Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl tells another fascinating story of the time of the Prophet Muhammad, which demonstrates the strength and social justice orientation of the early Muslims despite horrific persecution. It is a yardstick by which to measure our own spirit and personality. He answers the question of why Islam was revealed to the Arabs as opposed to another group of people.

Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl begins his original Quranic commentary on Surah 89 Al Fajr, completing the first three verses. In the introduction, Grace Song discusses strategies for standing out online in our new world of communications and talks about her project of 30 Nights in The Search for Beauty during the month of Ramadan. There was no Q&A session for this meeting.

Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl tells a powerful story from the life of the Prophet Muhammad and the role of Bilal, a well known early Muslim to teach a lesson of ethics, the purpose of Ramadan and what the expression "casting ourselves unto ruin" actually means. Detailed summary description forthcoming.

On the first day of fasting for the month of Ramadan 2020, Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl elucidates on the inherent power of the month that comes from an understanding of the deeper meaning of fasting combined with the guidance of the Quran and knowledge of The Criterion (al Furqan) of discernment. Detailed summary description forthcoming.

With Mecca and Medina and the holy sites of Islam empty for the first time in centuries, what remains for Muslims and their prospects for the coming month of Ramadan? Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl centers on the notions of 'adl (justice) and ihsan (goodness/beauty) as the defining characteristics of Muslims from the time of the Prophet before there were books of law or collections of hadith and traditions of the Prophet. He presents an early story of the Prophet Muhammad as a powerful example of living by 'adl and justice that hold countless lessons and wisdom for Muslims today. www.usuli.org.

Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl speaks out against the brutal killing of Abd al-Rahim al-Huwayti in Saudi Arabia, who was murdered yesterday by the Saudi security forces for resisting the forceable seizure of his native home for the NEOM project, part of "The Deal of the Century" in the Middle East. Al-Huwayti, part of the major Huwaytat Tribe of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, chronicled the takeover of his native city of Khuraybat in the Province of Tabuk, and posted numerous YouTube videos to draw world attention to the injustices taking place from the highest levels of power. This killing was as egregious as that of Jamal Khashoggi.

Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl elaborates on the khutbah he delivered during Friday prayers earlier the same day, entitled "Addressing the Generational Divide Among Younger and Older Muslims," 10 April 2020, presenting the geopolitical landscape of the powers and influences that have shaped the current state of the Muslim world today. The original khutbah can be found on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/jVjdQMzjfJQ and on SoundCloud.

Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl honestly and directly speaks to the unspoken gap between younger and older generations of Muslims and the confusion, angst and discontent between the two as the older generation hands down Islam to the younger generation and both generations are unhappy with the state of Islam and Muslims in the modern world. He addresses the confusion and discontent and gives perspective, insight and comfort through a reexamination of the very first verses revealed to the first Muslims from Surah al Baqarah. We live in a time which is so similar to that of the first Muslims because of the level of hatred of Islam and Muslims from without and within; there is much to reflect on in the similarities. He draws parallels between that early time for Muslims and today. He opens the door for shared understanding, dialogue and bonding in identifying the reasons for discontent and what goes on geopolitically in our world that have defined the Islamic world we live in today. A critical exposition for addressing the generational divide among younger and older Muslims. www.usuli.org

Dr. Abou El Fadl begins with a reminder that this pandemic, like every hardship, is a challenge and an opportunity to return to God, reflect upon oneself, and to find the place of God within ourselves.

In Surah Al-Baqarah, God teaches us our core belief as Muslims and the knowledge of ethics. In Islam, to love is to not take for granted. In the same way that we are not expected to take God for granted, we must not take each other for granted, as one cannot truly love someone if they take that being for granted. God teaches reciprocity in the Quran, telling us, "Be mindful of me and I will be mindful of you.” In modern times, human beings have become so self-centered that they have created a god who loves them unconditionally; a god that willingly dies out of an act of devotion, requiring nothing in return other than mere belief and recognition. Unethical love does not know the relationship of reciprocity and is indeed an ugly love.

If we are ethical in our relationship with God, we will be ethical in our relationship with ourselves. God will test us, send us fear, hunger and loss of wealth; but those who are blessed are those who endure and persevere.

The path to God is anchoring oneself in sabr – perseverance and endurance – and persistent prayer; so that when hardship comes, one does not despair, become convinced that God does not care about them or view life as pointless with no hope of getting better.

