Double reward

First Sermon

All praise is due to Allah, the Exalted in Might, the Most Generous. He is the Bestower of abundant favours. He multiplies the good deeds for whom He wills amongst His servants and increases for them their rewards. I bear witness that there is no deity save Allah, having no associates. He is the Possessor of favours, exalted is His glory and Holy is His perfection. 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 Almighty, in line with His orders, “O you who have believed, if you fear Allah , He will grant you a criterion and will remove from you your misdeeds and forgive you. And Allah is the possessor of great bounty.” (Al-Anfal: 29).

O Worshipers,

Allah has made many good deeds for us and promised to reward us for them generously. The Almighty says, “indeed, Allah does not do injustice, [even] as much as an atom’s weight; while if there is a good deed, He multiplies it and gives from Himself a great reward.” (An-Nisaa: 40).  That is to say: not only Allah the Almighty does not allow the good deeds of the believer to be lost, but He also multiplies their rewards for such deeds. So, when the believer performs a good deed, Allah multiplies it and increases its recompense for them.

On this account, in his narration about his Lord, the Exalted is He, the Prophet pbuh said, “Allah ordered (the appointed angels over you) that the good and the bad deeds be written, and He then showed (the way) how (to write). If somebody intends to do a good deed and he does not do it, then Allah will write for him a full good deed (in his account with Him); and if he intends to do a good deed and actually did it, then Allah will write for him (in his account) with Him (its reward equal) from ten to seven hundred times to many more times; and if somebody intended to do a bad deed and he does not do it, then Allah will write a full good deed (in his account) with Him, and if he intended to do it (a bad deed) and actually did it, then Allah will write one bad deed (in his account).”

Allah the Almighty has urged His servants to do good and righteous acts frequently and promised them to increase their recompense in return. The Exalted is He says, “whoever comes [on the Day of Judgement] with a good deed will have ten times the like thereof [to his credit].” (Al-Anaam: 160). This means, the doer of good will be recompensed ten times the like of the good deed that he has done. On the same account, the Almighty says, “and whoever commits a good deed - We will increase for him good therein. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Appreciative.” (Ash-Shoora: 23).

So, Allah, the Most Exalted, gives good tidings to those amongst His servants who believe and adhere to His ordains that they will rejoice gardens of pleasure, multiplied rewards and honouring on the Day of Judgement. In addition to that, Allah the Almighty is Forgiving and Appreciative; He forgives many misdeeds and multiplies the little good ones many folds. As such, He conceals the wrong doings of His servants, forgives them and increases rewards in appreciation of righteousness. The Most Merciful doubles the reward for good deeds many folds, for He says, “and Allah multiplies [His reward] for whom He wills. And Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing.” (Al-Baqara: 261).

Indeed, the generosity of Allah the Most Exalted is vast in recompensing the true believers. He gives from Himself great rewards to whoever He wills amongst them as illustrated in this Aya: “that is the bounty of Allah, which He gives to whom He wills, and Allah is the possessor of great bounty.” (Al-Jumaa: 4).

Dear Muslims,

Knowing this, it is good to advise each other on the deeds for which Allah the Almighty doubles the rewards. Undoubtedly, belief in Allah, the Exalted is He, is greatly rewarded, so is the case for performing acts of righteousness. Whoever truly believes in their Lord and draws nearer to Him by performing acts of obedience will definitely attain doubled rewards. Allah the Almighty says, “and it is not your wealth or your children that bring you nearer to Us in position, but it is [by being] one who has believed and done righteousness. For them there will be the double reward for what they did, and they will be in the upper chambers [of Paradise], safe [and secure].” (Sabaa: 37). This means the reward of the good deeds will be ten times to seven hundred times for each one of them. The doers of good will also be admitted to the upper houses of Paradise, wherein they will be safe of any kind of distress, fear, harm or any act of evil.

More to this, mindfulness of Allah the Almighty is another deed that is double rewarded. The believer who is conscious of Allah believes that Allah is ever watching over them and, thus, protect themselves from disobeying His commands. At the same time, heedfulness of Allah the Almighty is a cause for adhering to Allah’s ordains, avoiding doing what He has prohibited and following the guidance of His Messenger pbuh. This is why they get double rewarded. The Most High says, “O you who have believed, fear Allah and believe in His Messenger; He will [then] give you a double portion of His mercy and make for you a light by which you will walk and forgive you; and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.” (Al-Hadeed: 28). That is to say: He will give you double the reward.

