Friday Khutbah

This khutbah (sermon) was delivered by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf of the Zaytuna Institute in San Francisco on Friday 20th February as part of the nationwide effort to raise awareness about domestic violence within muslim communities.

As I was browsing around to see how Imam’s addressed the issue in different mosques around the U.S, I found Sheikh Hamza Yousef’s treatment of the matter in his sermon very enlightening, especially for those Muslims and non-Muslims who bring up the Quran in 4:34.

This verse is frequently interpreted as giving women complete control over their own income and property, while obliging men to be responsible for maintaining their female relatives.[1]

A small minority of Muslims interprets the verse as meaning men have an everlasting superiority over women, and thus the authority to beat women with few regulations. This interpretation, however, is neither mainstream nor supported by any prominent Muslim religious leader.[2]

Shaykh Hamza Yusuf basically dispels the myth in a pretty clear manner and addresses the larger moral Islamic issues on this problem.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDEKJDgXO-U[/youtube]

Related: khutbah on domestic violence by Hesham Hassaballah in Chicago the same day (also as part of the nationwide program in US mosques).

References:
[1] Iman Hashim, Reconciling Islam and feminism, Gender & Development, 1999, vol. 7, issue 1, p 7, ISSN 13552074

[2] Ammar, Nawal H. (May 2007). “Wife Battery in Islam: A Comprehensive Understanding of Interpretations”. Violence Against Women 13 (5): 519-523.