A Distinctive Voice

I was quite close to the back of the masjid yesterday for Friday Prayers, intending to make an early exit as I needed to get back to work as soon as possible. This meant I was unable to see the Imam from where I was. After the adhan, when he began to speak, I was initially taken aback at the loud forcefulness of his voice, heavily amplified as it was. For a moment I found myself wondering why very occasionally one encountered Imams who sounded quite angry at the world, as if it had let them down somehow.

However, after a further three sentences I realised I recognised the voice, its very distinctive rhythms matching those of Ustad Haron, a man incapable of any degree of lasting anger at anybody. I understood that far from expressing anger the tone of voice conveyed a kind of determined exuberance regarding the message he was about to deliver. I found myself comfortably delighted at being able to listen to his lived wisdom once again.

Of course, most of the words of the khutbah were not his own, but he managed to put his own spin on the sermon which was being heard nationwide such that it felt authentically his somehow. It concerned excellence, and the need for Muslims to pursue this individually - but this was linked throughout to an even more powerful imperative: the need to pursue such excellence for the sake of developing an excellent community.

A simple enough idea, but so powerful in the light of the sincerity of the speaker and in its sane nobility.