Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

---

In this episode, Dr. Abou El Fadl directs us to making sense of the system of belief of the earliest Muslims through the lens of the early surahs (chapters) of the Qur’an. What do the earliest surahs reveal to us about the Sirah of the Prophet?

0:00 – Intro
2:55 – Prayer: earliest form
11:40 – Surahs: first 3 years
13:04 – 96 al-ʿAlaq
25:25 – Pause on law?
29:24 – 68 al-Qalam
33:33 – Archetypes of human behavior
42:00 – Abusing the word
47:30 – Story of the wealthy man
49:50 – Prostration

Instagram ~ @usuliinstitute
Twitter ~ @usuliinstitute
Facebook ~ facebook.com/usuliinstitute

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER (scroll to the bottom)
usuli.org

📚 Usuli Press - Check out our publications on the current state of the Muslim world
The Prophet's Pulpit Trilogy ~ amzn.to/40PBtnt
The Palestine Sermons ~ amzn.to/3AOxXiu

~ Spotify & Supercast ~
https://usuli.supercast.com!

🎥 Full list of our recorded khutbahs and their transcripts ~ bit.ly/usulikhutbahs

📰 The full list of articles referenced in this Khutbah can be found at usulinews.org