Ramadan sermon 01/05/2020

And stand before Allah, devoutly obedient

First Sermon

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. He answers the prayers of those who are devoutly obedient to Him and rewards generously those who stand for prayer humbly submissive. I bear witness that there is no deity save Allah, having no associates. He is an ally to the righteous. I also bear witness that our Master Muhammad is the Servant of Allah and His Messenger. He was the Imam of the Messengers and has set a model for those who perform acts of worship. He was the best of those who obeyed His Lord and supplicated to Him. He was also the best amongst those who stood before Allah and called upon Him humbly. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Master and Prophet Muhammad, his family and all of his companions and those who associate themselves with him and follow his guidance.

As to what follows,

I urge you, O servants of Allah, and myself to be aware that you are asked to obey Him the Most Exalted, fear Him and show diligence in worshiping Him. The Almighty says, “and whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger and fears Allah and is conscious of Him - it is those who are the attainers.” (An-Noor: 52).

O Observers of Fasting,

Allah, the Most Exalted, praises those who are devoutly obedient to His decrees and prefers them over those who are not. The Almighty has emphasised this in His holy Book, for He says, “is one who is devoutly obedient during periods of the night, prostrating and standing [in prayer], fearing the Hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord, [like one who does not]?” (Az-Zumar: 9). Indeed, Qunut (being devoutly obedient to Allah) is the garden of worshipers and delight of those who are humbly submissive to their Lord, hoping for His mercy and pleasure. Those have a high status with Allah the Almighty.

Going deeper to its literal meaning, obedience means devoting oneself assiduously in submission to Allah the Almighty, a meaning which can be found in the following Aya: “and to Him belongs whoever is in the heavens and earth. All are to Him devoutly obedient.” (Ar-Room: 26). Devoted obedience to Allah’s orders can be achieved by following the Almighty’s teachings and standing for prayer at night for longer periods in full submission. It is also seen in turning to Allah, the Most Exalted, hoping for His mercy, and imploring to Him in supplication. The Almighty says, “those who say, ‘Our Lord, indeed we have believed, so forgive us our sins and protect us from the punishment of the Fire,’ the patient, the true, the obedient, those who spend [in the way of Allah ], and those who seek forgiveness before dawn.” (Al Imran: 16-17).

In indication of the high status of Qunut (devoted obedience), Allah the Almighty has praised Prophet Ibrahim pbuh for being so. The Most High says, “indeed, Abraham was a [comprehensive] leader, devoutly obedient to Allah, inclining toward truth, and he was not of those who associate others with Allah.” (An-Nahl: 120). That means, Ibrahim pbuh was a leader and a pattern in obeying Allah the Almighty and submitting humbly to Him.

Furthermore, Allah, the Exalted is He, has ordered Mariam (Mary) the mother of Isa, peace be upon them both, to obey her Lord devoutly, saying, “O Mary, be devoutly obedient to your Lord and prostrate and bow with those who bow [in prayer].” (Al Imran: 43). Submitting to the commandments of her Lord, she used to perform prayer and lengthen her standing in it. So, Allah the Almighty praised her saying, “and she believed in the words of her Lord and His scriptures and was of the devoutly obedient.” (At-Tahrim: 12).

In like manner, the Messenger of Allah pbuh used to make the standing before his Lord in the prayer long, supplicating and imploring to Him, asking Him to grant him from His abundant bounties and great favours. Doing so, he pbuh was following the orders of Allah the Most High for He says, “and stand before Allah, devoutly obedient.” (Al-Baqara: 238). That is: stands in prayer humbly submissive. The Prophet pbuh urged for this as he said, “The best of prayer is that in which the duration of devoted standing is longer.” This applies for those who pray alone in the night prayer.   

O Devoutly Obedient Worshipers,

Our Master Muhammad has taught us the supplication of Qunut. In this regard, it was narrated that Al Hasan Ibn Ali, may Allah be pleased with him said, “The Messenger of Allah pbuh taught me some phrases to recite in Qunut of Witr prayer: ‘O Allah, guide me amongst those whom You have guided, grant me soundness amongst those You’ve granted soundness to, protect me amongst those You have protected, bless me in what You have bestowed upon me, and save me from the evil of what You have decreed. For, indeed, You decree in truth, and none can decree over You; none can disgrace those who You support, and none can honour those who You oppose. O Lord, You are the Blessed, and the Exalted.” Verily, this supplication is a great one in meaning. It combines all that is good in this world and in the Hereafter.

Going deeper to the meanings of this supplication, the phrase “O Allah, guide me amongst those You have guided” means, I ask You, O Lord, to make me amongst those who You have guided so that they hastened to do good actions and draw closer to You by performing acts of obedience as well as strived to be righteous. As such, they became amongst those who Allah the Almighty has praised in this Aya: “who listen to speech and follow the best of it. Those are the ones Allah has guided, and those are people of understanding.” (Az-Zumar: 18).

As for saying: “grant me soundness amongst those You have granted soundness to,” it is really one of the greatest, most comprehensive, most perfect and best prayers. The Prophet pbuh said in this regard, “There is no supplication that a servant of Allah can say that is better than: O Allah, I ask You for (Aafiya) soundness in this world and in the Hereafter.” Soundness is the wellbeing of heart and body and protection of them against any affliction or evil in this life and being admitted to Paradise in the next. Indeed, soundness is one of the best favours that which Allah the Almighty endows upon human beings as the Messenger of Allah pbuh said, “No one is given anything after certainty better than soundness.”

