Khutbas by Shaykh Ramadan Al-Buti on Fiqh of Minorities

Assalaam alaykum,

The two khutbahs that are on www.marifah.net are now available from www.nottsnewmuslims.com. For the first Fiqh of Minorities article please click http://www.nottsnewmuslims.com/Bouti-Minority%20Fiqh.pdf. Please note that this version is no different than the one available from www.marifah.net.

The Mawlid Khutbah: Fiqh of Minorities is available from: http://www.nottsnewmuslims.com/Bouti_Mawlid%20Khutbah.pdf. Please note that this version includes all of the original footnotes, including quotes from the text Tahkim Al-Qawanin and three footnotes that were removed from the version on www.marifah.net, which further explain Shaykh Al-Buti's words.

The quotes from Tahkim Al-Qawanin were not included in the marifah.net version as they were thought to be unnecessary, but they are included here for the reader's benefit.

The three footnotes, numbers 12, the last bit of 16, and 18 were removed because a certain individual threatened to withdraw his endorsement of marifah.net if those footnotes remained. If anybody feels that I, as the translator, misinterpreted Sheikh Al-Buti's words then I highly recommend that they watch Sheikh Al-Buti's lecture on Minority Fiqh that he gave at the Islamic University of Rotterdam last year (2007), available from:

http://www.marifah.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=108&Itemid=71.

In the Q&A session the Sheikh says, and may Allah the Exalted preserve him, that the European Council for Fatwa and Research, which is one of if not the main organisation promoting Minority Fiqh, does not deserve to be called a Fatwa Council because not all of its members are on the level of fatwa. Insha'Allah a transcript of the lecture in Arabic, along with its translation, will be available soon, and with Allah alone is every success.

I would further like to state that the purpose of translating these articles is not to offend or attack anyone, but rather to allow English-speaking Muslims in the West to see both sides of the argument and draw their own conclusions, and with Allah alone is every success.

Assalaam alaykum,

Mahdi

UPDATE (16/01/2011): As the Notts News Muslims website is down and the organisation no more, these two khuthabs (one is actually a monthly word) are now only available from www.marifah.net and the first, shorter, article is now avaible on this blog. 

UPDATE (08/02/2011) Alhamdulilah, the second article (the Mawlid Khutbah), with all the original footnotes, is now available on this blog.