The ruling on delivering two sermons in Arabic and English

The questioner : Also, a questioner from America asked today, and I promised to put the question to you. He says: We are in a mosque in America, and in this mosque, people come who do not speak Arabic well. So the preacher, before the two Friday sermons, stands and delivers a sermon in English. When we finish the English sermon, he sits, then stands up and delivers the sermon in Arabic, and the second one, and so on. So the questioner asks: Is this action valid or not? I promised, if Allah wills, to put the question to you.

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good.

The questioner : May Allah bless you.

The Shaykh : What I see is that it is not befitting for one who is proficient in Arabic to preach except in Arabic. Then, if there are, as you mentioned, people from the non-Arabs who do not understand the Arabic language, the sermon delivered before the prayer is translated for them after the prayer. After the prayer. Yes. As for delivering two sermons and taking into account the foreignness that Islam aims to eliminate through the book of Islam, which is the Qur'an, it is not befitting for us to establish this bad practice, especially since we know that Islam encompassed many lands through its call, encompassing many non-Arab lands, and they did not combine two sermons. Rather, it may happen that some of them, in the single sermon, translate for the attendees some of the foundations of the sermon's topic. As for delivering two sermons, one in Arabic and the other in a foreign language, that is not permissible. And I understood from your words that they present the foreign sermon before the Arabic sermon. Yes, and even if they reversed it, that would be less evil.

The questioner : The questioner is a student of knowledge, so he told me that we spoke to the brother who does that, and he said: I fear that after the end of the sermon, they will leave.

The Shaykh : We are not responsible for them. First, and I consider this an opportunity on this occasion, and our preacher, may Allah bless him, is present.
I see that it is not befitting to lengthen the sermon, and we all know that it is contrary to the Sunnah on the pretext that people do not desire knowledge. This pretext, first, was present even in the era of Prophethood and Messengership. In the purest and brightest era, not all people were on the same level in seeking knowledge. The proof is that the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) were counted in the thousands, and there was not among them anyone who was counted as being from the people of knowledge except about two hundred or three hundred, as Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) mentions. So the point is that it is not befitting for us to contradict the Sunnah because of people's shortcoming in following the Sunnah. And perhaps this is one of the types of religious innovations that enter among Muslims without considering that the Sunnah is not permissible to change because of people's laziness or their turning away. So I see, first, shortening the sermon as much as possible. Then, if there are some points that need clarification, there is absolutely no objection to the preacher drawing the attention of the attendees to the fact that some of the points we passed through earlier need clarification and explanation, and we will do that, if Allah wills, after the prayer. So I ask our brother attendees not to leave after the prayer, but rather to sit and listen to the lesson. Then, whoever sits, welcome, and whoever leaves, you are not their guardian. Yes. So this is what I say: It is obligatory for this imam that I referred to earlier, who is a student of knowledge, to alert these non-Arabs and to speak to them in their language: "I will explain the sermon to you after the prayer." So whoever among them is eager for knowledge will find it, and whoever does not have any eagerness will leave. And here comes the hadith of al-Bukhari in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) his Companions in a circle, and two or three men came. One of them advanced, and the other was shy and sat at the back of the circle, and the third was turning his back. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) turned to the first, so Allah turned to him. As for the second, he was shy, so Allah was shy of him. As for the other, he turned his back, so Allah turned away from him, or as he said.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : And peace. Yes.

The questioner : As for the third, he turned away, so Allah turned away.

The Shaykh : You have done well. So the point is that we do not want to make people equal and impose knowledge on them as an obligation. Rather, we spread it within the limits of the Shari'ah, the limit, so that perhaps in this is a clear message, if Allah wills. If Allah wills.