Let's say I were to give a khutbah tomorrow and talk about something so important such as racism and nationalism in Muslim Society. What do you think would happen.? Let me give you a little perspective into what I have experience from giving Jumu'a Khutbah:

O ye who believe! When the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday (the Day of Assembly), hasten earnestly to the Remembrance of Allah, and leave off business (and traffic): That is best for you if ye but knew! (Qu'ran 62:9)

Abu Huraira reported Allah Messenger (way peace be upon him) as saying: There is an angel on every door of the mosque recording him first who (conies) first (a the mosque for Friday prayer). And he [the Prophet] likened him as one who offers a camel as a sacrifice and then he went on in the descending order till he reached the point at which the minimum (sacrifice) is that of an egg. And when the Imam sits (on the pulpit) the sheets are folded and they (the angels) attend to the mention of Allah. (Sahih Muslim: Book 004, Number 1866)

1) Only a handful of people actually make it before the Imam gets up to speak (give or rake), meaning that the other 100 - 150 people don't even have their names written down by the angel standing at the door that they attended.

2) A good khutbah is only about 15 - 20 min, so if you come late you don't know what the speaker is talking about, then spend the next five minutes trying to find out the subject, and then only actually understand the last five minutes which is really just a wrapping up and summary.

3) You have to live with the fact that most of the people will go back to their daily routine, giving no heed to the things you warned them about. Parents will still cite the importance of culture over Islam and bar their children from marrying from another culture, people will still continue to follow old traditions rooted in paganism that conflict with Islam because that was how they were raised, Arabs will stick to Arab masjids, Desis will stick to Desi masjids.

4) This is not a pep talk but a real discussion of the issues facing the community and most people will not take the time to actually think about this, see how they are contributing to the problem , and how to put the solutions into practice.

Nevertheless there are many who actually DO implement the knowledge and guidance gained in Jumu'a prayer to their lives. In fact, some of these people are those you would never think would listen to change - I am talking about the old, immigrant generation - are the ones who actually benefit.

Why? Because they EARLY to Jumu'a and give it the respect that it deserves. The call was given by Allah in the Qu'ran to come to Jumu'a prayer and that call is so important to them that they leave their jobs and come 1 - 15 minutes before prayer to the masjid, just like you would for an important job interview.

Remember, you get from Jum'ua what you put into it. If you give the respect to Jum'ua that it deserves then insha Allah it will respect you and reward you with guidance and knowledge.

May Allah subhanna wa taala make us of those who are the forerunners in the Deen.