The story behind Khutbahbank.com
Winners of a recent Eid Quran recitation competion
Maybe it's the crisp, clean air. Maybe it's the picturesque setting among green fields and lush vegetation. Maybe it's the exquiste architecture of a building that would not be out of place in a children's fairy-tale. Whatever the reason, Royal Holloway University of London has always attracted students from many countries. Muslim students in particular, have been arriving in greater numbers, from all over the Muslim world.
In the mid-1980's there were enough Muslim students for the authorities to be convinced of a need for special prayer facilities. Thus a small prayer room was provided. During Ramadhan, married students [who did the cooking!] would help their single colleagues [who did the eating] and break their fast together. Over time, even more single students arrived. The married ones could not cater for them all. By this time local families became involved, helping with arrangements for Ramadhan, Eid, and even a joint student/community Umrah trip.
The students and the local Muslims were as diverse as the ummah itself: hailing from Southeast Asia, the Arab world, Africa, Europe and the Americas.
Eid-Al-Fitr at Royal Holloway University. Men's group.
Eid-Al-Fitr at Royal Holloway University. Women's group.
Eid-Al-Fitr at Royal Holloway University. Children's group.
At first, the weekly khutbah was delivered by students themselves, sometimes by postgraduates. When a khateeb did not turn up one Friday, a brother from the community took his place, and soon other local Muslims were recruited to help on a regular basis. None of these were "professional" Imáms or Sheikhs. Among them were lawyers, translators, teachers, writers and students. They set out a few simple rules: The khutbahs were offered as a community service, to please Alláh alone. It is neither a speech contest, nor a means of massaging egos or promoting selfish agendas. Khutbahs have to be clear, relevant, positive, motivating and inspiring.
These rules also inform our relations with one another. It is truly one of the blessings of Alláh, that our community is free from the ethnic tensions and personal rivalries that bedevil many Muslim communities elsewhere. In our composition we are like the Ummah in miniature. Each and every family is more concerned about what it can do for our community, rather than just what it can get from the community.
Our regular khateebs spend a lot of time looking for material, writing and presenting the khutbahs in an interesting and informative way. Some of the khutbahs are original writings, some are adapted from the writings of others. Where possible, this has been acknowledged. A dear friend in South Africa heard about our needs, so he sent us some khutbahs which he had prepared for an Imám in Cape Town, over the years.
Much of our raw material was found on the internet, and adapted for local needs. As we searched other websites from week to week, the question arose: Why not start our own website, specialising in English khutbahs? There must be a large number of Muslims around the world, who either have to prepare khutbahs regularly, or who simply need good material for inspiration and personal development. Our khateebs' efforts might otherwise be limited to the Muslims around Royal Holloway University. A website can widen that to the whole world.
Thus the idea of a Khutbahbank was born.
We hope you will find something useful on our site. If you do, please write to us, and send us something useful in return, so that we may share it more widely.
May Alláh allow this site to grow and its visitors and contributors to prosper. Ameen!
More pictures of our community events:
Ladies group at a Royal Holloway Wedding