Many Muslims, when faced with hardship, mutter, “To God we belong and to God we return" (“Inna li ’llah wa inna ‘ilayhi raji ‘un”). There are many miserable, immoral, cowardly humans, humans who will sit passively watching injustice happen, that mutter this expression as their sole response to hardship. It is a statement that has become a form of moral cowardliness, a way to evade responsibility. But this statement, if properly understood and properly believed, could revolutionize one’s existence. If we truly believe that we will return to God and remind ourselves of this every time there is a hardship, then this statement should serve to underscore that during hardship, we are never absolved of moral responsibility and accountability.

The first thing hardship does is challenge us with the illusion of exceptionalism. When faced with a challenge, the first response brought by Shaytan is to believe that immoral actions, such as mistreating loved ones, is acceptable. Or, at a higher level, that hardships excuse the need for ethical obligation. Looking at the nature of ethics, it is easy to believe we have a moral order when no difficulty exists. But this order truly matters when there is hardship. For example, when war occurs, Muslims who may otherwise live as good Muslims may suddenly excuse the killing of fellow Muslims, civilians or children.

The scarcity of resources is a test, presenting us with an ethical choice. If we choose to take care of the young over the old and the healthy over the sick, we fail the ethical challenge from a lack of sabr. Sabr does not come from passively waiting for God to end the hardship, true sabr is to persevere with the ethical choice when confronted with hardship. Everyone, regardless of capability or productivity, has the same rights to life. In fact, in Islam, seniors have rights that exceed the rights of those who are young.

To say, "To God we belong and to God we return," is to affirm that we live life with principles. Sometimes, this requires that we not just sacrifice efficiency, but our own lives. We cannot use our own lives as an excuse to fail in our moral obligations. It is easy to use the excuse of safety to become selfish. But to fail to take care of our family, our neighbors, our senior citizens and our handicapped is a huge moral failure on a societal level. To remember God's presence in our lives is to know that every issue is an ethical issue and therefore an issue of Godliness. www.usuli.org

The Quran manifests the power of words. Words make a great deal of difference because of way that God created existence. God created humans as intelligent animals capable of reason and reasoning. Intelligent and rational animals respond to words. The Quran persistently reminds and calls humanity to reason, through the power of words. The more human beings stop responding to words, the more that words lose their place and role in the life of human beings and the more de-humanized the human factor becomes.

God effects creation through words. The most miraculous thing about humans is their ability to decide their path, having comprehended the power of words. What makes us accountable before God is our willingness, refusal or obstinance to respond to words. Without words, there would be no accountability. The way that God reaches us and creates the entire mechanism of responsibility and accountability is through the medium of words, and words are revelation. If God speaks and puts us on notice through the power of words and humans no longer respond or the words no longer have impact, then the entire mechanism of discharging our covenant before God, and the very logic and reason behind the entire process of creation, responsibility and accountability fall apart.

In Surah Al-Shura, God describes the state of a people who exist fully aware of their covenantal relationship with God and who are successfully discharging this covenantal relationship; rational animals who are in a state of grace with their Lord.

It is as if God is saying that a fully engaged society conducts their affairs through a system of shura. Shura is the power of words; a fuller meaning for the word shura than “consultation” is “deliberation”. They share words – deliberate – with each other. If this deliberative process becomes formalistic, meaning people get together, listen to each other talk, and then thoroughly ignore each other, they are not discharging the obligation of shura.

Critically, in the verse immediately following, God reminds that in a society that is in a state of grace with God, it is as if this active, deliberative process also leads to the circulation of wealth. Money is not hoarded and coveted, but circulates, such that there are not sharp inequities between the poor and rich. Wealth is distributed justly.

Further, in the social, ethical order, there must be a way to address injustice. If a society violates rights and there is no way to address or conquer injustice, they will not exist in a state of grace with God. A society in which there is no deliberative process, where wealth is not distributed justly and there is no way to address injustice cannot be an Islamic, moral society.

Surah Al-Shura also reveals that as a principle of justice, a wrong must be addressed proportionately and measuredly. In other words, the mechanisms of justice must result in the ability to address injustices with logical proportionality and consistency to count as true justice.

God makes it plainly clear, whether you call it democracy or something else, that a state of grace with God can only be if your affairs are deliberative (deliberative justice); if there is distributive economic justice; if there are mechanisms to address injustice (procedural justice) and compel the powerful and empower the powerless (substantive justice) with proportionality. With God’s word so clear, how is injustice, political cowardliness, despotism, and nepotism so prevalent in Muslim countries? It is as if God is speaking and no one is listening.

As long as we do not realize that Islam is, heart and soul, a rebellion against injustice, oppression, despotism and suffering, then we have betrayed Islam itself.