Preaching as Reimagining: Post-9/11 Khutbas in the United States and Canada

How have North American Muslims been equipped to deal with discouragement following September 11? One answer to this question is through khutbahs, or Friday sermons, in various Islamic centers in the United States and Canada. This may especially be true with khutbahs that exemplify “reimaginative preaching,” a type of preaching discussed by Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann that enables listeners to interpret their existence differently for the sake of new possibility. Utilizing Brueggemann’s framework provides a unique perspective on Islamic preaching. It reveals that by offering a key principle linked to a verse or brief portion of the Quran, preachers of certain khutbahs present an intended phenomenological structure of disruption and refiguration in order to enable listeners to deal with discouragement.