Friday Sermons in Mosques

Friday is a very important day in the calendar of all Muslims: the day when all males gather in mosques for the Jummah prayer. It is said that for all those who cannot afford to perform the Haj ritual, the Friday prayers to a great extent compensates their spiritual obligations. Further it is also an occasion for a friendly interaction among the residents of the locality and very often the only place where everyone meets on an equal footing irrespective of their positions in society. It has been the practice in Sri Lanka that the sermons delivered before the Friday prayers are by ulemas or 'khatibs' in the language most are supposed to understand - Tamil. These sermons touch topics of the day and other subjects of importance to Muslims. Over the years, owing to changes in the structure of education, Muslims had the unique option of being educated in Tamil, Sinhalese and also in English in the recently established International schools not forgetting the 'old guard' who enjoyed the best English education in the denominational schools. Moreover, the language of communication in most Muslim homes, especially in the urban areas gradually switched to English or Sinhala; not for any prestigious reasons but because of the realisation that Sinhala and English were needed to keep up with the trends in society and the demands in the employment market. Children receiving their education in Sinhala or English also preferred to communicate in these languages at home and also with their friends and Tamil became a foreign language to them. But in their own colloquial Tamil they managed to communicate with the family circle especially with their parents, grandparents and neighbours. This sparse knowledge of Tamil however is quite insufficient for them to understand a sermon or lecture in Tamil. Therefore, a large percentage of the present generation of youngsters, especially from the urban areas are passive listeners during sermons and go to the mosques on Fridays only to observe the prayers and do not understand the text of the sermon. We have to take a leaf out of the Catholics and Christians who have adapted their preachings to be conducted in the language spoken or understood by the majority in the locality. It is high time we Muslims take note of this shortcoming and introduce at least a summary of the sermon in Sinhala and/or English, to start with, at least in the urban areas. This language barrier is also very visible when groups of people are gathered to go round spreading the message of Islam (tableeg) in Sri Lanka where the Sinhala and English educated are mere passengers and who join the group for the sake of joining and are unable to pass on their knowledge to others. It is now universally recognised that Islam is one of the fastest spreading religions in the world and all those in authority in mosques in Sri Lanka will be failing in their duty by the present and generations to come, if they do not take cognizance of these developments and cater to the congregations as per their linguistic background.

MIRZA -Nawalapitiya