14:32 So for us it's not the…16:33 Teaching the community…18:45 This doesn't mean that…
Seeking knowledgeFrom the masjid's own video, Sep 3, 2025.

Why Muslims need qualified scholars

ICCP

“To be where Allah has placed you is important.”

The khateeb, at 16:33

Watch the khutbahFamily kit
In one sentence

Preserving the deen requires safeguarding the Qur'an and Sunnah and the scholars who transmit them, while holding urgent justice concerns together with worship, learning, family duties, and respectful counsel.

The khutbah in 6 steps

  1. Opens with standard khutbah praise, exhortations to taqwa, and reminders of obedience.
  2. Explains two ways Islam is weakened: attacking the Qur'an and Sunnah, or attacking scholars and their institutions.
  3. Uses Islamic history, Orientalism, and evangelism to illustrate attacks on Islam's sources.
  4. Refutes anti-ulama thinking by balancing Gaza, Sudan, AI, worship, scholarship, and daily obligations.
  5. Calls for respectful naseeha rather than blanket condemnation, rebellion, or extremist all-or-nothing thinking.
  6. Closes by emphasizing transmission of faith to children, making communal duas, and praying congregationally.
Try this week
Continue learning the Qur'an and Sunnah through qualified scholars and established institutions.
Give scholars respectful, direct naseeha when you disagree or do not understand.
Fulfill your duties where Allah has placed you, including teaching children to pray, fast, be honorable, and avoid lying.
Pray for suffering people, especially in Gaza and the West Bank, and speak out against genocide and policies complicit in it.
Quotes

In the khateeb's words

“So for us it's not the big thing and not the small thing because the small thing is the deen. This is the inheritance of the Prophet .”
ICCP · Potomac, MD
Play from 14:32
“Teaching the community is important. Caring on our duties is important. To be where Allah has placed you is important. To pray for your brothers and sisters is important.”
ICCP · Potomac, MD
Play from 16:33
“This doesn't mean that the ulama have Ismah. We're not like the Shia where we say that there is infallibility. No, they make mistakes.”
ICCP · Potomac, MD
Play from 18:45
Talk about it at home

For the dinner table

The khateeb reminded us that preserving our deen includes valuing the scholars and teachers who help us understand the Quran and Sunnah. He warned that dismissing scholars and their institutions can weaken the trust through which religious knowledge is passed on. He also said scholars make mistakes and encouraged sincere advice when we have concerns. Caring about people suffering in Gaza and elsewhere belongs alongside prayer, learning, and our other responsibilities. We can put this message into practice by learning together, asking respectful questions, teaching our children good character, and praying for those in need.

  1. What is something a teacher helped you understand about Islam that you would like to share?
  2. How would you ask a respectful question if you disagreed with something a teacher said?
  3. What could we do this week to grow in our faith and help someone who is suffering?
Where it was given

The masjid

Islamic Community Center of Potomac10601 River Rd, Potomac, MD 20854Jumu'ah Adhan 1:15 PMArchiveAll khutbahs at ICCP96 khutbahs
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