First sermon
All praise is due to Allah, The Bountiful, The Ever Providing. He enjoined upon us to embrace the best manners. O Allah, You are The Owner of Honour, deserving of limitless praise, with which You are pleased. I bear witness there is no deity but Allah. He has no Associate. He assigns those who have good manners elevated chambers in Paradise.
I bear witness that Muhammad (pbuh) is the Messenger of Allah, His dearest servant, and the nearest in seat to His Creator in the Paradise. He was of sublime morality. He was amongst those who was accustomed to people and people were accustomed with him. I pray to Allah, The Most Gracious, to grant His blessings upon our Master Muhammad (pbuh), his family, his righteous companions and all those who will follow them in righteousness until the day of Judgment.
O Servants of Allah, I urge you and myself to be ever God-conscious and to construct your lives in the shadow of divine obedience, for Allah, the Almighty, says, "O you who have believed, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice.He will [then] amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment." (Al Ahzab:70-71).
Dear Muslim
Good ethics are of a noble status in Islam. They are the Muslim's true assets to attain a higher status of faith in Allah, and as such have his good deeds highly valued. Verily, no one has received as much praise from Allah, the Most Exalted, as did our Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Allah, the Ever Merciful, addresses His prophet, saying, "And indeed, you are of a great moral character." (Al Qalam:4).
For his part, our Master Muhammad (pbuh) said, "I was sent to perfect good manners." Morality also refers to kindness which Islam has called to, as our Prophet says, "piety is good manners."
Good ethics is a blessing from Allah to whom He likes. Our Master Muhammad (pbuh) said, "Allah has distributed good moral conduct among you as He has distributed the means of sustenance, He bestows the world to one who is dear to Him as also to him whom He does not admire. But He gives the Deen (The straight Path) of Religion only to the person who is beloved in His Presence. Therefore the person who is blessed with the Blessing of Religion (Deen) is Dear to Allah as His chosen servant."
O Servants of Allah,
Islam is a system of rituals and good ethics. Rituals compromise salat (prayers), Sawm (fasting), Zakat (due almsgiving), Haj (pilgrimage) among other duties that Allah, the Almighty, has ordained upon us to observe. Yet none of the above would be fully completed without the presence of good conduct. Indeed, the rituals should lead to morality. Thus, Salat is supposed to stop Muslims from indecency and ill-deeds. Allah, the Most High, says, "Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, and the remembrance of Allah is greater. And Allah knows that which you do." (Ankaboot:45).
Zakat purifies a person and elevates him, as Allah, the Most Exalted says, "Take, [O, Muhammad], from their wealth a charity by which you purify them and cause them increase, and invoke [Allah 's blessings] upon them. Indeed, your invocations are reassurance for them. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing."(Al Ankaboot:103). Sawm polishes the self as our Prophet (pbuh) says, "whoever does not give up false speech and acting upon it, Allah has no need of his giving food and drink."
Similarly, Haj uplifts human morality, for Allah, The Ever Merciful, says, "Hajj is [during] well-known months, so whoever has made Hajj obligatory upon himself therein [by entering the state of ihram], there is [to be for him] no sexual relations and no disobedience and no disputing during Hajj. And whatever good you do - Allah knows it. And take provisions, but indeed, the best provision is fear of Allah . And fear Me, O you of understanding." (Al Baqara:197).
Yet, no matter how many acts of worship a Muslim would perform, they would still fall short in satisfying Allah if the virtuous deeds are not combined with good conducts. Bad manners nullify any rewards for good deeds. Our Prophet (pbuh) once asked his companions: "do you know who the bankrupt one is?" The companions replied: "A bankrupt person amongst us is the one who doesn't have a dirham or any possessions." The Prophet (pbuh) said: "Rather, the bankrupt person from my Ummah is the one who will come on the Day of Resurrection with a good record of Prayers, Fasts and Charity; but he would have offended a person, slandered another, unlawfully consumed the wealth of another person, murdered someone and hit someone. Each one of these people would be given some of the wrong-doer's good deeds. If his good deeds fall short of settling the account, then their sins will be taken from their account and entered into the wrong-doer's account and he would be thrown in the Hell Fire."
Our Master (pbuh) explained to us that a well-mannered Muslim should not be arrogant, ruthless or a gossiper seeking to spread immorality amongst people. As such, we should be aware that avoiding causing harm is the essence of good conducts. Our Guide Muhammad (pbuh) also said, "the true Muslim is the one from whom Muslims are safe from the evil of his tongue and hands."
