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Can one give the sermon (khutba) of Friday prayer in the local language if those attending don’t understand Arabic?
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate
May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon His Messenger Muhammad, his folk, companions, and followers
Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
The tahqiq of the Hanafi ulema of the Indian Subcontinent has been that the khutba is a ritual act and must be performed in Arabic. It can (and should) be preceded by a bayan in the local language.
Some other Hanafi ulema, including my teachers in Damascus, disagree (and they’re aware of the above argument), because the outward purport of major texts of the madhhab would entail that the khutba is permitted in other than Arabic.
Practically, the difference is minimal, the first way is both closer to the sunna and practice of the early generations (who, after all, gave khutba in Arabic in non-Arab lands), and does achieve the purpose of conveying religious instruction in the local language.
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Wassalam,
Faraz Rabbani