Indeed the home of the Hereafter is best

First Sermon

All praise is due to Allah Who make this world a provision for the Last Day. He has prepared for the believers the fullest recompense. I bear witness that there is no deity save Allah, having no associates. I also bear witness that our Master and Prophet Muhammad is the Servant of Allah and His Messenger. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Master Muhammad, his family and all of his companions, and all those who follow them till the Day of Judgment.

As to what follows,

I urge you and myself, O Servants of Allah, to be aware that you are asked to obey Him the Most Exalted and High, in line with His orders, “and the home of the Hereafter is better for those who fear Allah, so will you not use reason?” (Al-Aaraf: 169).

Dear Muslims,

One of the pillars of Islam is to believe in the Day of Judgment, a day when people will be raised alive after death so as to be judged by their Creator. On that Day, they will be recompensed for whatever they have done in this world; for their words and deeds no matter how big or small these were.  Allah the Almighty says, “so whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it.” (Az-Zalzala: 7-8).

On its merits, belief in the Last Day has many benefits for the believers. For instance, it urges the believer to do plenty of righteous deeds so as to attain happiness in this world and in the Hereafter. This is because Allah, the Most Exalted, has associated faith with good deeds, for He says, “those [among them] who believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteousness - will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve.” (Al-Baqara: 62).

Seeking such a recompense, the believer returns to their Lord invoking Him humbly and earnestly to grant them all that is good in this world and in the Hereafter. About them, Allah the Almighty says, “but among them is he who says, ‘Our Lord, give us in this world [that which is] good and in the Hereafter [that which is] good and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.’” (Al-Baqara: 201). Truly, it is such a great thing for the believer, which imparts delight to their hearts, to do that which is righteous in this life, hoping for great recompense on the Day of Judgment. On this account, Allah the Almighty says, “but whoever desires the Hereafter and exerts the effort due to it while he is a believer - it is those whose effort is ever appreciated [by Allah].” (Al-Israa: 19).

That is to say: whoever wishes for the home of the Hereafter and its blessings and delights, thus strives in this way by performing good deeds, then Allah the Almighty will,  by His mercy, appreciate their efforts, oversee their flaws and reward them with the best of rewards.

This brings us to advise each other on how to make best use of our life and make it provision for the Hereafter. Indeed, the means of achieving such a great goal are many. One way is by fearing Allah the Almighty. Being conscious of one’s Lord is amongst the best of deeds for which the believer gets rewarded abundantly on the Day of Judgment. Allah, the Most Exalted has emphasised such fact for He says, “those who believed and were fearing Allah. For them are good tidings in the worldly life and in the Hereafter.” (Yunus: 63-64). On the same matter, the Messenger of Allah pbuh said, “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last day should fear Allah.”

Another righteous act through which the believer may seek the satisfaction of Allah the Almighty and His rewards is to follow the guidance of the Prophet pbuh. Allah has promised such believers with that which is good in the Last Day. The Most Exalted 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.” (Al-Ahzab: 21).

O Seekers of the reward of the Hereafter,

It is good to know that whoever desires a recompense from Allah on the Day of Resurrection is also urged to maintain the houses of Allah, establish prayer regularly, pay Zakat for their wealth and be mindful of Allah, the Exalted and Sublime. The Almighty has suggested that those doe so are the true rightly guided believers, for He says, “the mosques of Allah are only to be maintained by those who believe in Allah and the Last Day and establish prayer and give Zakat and do not fear except Allah, for it is expected that those will be of the [rightly] guided.”  (At-Tawba: 18).

In the same regard, Allah the Almighty 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]? Say, ‘Are those who know equal to those who do not know?’ Only they will remember [who are] people of understanding.” (Az-Zumar: 9). This means, those who are hopeful of attaining the mercy of Allah the Almighty, hence, they stand for prayer with complete submission and turn to Him seeking His forgiveness before dawn.

Moreover, amongst the other merits of believing in the Last Day and in the great rewards that Allah, the Most Merciful, has prepared for the true believers, being Paradise as perpetual abode, is that it is also conducive to motivate the believer to turn to their Lord in supplication and earnestly ask Him for the best of rewards in this life and the next. Allah the Almighty has described the supplications of His believing servants who said, “our Lord, forgive us our sins and the excess [committed] in our affairs.” (Al Imran: 147). The Most Giving has responded to their supplications and generously rewarded them as accentuated in this Aya: “so Allah gave them the reward of this world and the good reward of the Hereafter. And Allah loves the doers of good.” (Al Imran: 148).

O Worshipers,

One other virtue of belief in the Last Day is that it boosts the believer’s interest in embracing the best of manners and the finest of behaviours. Such manners include showing humbleness and modesty for the sake of attaining the reward of the Hereafter. Allah, the Exalted is He, has prepared the Gardens of Pleasure in the Hereafter for His servants who humble themselves for His sake. The Almighty says, “that home of the Hereafter We assign to those who do not desire exaltedness upon the earth or corruption. And the [best] outcome is for the righteous.” (Al-Qasas: 83).

In like manner, treating neighbours in kindness, showing hospitality with visitors, saying that which is good to all people, are amongst the righteous deeds that may lead the believer to earn the fullest recompense in the Hereafter. The Messenger of Allah pbuh has put emphasis on this as he said, “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should treat his neighbour well, and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should entertain his guest generously; and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should talk what is good or keep quiet.”

Similarly, those who seek the greatest of rewards in the next life should honour the ties of kinship, following the guidance of the Messenger of Allah pbuh as he said, “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, should unite the bond of kinship (i.e. keep good relation with his kith and kin).”

Bearing this in mind, let us pray to Allah the Almighty to make us amongst His true believers, those who will attain His great rewards in this worldly life and in the Hereafter.

May Allah, the Most Exalted, guide us all to obey Him and obey His Messenger Muhammad pbuh and obey those He have commanded us to obey in line with His orders: “O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority amongst 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, abundant, good and blessed praise as our Lord loves and is pleased with. 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 those believers who show kindness towards others will, by Allah’s grace, attain the Kindness of Allah the Almighty on the Day of Judgment. The Messenger of Allah pbuh said in this regard, “The people of kindness in this world are the people (who will attain Allah’s) kindness in the Hereafter.” Indeed, being righteous, showing kindness to people, treating them with tolerance and alleviating the distress of those who are in hardship are amongst the righteous deeds that Allah the Almighty has made a cause for concealing the faults of and making it easy on the doers of good in this life and the next. The Messenger of Allah pbuh said, “Whoever alleviates the need of a needy person, Allah will alleviate his needs in this world and the Hereafter. Whoever shields [or hides the misdeeds of] a Muslim, Allah will shield him in this world and the Hereafter.” 

On the same matter, Allah the Most High says, “for those who do good in this world is good; and the home of the Hereafter is better. And how excellent is the home of the righteous.” (An-Nahl: 30). The Exalted is He also says, “and indeed, the Hereafter - that is the home of [permanent] settlement. Whoever does an evil deed will not be recompensed except by the like thereof; but whoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer - those will enter Paradise, being given provision therein without account.” (Ghafir: 39-40).

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 wellbeing. 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.