On means of attaining the pleasure of Allah the Almighty

First Sermon

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. O Allah, for you is praise until it pleases You, and for You is praise when You become pleased, and for You is praise after You have become pleased. Exalted is You, we could never praise You enough (as You deserve), You are as You have praised Yourself. 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 him, his pure blessed family and companions, and all those who follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgment.

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, in line with His orders, “say, ‘Shall I inform you of [something] better than that? For those who fear Allah will be gardens in the presence of their Lord beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally, and purified spouses and approval from Allah. And Allah is Seeing of [His] servants’.” (Al Imran: 15).

O Worshipers,

The pleasure of Allah, Exalted is He, is an objective that is superior all other objectives and by attaining it one attains the highest of degrees that a believer can ever accomplish. Allah the Almighty says, “Allah has promised the believing men and believing women gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally, and pleasant dwellings in gardens of perpetual residence; but approval from Allah is greater. It is that which is the great attainment.” (At-Tawba: 72).

Indeed, for the people of Paradise, Allah’s satisfaction is more precious and great than all the blessings that they cherish therein. This can be seen in this Hadith: The Messenger of Allah pbuh said, “Allah will say to the people of Paradise, ‘O the people of Paradise!’ They will say, ‘Labbaik, O our Lord, and Saadaik (at Your service and pleasure), and all the good is in Your Hands!’ Allah will say, ‘Are you satisfied?’ They will say, ‘Why shouldn’t we be satisfied, O our Lord as You have given us what You have not given to any of Your other creation?’ He will say, ‘Shall I bestow on you something even better than that?’ They will say, ‘O our Lord! What else could be better than that?’ He will say, ‘I bestow My Pleasure on you and shall never thereafter be displeased with you’.”

The satisfaction of Allah is really amongst the greatest goals that one can ever seek to achieve. For this reason, the Prophets pbut strived to attain the satisfaction of their Lord and Allah, the Exalted is He, has mentioned them in His holy Book. For instance, the Almighty tells us that Prophet Mousa (Moses) pbuh has said, “I hastened to You, my Lord, that You be pleased.” (Taha: 84). That is to say: so that You may be further satisfied with me. Thus he pbuh hastened to attain the joy of meeting his Lord.

In another instance, the holy Quran tells about Prophet Suleiman pbuh supplicating to his Lord saying, “my Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favour which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and to do righteousness of which You approve.” (An-Naml: 19).

In like manner, our Master Muhammad pbuh used to supplicate to his Lord to grant that he attains His pleasure, and in His satisfaction he sought refuge from His punishment. In this regard, it was narrated that the Mother of Believers, Aisha may Allah be pleased with her, said, “I noticed that the Messenger of Allah pbuh was missing from his bed one night, so I went looking for him, and my hand touched the soles of his feet; his feet upright (prostrating), and he was saying, ‘O Allah, I seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your wrath, and in Your forgiveness from Your punishment. I seek refuge in You from You. I cannot praise You enough; You are as You have praised Yourself’.”

The Prophet pbuh urged Muslims to seek the attainment of the pleasure of Allah the Almighty as he said, “The servant (of Allah) continues seeking the satisfaction of Allah, so Allah says to Jibril, ‘My servant so-and-so seeks My satisfaction, so let My mercy be upon him.’ Thereupon, Jibril says, ‘May Allah’s mercy be upon so-and-so.’ Then it will be said by the bearers of the Throne and those who are in their surroundings until it is said by the people of the seven Heavens. After that it descends down to him on earth.”  Thereafter he will rejoice contentment and happiness amongst the people of the earth, engulfed with the care, mercy and approval of Allah the Almighty.

So, how can we attain the pleasure of Allah, the Most Sublime, and draw nearer to Him? The answer to this question is that in pursuit of this noble objective one needs to take a number of actions. The first one is to adhere to the teachings of the holy Quran and follow the guidance of the Messenger of Allah pbuh sincerely. The Most Exalted says, “there has come to you from Allah a light and a clear Book. By which Allah guides those who pursue His pleasure to the ways of peace and brings them out from darknesses into the light, by His permission, and guides them to a straight path.” (Al-Maida: 15-16).

