Dhaka: The Khutba Formulation Committee on Tuesday said Baitul Mukarram National Mosque’s Friday sermons [Khutba] that identically delivered in many mosques across the country before the last Friday prayers was not imposed on anyone or made specific for anybody.

The committee in a statement also said Islamic Foundation’s officers and employees with the general education background had no involvement in preparing the sermon.

It issued the statement in response to media reports about criticism of the ‘common’ sermon delivered at different mosques across the country during the Friday prayers on 15 July.

Signed by the committee convener and National Mosque’s chief imam Muhammad Mizanur Rahman, it said the sermon of the National Mosque has long been formulated by the Sermon Formulation Committee.

The imams of the National Mosque, religious intellectuals and scholars from across the country have been involved in the formulation of sermon under the committee, the statement reads. ‘Only the expert scholars having certification from Deoband, Hathazari, Patia Madrasahs, Al Azhar University, Egypt, and Madina University are involved in the committee.’

Besides, the sermon is prepared in light of Qur’an and Sunnah with the support of the most sermon books that are being widely used across the country, it mentioned.

The committee explained that the sermon prepared for the National Mosque on Friday was distributed among mosques across the country as a ‘sample sermon’.

It was sent to mosques to make it possible that patrons and imams of the mosques across the country could pick up ideas from it and deliver those in their own khutba presentation, the statement added.

The committee requested all to inform the Islamic Foundation in written if there is any mistake and error in the khutba. ‘The common Muslims may get confused if the media reports on the mistakes in the khutba are published.’

In a bid to raise awareness among people from all walks of life about extremism and terrorism, imams of the country’s many mosques, especially in urban areas, followed the common khutba (sermon) delivered at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque, during the jum’a prayers on Friday last.

The Islamic Foundation earlier sent the khutba to the mosques across the country urging the imams to follow it.