I remember the first time I was prevented from delivering the Friday sermon... I went to the same mosque where I used t…

I remember the first time I was prevented from delivering the Friday sermon... I went to the same mosque where I used to preach, only to find a substitute preacher sent in my place.

He began the sermon with what he claimed was a hadith, though it was not, and kept repeating awkward phrases while swaying on the pulpit... I saw the boys leaning against the wall in front of me laughing scornfully.

It pained me when I compared their situation to the days when I used to preach, and fathers would bring their sons saying, 'Greet Dr. Iyad; tomorrow, I want you to be like him.' The boy would greet me with respect and affection in his eyes.

After that 'torturous' sermon, one of the brothers said to me, 'I always used to ask my son Walid after your sermon, "What did Dr. Iyad talk about?" and he would recall many elements of the sermon. Today, as soon as we left, he said to me, "Dad, don’t ask me what the preacher said. I didn’t understand anything!"'

Preventing influential preachers and replacing them with comedians and the boring is destroying the next generation! It alienates them from the Friday prayer and diminishes the religion in their eyes. Many children no longer hear any religious discourse except during Friday sermons.

So do not be surprised when you constantly hear about cases of outright apostasy, loss of identity, blind imitation of every corrupt figure, attachment to deviant sects, and profound ignorance of religion among the youth. Then there are cases of loss, suicide, and crime... And we say to those responsible for all this: Remember the words of Allah: (They will bear their own burdens in full on the Day of Resurrection, and some of the burdens of those they misled without knowledge. How evil is what they will bear!)