Dear Muslims,
To acquire morality, a Muslim should, therefore, look for the right model that exemplifies good manners. In this, there is no better example than the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) for being the best of all humans in good ethics and character. He was blessed by Allah, the Most High, with every perfect manner a human being wishes to have. Allah, the Most Gracious, says, "There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often." (Al Ahzab:21).
A Muslim likewise should keep the good company of the righteous and pious people. Allah, The Most Holy, says, "O you who have believed, fear Allah and be with those who are true." (Al Tawbah:119). Advising people, some scholars used to say: "befriend those who would better you in behaviour and acquaint you with Allah's ordinance."
Another way to better oneself is to read into the biographies of virtuous men and women. Their story of life would certainly inspire Muslims to follow the best of their character and conduct. So please teach your sons and daughters the traditions of the Prophet's companions (May Allah be pleased with them), who used to beseech Allah, the Ever Merciful, to guide them to the best of ethics. A famous Duaa (supplication) by our Master Muhammad (pbuh) says, "O Allah, guide me to the best of characters for none can guide to it other than you, and deliver me from the worst of characters for none can deliver me from it other than you."
May Allah bless us with the best of manners and help us all to obey Him and those He ordained us to obey, as the Almighty says: "O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you." (Annisa:59).
May Allah bless you and me with the ability to implement the Holy Quran and the Sunna of His Messenger Muhammad (pbuh). I say this and ask Allah, the Almighty, to grant us forgiveness. Supplicate to Allah for forgiveness for He is the Most Forgiving and the Most Merciful.
Second sermon
Praise be to Allah. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah, the only God who has no Associate, and I bear witness that our Master Muhammad is His servant and messenger, who was true to his promise. May the peace and the blessings of Allah be upon our master Muhammad, his family, his upright companions and all those who will follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgment.
Dear Believers,
Good manners will stand by the faithful on the Day of Resurrection and shall weigh the balance of the good deeds for the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, "there is nothing that will be heavier upon the balance than good character."
Muslims should follow the path of the Messenger of Allah Muhammad (pbuh), who exemplified the good ethics as shown in the Holy Quran. Aisha, his wife, (May Allah be pleased with her, used to say: "his manners are those in the Quran."
O Servants of Allah,
Allah has commanded you an order to which He and His angels are both committed, when He says, "Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet: O ye that believe! Send ye blessings on him, and salute him with all respect." (Al-Ahzab:56). The Prophet (pbuh) said, "for everyone who invokes a blessing on me will receive ten blessings from Allah."
May the peace and the blessings of Allah be upon our master Muhammad (pbuh), his family, and all his companions. May Allah be pleased with the Rightly Guided Caliphs and all those who will follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgment.
O Allah allow us all to have the best of manners and repentance unto you. We supplicate to you, the Almighty, to accept our Duaa and guide us to fulfill actions to earn Your mercy, forgiveness and spells. We also beseech You to confer on us safety from every sin, and booty of all righteousness, and to win paradise and deliverance from the Fire.
O Allah, we implore You at this instant not to let a sin unforgiven, a distress unrelieved, an illness unhealed or a handicapped without relief, a dead without mercy or a debt unsettled. O Allah, give us in this world that which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the torment of the Hellfire.
May Allah grant our leader HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his Deputy, HH Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, success and provide strength and support to his brothers, Their Highness the Rulers of the Emirates, and his trustworthy Crown Prince HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
O Allah, forgive all of the Muslims, men and women, living and dead, and make blessings follow us and them. May Allah have mercy on Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Maktoum and all their brothers, the late UAE Sheikhs. O Lord, forgive and show mercy, You are the Ever Merciful and there is no strength nor power save with Allah, the High, the Great.
O Allah, send upon us helpful, wholesome and healthy rain. O Allah, give us rain and do not make us among the despondent. O Allah, relieve us, O Allah, relieve us, O Allah, relieve us. Give us from the blessings of the sky and grow for us from the blessings of the earth, You are the Ever Providing.
We pray to Allah, the most gracious, to continue blessing the UAE and all Muslim countries with safety and security.
O Servants of Allah, Remember Allah and He will Remember You. Be grateful for His benevolence He will increase His blessings to you. Allah, the Most High, says, "and establish regular Prayer: for Prayer restrains from shameful and unjust deeds; and remembrance of Allah is the greatest (thing in life) without doubt. And Allah knows the (deeds) that ye do." (Al Ankaboot:45).
Download Friday sermon (Khutba) in English (PDF file): http://www.awqaf.ae/
Download Friday sermon (Khutba) in Urdu (PDF file): http://www.awqaf.ae/
Download Friday sermon (Khutba) in Malayalam (PDF file): http://www.awqaf.ae/
May Allah bless you with true success of this world as well as of the hereafter!
No comments:
Post a Comment