Usuli Institute Khutbah: On Evaluating Moral Character, Trusting Intuition and Cleaning your Vessel

Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl addresses questions arising from his previous khutbahs regarding how to receive and assess knowledge and develop and trust one's own intuition or native instinct (fitrah) in determining what is authentically Islamic. He elaborates on the example of pure water entering a clean vessel versus a dirty vessel in understanding the impact of a divine message on the soul (vessel) receiving that message. He discusses how to evaluate the moral character of religious authority, be it an imam, faqih, shaykh or other religious teacher. He reminds us that leadership and authority must be judged according to conduct and action rather than words and the willingness to judge others before oneself. He discusses the fundamental building blocks of morality and ethics that God has given every human being. To elaborate by example, he brings all of the above to bear upon the real-life current tragedy of Uighur Muslims being imprisoned and tortured in concentration camps in China and the lack of moral response from global Muslim leadership. Delivered 1 March 2019. For previous khutbahs, visit www.usuli.org and www.searchforbeauty.org.