The Story of Prophet Yunus and Why Despair is Not an Option, Usuli Institute Khutbah, 10 July 2020

Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl delivers the Friday #VirtualKhutbah and Jumu'a prayer at The Usuli Institute. He recounts that in the Quran, when God speaks to the Prophet Muhammad, the first prophet God ever mentions to the Prophet Muhammad is the Prophet Yunus. Dr. Abou El Fadl recounts a detailed version of the story of Prophet Yunus, of which most modern Muslims are unaware, and explains why this is a moral lesson against despair. Dr. Abou El Fadl recounts two additional forgotten stories from the Sirah of the Prophet Muhammad as powerful reminders of justice, mercy and the divine presence of God. For more, visit www.usuli.org.

[@timurmamedov2398]

This was a fitting final chapter of The Prophet's Pulpit Volume 2, where this khutbah was placed.

[@stephenconnolly1830]

"The unexamined life is not worth living" - Socrates describing one of the main contingencies of the human condition and reality in conformity with the central message of the Qur'an as alluded to at the beginning of the Khutbah. Other themes: Massacre of Bosnians being the prelude to the modern Islamophobia movement. The phenomenon of racist Muslims who are bigoted against their own kind due to their ignorance concerning Muslim history. Despair and depression being close to Kufr. Yunus being the first prophet mentioned during the revelation of the Qur'an to prepare Prophet Muhammad for the struggle ahead of him in Arabia. The message propagated by Yunus (Jonah) being resisted by his people leading to him leaving the city of Nineveh in the expectation it would be destroyed in 3 days. He departs by boat, but a storm leads the pagans on board to sacrifice him to their Gods by throwing him overboard. Yunus's ingestion by a whale leads to him recognising the same evils manifested in both the people of Nineveh and the people on his boat. Yunus's sin being despair - he had no right to give up on his people (who actually repented and were forgiven by Allah) - this being relevant to the Prophet Muhammad not to repeat the mistake of Yunus (in particular, being reminded at the time of his approach to the people of the city of Taif in Arabia who rejected him) and despair not being an option. 42:00 the second sermon commences. Most people slip into immoral/sinful situations because they simply give up under the steady influence of Shaitan (Satan). They slip slowly until they give up due to feelings of hypocrisy. Uncaring Muslims are allies to the Islamophobic industry because there is no resistance to the unjust, immoral movement. The stories of the Prophets in the Qur'an etc are there to teach humans lessons relevant to their experience in the time they live. 49:07 discussion of the story of the Sahabi al-Tufail bin Amr al-Dawsi الطُفيل بن عمرو الدوس www.islamicweb.com/history/sahaba/bio.AT_TUFAYL_IBN_AMR_AD_DAWSI.htm

[@muhammedkeyofihsan1040]

MachaAllah beautiful khutbah very powerful ! Thanks ! Allah i Barak fik wa Hfdak Dr Abou al Fadl !

[@stephenconnolly1830]

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