On the enduring good deeds

First Sermon

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Earth and the Heavens. He urged us to perform plenty of righteous deeds. 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. He was the best of those who mentioned their Lord, the Most Exalted, and drew nearer to Him by observing acts of obedience. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, his family and all of his companions, and those who follow them in righteousness 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 Almighty, in line with His orders, “and fear a Day when you will be returned to Allah. Then every soul will be compensated for what it earned, and they will not be treated unjustly.” (Al-Baqara: 281).

O Worshipers,

Please know that all righteous good deeds are enduring for their doers in the hereafter and all righteous good deeds result in rewards for them. To this, Allah the Exalted is He says, “wealth and children are [but] adornment of the worldly life. But the enduring good deeds are better to your Lord for reward and better for [one’s] hope.” (Al-Kahf: 46). The enduring good deeds include all acts of obedience and all forms of acts of kindness that are conducive to draw the believer to their Lord. The ever-abiding good deeds are those whose virtues are permanent and their doers will be rewarded in return in the Hereafter.

Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, has interpreted Allah’s saying “Al Baqiyat As-salihat (the enduring good deeds)” as: “Dhikr (remembrance of Allah the Almighty), prayer, fasting, Hajj, giving in charity, keeping good ties of kinship, and all forms of righteous acts. They are everlasting for their doers in Paradise.”

In fact, Allah the Most Exalted has described these deeds as enduring because their rewards are enduring, and as good deeds because their rewards are abundant. The Almighty says, “and the enduring good deeds are better to your Lord for reward and better for recourse.” (Mariam: 76). That is to say: the best of deeds that bring to their doers great rewards and the best of those whose rewards are well-preserved till the Day of Judgment.

O Believers,

Dhikr is amongst the enduring good deeds. Its rewards are gracious in the sight of Allah the Most Generous. Defining the enduring good deeds, the Messenger of Allah pbuh said, “The enduring good deeds are: (the saying of) Takbir (Allah is the greatest), Tahlil (there is no deity save Allah), Tasbih (Exalted is Allah), Tahmid (All praise is due to Allah), and ‘there no might nor power except with Allah’.”  He pbuh further explained that Allah, the Exalted and Sublime, has selected these words for His servants and multiplied the rewards for those who are regular on reciting them. The Prophet pbuh said, “Indeed, Allah has selected from the speech four (statements): Exalted is Allah, All praise is due to Allah, there is no deity save Allah, and Allah is the Greatest. Whoever says, ‘Exalted is Allah’, twenty good deeds will be written in his record and twenty sins will be removed from it. And whoever says ‘Allah is the Greatest’ or ‘there is no deity save Allah’, he will attain the same (rewards). And whoever says, ‘all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds’ sincerely (from the bottom of his heart), then thirty good deeds will be written in his record or thirty misdeeds will be forgiven for him.”

Thus, with such great words, Allah the All-Merciful will remove the believer’s sins. The Messenger of Allah pbuh said in this regard, “There is not anyone upon the earth who says: ‘There is no deity save Allah, and Allah is the Greatest, and Exalted is Allah, and All praise is due to Allah, and there is no might nor power except by Allah,’ except that his sins shall be pardoned, even if they were more than the foam of the sea.”

Moreover, whoever recites these statements frequently will be protected from the Hellfire and, by Allah’s grace, will be admitted to Paradise as a perpetual abode. In this context, it was narrated that Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “The Messenger of Allah pbuh came out to us (once) and said, ‘Seek protection from the Hellfire; say: Exalted is Allah, and Allah praise is due to Allah, and There is no deity save Allah, and Allah is the Greatest, and There is no might nor power except with Allah, for these come on the Day of Resurrection (surrounding the believer from every side); the front, from behind, right and left. And, indeed, these are the enduring good deeds.”

This means, take protection from the torment of the Hellfire by reciting these statements of remembrance of Allah, for they are the ever-abiding righteous deeds that come on the Day of Judgment to testify for their doers from in front of them, behind them, on their right side, and on their lift side in order to shield them from the Fire.

