Q&A for How to Deliver a Khutbah

No - any idle talk (laghw) is impermissible during the khutbah. The Prophet said, "If you say to your companion when the imam is preaching on Friday, ‘Be quiet and listen,’ you have engaged in idle talk." He also said, "When you hear your imam speaking, then keep quiet and listen attentively until he has finished." Giving salaam also falls under idle talk in this situation. The rare exceptions are if the imam makes a mistake in their recitation or if there is a problem with the microphone and it needs to be fixed. Otherwise there should be no idle talk.

It is not compulsory but it is part of the sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) to deliver two khutbahs and sit between them.

Yes, it is allowed. If you give your khutbah to someone else, it is a good deed in front of Allah.

No - it's not an obligation. There are several opinions on this matter, one of them being that 3 is sufficient for a congregation of Jumu'ah.

If the congregation contains men, then it would be impermissible for her to deliver the khutbah. It is very rare to find a Jumu'ah congregation with only women, but in such cases, it would be permissible for a woman to deliver the khutbah, since she is allowed to lead salah as well in such a case.

There is no specific du'a narrated in the sunnah, so during the brief pause between the two khutbahs, you can recite some dhikr or make some du'a quietly.

According to sunnah, the one who delivers the khutbah has to be the one who leads the prayer. This is what the Prophet (peace be upon him) did, as well as his successors. However, if there is a legitimate reason as to why another person has to lead the prayer (not knowing as much Qur'an is not a legitimate reason), then it's permissible.

There are ways to tell people to be quiet without saying (verbally) that they should be quiet.. You can do this by looking at them or by raising your voice a bit to get their attention.

Yes, this is permissible, though it's not ideal or preferred.

The du'as are all according to the sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him), and we should try to follow it as much as possible, especially during the Khutbah, which is an obligatory part of Jumu'ah.

Yes, this is permissible. As long as there are two parts with a break in between and you recite the necessary Arabic prayers, it should be sufficient.

There is no issue with that. Many Islamic stories or events have key morals that can be applied to our lives.

Yes, you can ask the person who is delivering the Khutbah after he is done, but not during the sermon, as it is forbidden to speak then.

There is no age restriction on this. Normally, the imam also delivers the khutbah, and the imam is the one who is the most knowledgeable among the congregation. There is an opinion that it is impermissible for a boy to lead the prayer if prepubescent. To be on the safe side, therefore, it would be better for the most knowledgeable, mature or oldest be the one to lead.

No consideration of school of thought (madhab) was taken into account when this article was started by the original author; however, there may well be differences between the schools on certain aspects of the khutbah. For example, disagreements over whether it is essential for the khutbah to be in Arabic. It is the view of Shafi'i and Hanafi scholars, as well as contemporary scholars, that it is not mandatory.

Yes, this is permissible. It is important to have the key Arabic parts included, though, as mentioned in the article, but the rest of the khutbah can be in Arabic. Some mosques will have a speech (bayaan) in English or another language but will not refer to it as the khutbah. After the speech, they will then do the khutbah entirely in Arabic. This is because they believe that the khutbah should be in Arabic. Other mosques will recite the beginning and concluding remarks in Arabic and then perform the khutbah in English.

Yes - this is permissible and congregational prayer is rewardable. Instead of Jumu'ah, you will pray Zuhr. Remember that if there are only two people, they should stand next to each other, with the imam on the left and the follower on the right.

There's no problem with translating the Arabic parts of the khutbah so that the congregation understand it. Don't forget the time, however; you do not want to spend too much time on the khutbah that people begin to feel tired.

According to the hadeeth, the person who knows the most Qur'an should lead. If that is you, then you should lead the prayer. Some scholars say that the person who knows the most fiqh should lead. Usually, the two of these come together, so the person who knows the most Qur'an also knows the most fiqh, but not always. I recommend finding out why the imam rarely comes to lead the salah, as this is his duty.

There's nothing wrong with it, but it's not rewardable unless you are reciting the Qur'an verses, in which case you get the reward for reciting the Qur'an.

You can quote Qur'an verses or Hadith, both are fine if they are relevant to your topic.

"When the Imam is delivering the Khutba, and you ask your companion to keep quiet and listen, then no doubt you have done an evil act." (Sahih Bukhari)

One person should do the khutbah and all its parts. If someone cannot do that, then another person should do it, but not both of them splitting parts. However, one person can do the khutbah and another can lead the salah.

During the khutbah, people should be focused on what the imam is saying. If people are going around and collecting money, this will disturb people, so they should do this at another time.

It's worth noting that Jumu'ah is not mandatory for women. But if there is a woman-only congregation, then women are allowed to lead any salah. There are some differences: the iqamah should be done quietly and the imam stands in the middle of the first row, with the followers to her left and right. This is different to when a man leads - he stands in the middle of the row in front of the followers.

It's sunnah, so it's not compulsory. But it's best to perform the khutbah according to the sunnah as much as possible.

I'm glad that you found it helpful. I will add the Arabic text insha'Allah.

Yes, it is sunnah to have two khutbahs with a brief pause in the middle. The second part should be shorter than the first.

At the very least, Arabic should be recited in the khutbah at least once. Many mosques in Western countries will recite the Khutbatul Haajah (step 2) and then give their khutbah in English or the language of the congregation; this is permissible.

Dhikr is remembrance of Allah, for example, it's a Sunnah to say "subhanallah" 33 times, "alhamdulillah" 33 times, and "Allahu Akbar" 34 times in that order after you finish praying. These are things that glorify Allah and cause a person to be reminded of Allah. Du'a is like supplication. You can do dhikr or du'a anywhere, (except dirty places like the bathroom). Usually people make du'a after praying salah. You can make du'a by raising your hands and asking Allah anything, forgiveness, health, guidance, being thankful, asking for help, etc. Du'a can be in any language; howeve,r there are some specific du'as you can also learn. You can find these online mostly.