Socio-Historical Analysis of Islamic Sermon: The Genesis of Huṭbat al-ǧumuah (Fridays sermon)
In this article we will try to show the process of transformation that underwent the Arab oratory, the ḫaṭâbah, from its genesis up to the construction of the cultual model of ḫuṭbat ṣalât al-ǧumu’ah (sermon of Friday’s canonical prayer) spread today among Muslims. Our brief socio-historical analysis of ḫuṭbah goes from the period called Ǧâhilliyyah (pre-Islamic, up to 610 AD) to the dominion of the Abbasid dynasty (750-1258 AD). We will see how the ḫuṭbah in Ǧâhilliyyah was situated in a precise space-time framework and had specific socio-cultural functions, how its producers had definite roles and its development possessed well-known characteristics. The arrival of Islam sacralized this social practice, turning it into a religious rite, and so the ḫuṭbat alǧumu’ah was born. The death of the prophet of Islam in 632 AD caused a charismatic emptiness that generated a conflict of a symbolic order (Pace, 20042). The protagonists of the discord used the ḫuṭbah as a communicative tool to launch their own theological-political invectives. With the Umayyad hegemony (from 661 AD to 750 AD), this practice entered a period of great transformations.