Amongst the other virtues of the enduring good deeds is that Allah, the Almighty, will plant for the believer in virtue of each of them an ever-lasting tree in Paradise. This was accentuated by the Messenger of Allah pbuh as he said, “Say: Exalted is Allah, All praise is due to Allah, there is no deity save Allah, and Allah is the Greatest. For each one a tree will be planted for you in Paradise.” Such good trees will be ever-green and ever-blossoming; waiting from their owners in Paradise to come and pick their fruits and cherish their shade and blessings.

O Reciters of Dhikr,

It is also good to know that the Messenger of Allah pbuh has urged Muslims to celebrate the remembrance of Allah frequently and at many occasions. For instance, when the Muslim completes their prayer, they should mention Allah by reciting these great words. Our Master Muhammad pbuh said, “Whoever says, ‘Exalted is Allah’ thirty three times, ‘Allah is the Greatest’ thirty three times, ‘All praise is due to Allah’ thirty three times and then says, ‘there is no deity save Allah alone, having no associate. To Him belongs all the Dominion and all the praise is due to Him. He is over all things competent’ after every prayer, will have all his sins pardoned even if they may be as large as the foam (on the surface) of the sea.”

For another, when one goes to sleep, they should also recite these glorious words of Dhikr. The Prophet pbuh has once said to Sayida Fatima, may Allah be pleased with her, “Shall I not tell you of a thing which is better for you than a servant? When you go to your bed, say ‘Subhan Allah’ thirty-three times, ‘Al hamdu Lillah’ thirty-three times, and  ‘Allahu Akbar’ thirty-four times.” That is to say: the benefits of Dhikr and Tasbih are greater than the benefits of the servant. This is because their rewards are enduring and will be preserved till the Day of Judgment, while the benefits of the servant are limited to the worldly life.

Therefore, you are urged, O Servants of Allah, to celebrate the mention of Allah the All-High much and at all times, for His mention is light for the tongue, yet heavy in the balance of good deeds. It is most loved by Allah the Most Merciful and is our path to attaining Paradise.  

Bearing this in mind, let us seek Allah’s favour to make the balance of our good deeds heavy and raise our status in Paradise in degrees.

May Allah guide us all to obey Him and obey His Messenger Muhammad pbuh 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 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, the Lord of the Worlds. Exalted is He, He says the truth, and He guides to the [right] way. 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,

Allah the Almighty has bestowed upon mankind numerous favours. Amongst such favours is that He made for us seasons for performing acts of kindness. An example on this is the one of the blessed days that we are witnessing currently, being the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah, by which Allah the Most Exalted has sworn for He says, “by the dawn. And [by] ten nights.” (Al-Fajr: 1-2).  About these blessed days, the Almighty also says, “and mention the name of Allah on known days.” (Al-Hajj: 28).

So, let us show diligence during these days in performing acts of worship and draw closer to our Lord, the Most Exalted, by celebrating His remembrance and doing the enduring good deeds. During these days, one should perform every act of goodness that one can do, be it little or much, for indeed they are the greatest days in the sight of Allah the Almighty and the dearest to Him. The Messenger of Allah pbuh has emphasised this fact as he said, “No other days are greater (in status) in the sight of Allah, nor righteous work is dearer to Him in any other days than in these (first) ten days (of Dhul Hijjah). So, say plenty of Tahlil, Takbir and Tahmid during them.”

Truly, these words are the best of speech and the dearest to Allah. To this, the Prophet pbuh said, “The dearest phrases to Allah are four: Exalted is Allah, All praise is due to Allah, There is no deity save Allah and Allah is the Greatest.” So, let us pray to Allah the Almighty to guide us all to the best of deeds and the finest of manners. O Allah, we seek Your favour and generosity to make us amongst the winners of Your satisfaction.