Next in the Qunut supplication comes “protect me amongst those You have protected.”  This means, O Lord, make me amongst your true believing servants, those who You engulf with Your care, protect with Your grace, and grant them success with Your will. Undoubtedly, those who are under the care of Allah can never be disgraced neither in this world nor in the Hereafter. This is what the Prophet pbuh accentuated in the Qunut supplication when saying: “No one can disgrace those who You support.”

Concerning the part of the supplication that says: “Bless me in what You have bestowed on me,” it means: bestow Your blessings upon that which You have granted to me. In this sense, blessing is that Allah the Almighty would give the person in abundance and increases him in happiness. Furthermore, the invocation that comes after that saying, “save me from the evil of what You have decreed,” is a connotation for seeking refuge with Allah, the Most Exalted, against all that which is evil in religion and worldly matters.

Keeping this in mind, let us implore to Allah the Almighty to make us amongst those are devoutly obedient to Him.

May Allah guide us all to obey Him and obey His trustworthy Messenger Muhammad and obey those He has commanded us to obey in line with His orders: “O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you.” (An-Nisaa: 59).

May Allah direct us all to the blessings of the Glorious Quran and the Sunna of His Messenger pbuh.

I say this and ask Allah for forgiveness for me and you, so invoke Him for forgiveness, for He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.

Second Sermon

All praise is due to Allah, the Most High, the Most Great, the Most Kind, and the Most Generous. I bear witness that there is no deity save Allah, having no associates. I also bear witness that our Master Muhammad is the servant of Allah and His Messenger. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon ou­­r Master Muhammad, his pure family, companions, and all those who follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgment.

I urge you, O Servants of Allah, and myself to be aware that you are asked to obey Him, the Most Exalted and Sublime.

O Worshipers,

Please be aware that amongst the desirable etiquette of supplication is that the believer should praise Allah the Almighty in his invocations with that which Allah has praised Himself. One should also glorify and thank Him as befitting to His Supreme Status. On this account, our Master Muhammad has ended the Qunut supplication with glorifying and exalting of Allah and praising Him, saying, “Our Lord, You are the Blessed, the Exalted.”

More to the point, it was narrated that once the Prophet pbuh heard a man praying; he glorified and praised Allah. Thereupon, the Prophet pbuh said, “Supplicate, you will be answered; ask, you will be given.” You are urged, therefore, to keep in mind such meanings when you recite the Qunut supplication, invoking your Lord and raising your hands onto Him so that He might respond to your prayers and grant you His rewards and acceptance. Indeed, the Exalted is He has prepared for the obedient men and obedient women forgiveness and a great reward.

Being in this blessed month, one should supplicate to Allah, the Most Exalted, often. We should also draw nearer to Him by observing fasting, standing for prayer in the night, reciting the holy Quran and spending in charity and kindness, seeking the satisfaction of Allah and His great recompense. Moreover, we should ask Allah the Almighty to grant us success in increasing our good actions in the last ten days of the holy month and make us witness the Night of Decree so as to attain his forgiveness and pardoning and be written amongst His devoutly obedient servants.

That is said, please bear in mind that you are instructed to invoke peace and blessings on the Prophet pbuh. Allah, the Most Sublime, says, “indeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, ask [Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [Allah to grant him] peace.” (Al-Ahzab: 56).

On the same matter, the Prophet pbuh said, “For everyone who invokes a blessing on me will receive ten blessings from Allah.”

O Allah, please confer Your blessings and grant peace upon our Prophet Muhammad pbuh, his family and all of the companions.

May Allah be pleased with the Rightly Guided Caliphs: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali, and all of the noble Companions.

O Allah, we seek Your grace to make us amongst those who remember you much and are steadfast on performing acts of worship. O Allah, please forgive us all.

O Allah, we seek refuge in Your perfect words from the evil of that which descend from the sky and from the evil of that which ascends in it, and from the evil of what is created in the earth and the evil of that which comes out of it. O Allah we seek refuge in You from the trials of the night and the day, and from the visitations of the night and day, except for one that knocks with good. Indeed, You are the Most Merciful.

O Lord, we beseech You to bless all of the Muslim countries and the whole world with stability, cure from any illness and peace.

May Allah grant success and continued health and care to all of us, Muslims and all the world.

O Allah, please forgive all of the Muslims, men and women, living and dead.

O Lord, forgive and show mercy on them and bless them with Your kindness and satisfaction. O Lord, forgive and show mercy on our parents, relatives and whoever has done a favour to us.

We pray to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, to continue blessing our country with stability and welfare and bless its provisions. O Allah, please continue blessing our country with safety and security.

O Allah, relieve us! O Allah, relieve us! O Allah, relieve us! O Allah, give us from the blessings of the sky and grow for us from the blessings of the earth.

O Allah: we turn to Your name through which nothing is harmed in the earth and the heavens. That we not be afflicted through disease or calamity. Or that disease or epidemic may befall us, O Allah: hear this supplication. We ask you Allah for constancy of well being. For ourselves and for all of the people around us. Save us from the evil of epidemics and diseases.

Remember Allah and He will remember you. Be grateful of His benevolence and He will increase His blessings to you.

O Allah, please confer Your blessings and grant peace upon our Prophet Muhammad pbuh, his family and all of the companions.