Translating the sermon into the language understood by the attendees or most of them
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Fatwa number ( 18428 )
Q: I was honored to join the board of trustees of the ( Bournemouth ) Islamic Center located in southern England . During my last visit to this center two months ago, the imam of the mosque delivered a good sermon in Arabic, but his translation of the sermon was very poor due to his weakness in English. By the grace of Allah, Mr. Tariq Palmer , an Englishman who embraced Islam in Jeddah while working there for 11 years, now works in ( Bournemouth ), his hometown, and has volunteered to deliver the translation of the sermon in excellent English. However, the imam of the mosque ordered that the translation be given after the prayer, arguing that it is not valid to have two sermons in the Friday prayer. Naturally, the worshippers who have jobs or commitments cannot wait after the prayer, and thus they leave without benefiting from the translation in meaning and content. Therefore, I ask your Eminence to write to us what is required by the Shari'ah in this matter, so that we can bind the imam of the mosque there to the fatwa we receive from you.
A: There is no harm in translating the sermon into the language understood by the attendees or most of them, provided that the translation is given after the completion of the delivery in Arabic, before the prayer.
And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and his Companions.
Q: I was honored to join the board of trustees of the ( Bournemouth ) Islamic Center located in southern England . During my last visit to this center two months ago, the imam of the mosque delivered a good sermon in Arabic, but his translation of the sermon was very poor due to his weakness in English. By the grace of Allah, Mr. Tariq Palmer , an Englishman who embraced Islam in Jeddah while working there for 11 years, now works in ( Bournemouth ), his hometown, and has volunteered to deliver the translation of the sermon in excellent English. However, the imam of the mosque ordered that the translation be given after the prayer, arguing that it is not valid to have two sermons in the Friday prayer. Naturally, the worshippers who have jobs or commitments cannot wait after the prayer, and thus they leave without benefiting from the translation in meaning and content. Therefore, I ask your Eminence to write to us what is required by the Shari'ah in this matter, so that we can bind the imam of the mosque there to the fatwa we receive from you.
A: There is no harm in translating the sermon into the language understood by the attendees or most of them, provided that the translation is given after the completion of the delivery in Arabic, before the prayer.
And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.