hutbe

This word originates from the Arabic hataba (preach). In spite of common belief it does not refer to the Friday prayer, but to Friday preaching. From both a religious and political aspect the hutbe was an outstanding event in the life of Muslim communities. The first, so-called warning preaching contained the praising of Allah and prophet Mohammed and his family and the belief in them. This was followed by the moral teaching connected to the current month. In this part the hatib had the opportunity to warn the members of the congregation to keep the rules of the Islam. After the sermon the hatib instructed the believers to pray, and then all of them prayed. Then came the most solemn and outstanding (from a political aspect, too) part of the Friday service, the second hutbe, i.e. the sermon of characteristic features. In this part the preacher mentioned the name of the caliph, in our case the name of the Osman Sultan, which meant that in all territories where the hatibs mentioned the Sultan's name, the Sultan was the ruler. This was a ceremonial form of declaring the main authority. It was an external form of power together with minting money, which could easily be recognised by all the subordinates of the empire.

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