O Servants of Allah,

Amongst the other deeds that are rewarded by multiples on the Day of Judgment is Quran recitation. For every letter of the holy Quran that the believer recites a good deed will be recorded for him and Allah the Most Gracious will reward him ten times the like of it. This was accentuated by the Messenger of Allah pbuh as he said, “Whoever recites a letter from Allah’s Book, then he receives the reward from it, and the reward of ten the like of it. I do not say that Alif Lam Mim is a letter, but Alif is a letter, Lam is a letter and Mim is a letter.”

In this context, those who find it difficult to recite the Quran and try hard to do that will receive double reward thereof. The Messenger of Allah pbuh said, “The one who recites the Quran and stumbles over it, finding it difficult, will have a double reward.” This means he will receive a reward for recitation and another reward for trying his best to recite it in the most appropriate way possible.

Another great deed for which Allah the Almighty grants multiple rewards is prayer. Those who establish the five prayers on their prescribed times and perfect them in the best way possible will attain such multiplied rewards. This is because Allah the Most Exalted has prescribed fifty prayers for Muslims during the Prophet’s night journey and then reduced them to five, but made them equal to fifty in reward. An illustration of this can be seen in this Hadith: the Messenger of Allah pbuh said, “I was addressed by Allah: ‘I have decreed My Obligation and have reduced the burden on My slaves, and I shall reward a single good deed as if it were ten good deeds.”

You are, therefore, advised, O Servants of Allah, to strive in offering the prayers at their prescribed times, especially the Asr prayer, for Allah the Almighty gives double reward for those who observe it regularly on its time. In this regard, it was narrated that Abu Basra Al Ghifari, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “The Messenger of Allah pbuh led us in Al Asr prayer and he said, ‘This prayer was enjoined upon those who came before you, but they neglected it. Whoever prays it regularly will have a two-fold reward’.”

Bearing this in mind, let us pray to Allah the Almighty to grant us success to perform the most beneficial of deeds in effect and the best of them in reward. 

May Allah guides us all to obey Him and obey His Messenger Muhammad pbuh and obey those He has commanded us to obey in line with Your 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. I praise You as befitting to Your Sublime Countenance and Supreme Status. 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,

Sadaqa (spending for charity) is one righteous deed that Allah, the Most Beneficent double its rewards. All the Almighty says, “indeed, the men who practice charity and the women who practice charity and [they who] have loaned Allah a goodly loan - it will be multiplied for them, and they will have a noble reward.” (Al-Hadeed: 18). Not only Allah the Most Gracious multiplies the rewards of this act of goodness in the Hereafter, but recompenses those who practice it in this world too. The Exalted is He says, “who is it that would loan Allah a goodly loan so He will multiply it for him and he will have a noble reward?” (Al-Hadid: 11). In another place in the holy Quran, the All-High also says in the same regard, “who is it that would loan Allah a goodly loan so He will multiply it for him many times over?” (Al-Baqara: 245).

More to the point, giving alms to relatives has two-fold reward as the Prophet pbuh said, “Giving charity to a poor person is charity, and (giving) to a relative is two things, charity and upholding the ties of kinship.” In this sense, a husband is amongst the relatives who are more entitled to receive acts of kindness. Thus, the wife who perfects her worship to her Lord, strives in taking care of her household and helps her husband will, by Allah’s favour, receive double reward.

On this account, it was narrated that Zainab, wife of Abdullah Ibn Masood, said, “Bilal came out and we said to him, ‘Go to the Messenger of Allah pbuh and inform him that there are two women at the door asking him whether it will serve them to give Sadaqa to their spouses and to orphans who are under their charge, but do not inform him who we are.’ Bilal went to the Messenger of Allah pbuh and asked him and he said, ‘There are two rewards for them, the reward of maintaining ties of kinship and the reward of Sadaqa.” The reason is that this act is conducive to strengthen affection and love between husband and wife, boost harmony and happiness amongst the members of the family and enhance stability in the society.