Is It Obligatory to Attend the Khuṭbah (Sermon) If It is In a Language Other than Arabic? By Sh. Ibn ʿUthaymīn رَحِمَهُ اللهُ  

Sh. Ibn ʿUthaymīn رَحِمَهُ اللهُ  said:

“The apparent (meaning) of His تَعَالَىٰ statement:

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِذَا نُودِىَ لِلصَّلَوٰةِ مِن يَوْمِ ٱلْجُمُعَةِ فَٱسْعَوْا۟ إِلَىٰ ذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ وَذَرُوا۟ ٱلْبَيْعَ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ خَيْرٌۭ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ ۝٩

[الجمعة (٦٢): ٩]

{O you who have believed, when the call (to prayer) is made on Friday, proceed to the remembrance of Allāh and leave off your trading. That is better for you, if you only knew} [al-Jumuʿah (62): 9] is that it is obligatory to attend even if the khaṭīb (one delivering the khuṭbah) speaks in other than Arabic and the attendee does not comprehend it.

This is why we say to the deaf, attend the khuṭbah even if you cannot hear. We also say to the attendee, do not speak while the Imām is delivering the sermon, due to the generality of the prohibition on speaking while the Imām is delivering the sermon, (this is the case) even if the attendee is deaf, or does not understand the language of the khaṭīb.”

Source: Majmūʿ Fatāwá wa Rasāʾil Faḍīlat al-Shaykh Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn, 16: 35, no. 1191.

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