpose for the past 2-3 years. With every difficulty comes ease. It is in a truly beautiful location – very family oriented, with perhaps the largest public family park in Qatar nearby as well as two major shopping centers, Villagio and Giant Stores.