Politeness Strategies in Arabic-Scripted Friday Khutbah (“Sermons”)

Abstract

This study examines politeness strategies employed by Muslim preachers in Arabic-scripted Friday Khutbah “sermons”, especially those available on the Internet. The data consist of four sermons delivered by renowned Saudi preachers in Mecca’s Haram, Muslims’ holiest mosque, and published on verified sites on the web. Findings reveal that the preachers have employed twelve distinct politeness strategies, based on Brown and Levinson’s (1987) four major types of politeness: positive face, negative face, off-record, and bald-on record. Positive politeness was found to be the most predominant. This suggests that the preachers tend to promote collective identity and mutual respect, in line with the principle of acceptance inherent in positive politeness. In addition, negative politeness, which emphasizes the listener’s autonomy, ranked second in frequency, consistent with the cultural norms, communicative intentions, and socio-religious sensitivities prevalent in Muslim communities. Through examining these sermons, this study contributes to broader research in politeness in religious discourse, providing data for comparison with earlier studies.