In the above Aya, Allah says that He has sent His Messenger Muhammad pbuh with guidance and sent down the noble Quran to him. Thus, whoever adheres to the commands of Allah the Almighty and His Messenger pbuh shall, by Allah’s grace, win His satisfaction. You are urged, therefore, to obey Allah and strive in performing the prescribed acts of worship that you may attain the pleasure of Allah the Most Merciful.

The Almighty has praised the companions, may Allah be pleased with them, who worked diligently towards drawing closer to Him. About them, He says, “you see them bowing and prostrating [in prayer], seeking bounty from Allah and [His] pleasure.” (Al-Fath: 29). Here, Allah describes the companions as being bowing and prostrating, observing their prayers for the sake of His approval. In return, the Most Gracious shall grant them His acceptance and admit them into His Paradise as their perpetual dwelling. The Almighty says, “and those who followed them with good conduct - Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him, and He has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever. That is the great attainment.” (At-Tawba: 100).

O Seekers of Allah’s Satisfaction,

Please know that amongst the other traits that help the believer in attaining the satisfaction of Allah is honouring one’s parents. The Prophet pbuh accentuated this as he said, “The Lord’s Pleasure is connected to the parents’ pleasure.” Thus, the children are advised to ensure the satisfaction of their father and mother by treating them kindly, honouring them and embracing the best of manners that are conducive to bringing hearts close to each other and strengthening love amongst people. 

In this sense, the Muslim is required to be honest in his words and deeds, for those who are truthful are promised to enter Paradise in peace, attaining Allah’s satisfaction, and thus become pleased. The Most High says, “Allah will say, ‘This is the Day when the truthful will benefit from their truthfulness.’ For them are gardens [in Paradise] beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever, Allah being pleased with them, and they with Him. That is the great attainment.” (Al-Maida: 119).

On another level, Sadaqa (giving in charity) and spending to help the needy people and the less fortunate is another means of achieving the ultimate objective of drawing nearer to Allah the Almighty. Praising those who spend in charity, Allah, the Most Beneficent, says, “and the example of those who spend their wealth seeking means to the approval of Allah and assuring [reward for] themselves is like a garden on high ground which is hit by a downpour - so it yields its fruits in double.” (Al-Baqara: 265). This means, those who spend from their wealth aspiring the pleasure of Allah the Almighty, will, by Allah’s favour, attain multiple rewards; He will bless their provisions, be satisfied with them and give them from Himself a great reward.

Bearing this in mind, let us implore to Allah to provide for us Your satisfaction and help us to be obedient to Your commands. O Allah, we pray to You to fill our hearts with contentment, happiness and delight.

May Allah the Almighty 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 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 Lord of the Worlds. 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.

O Servants of Allah

I urge you and myself to be aware that you are asked to obey Him, the Most Exalted and Sublime, and know that attaining the acceptance and satisfaction of Allah the Almighty returns on the Muslim with many great fruits. The first of such outcomes is that Allah, the Most Merciful, will protect them and engulf them with His care in this worldly life. A good example on this is that when the believers obeyed the Messenger of Allah pbuh they were blessed by Allah “so they returned with favour from Allah and bounty.” (Al Imran: 174). 

Indeed, when Allah becomes pleased with a believer, He will give them without account until they become contented. The Most Giving says, “indeed, they who have believed and done righteous deeds - those are the best of creatures. Their reward with Allah will be gardens of perpetual residence beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever, Allah being pleased with them and they with Him. That is for whoever has feared his Lord.” (Al-Bayyina: 7-8).

Indeed, the recompense of those who aspire the pleasure of Allah the Almighty will be Paradise wherein they will abide forever with satisfaction. The Prophet Pbuh said in this regards, “Musa pbuh asked his Lord: ‘O Lord! Who is the lowest in rank among the people of Paradise?” He said, ‘A man who comes after the people of Paradise have been admitted to Paradise, and he is told to enter. He says, ‘How can I enter when they have gotten all of their abodes, and all that is to be had?’ So it is said to him, ‘Would you be pleased if you were to have what a king has in the world?’ He says, ‘Yes, O Lord! I am pleased.’ So it is said to him: ‘Then for you is this and its like, and its like again, and its like again, and its like again. At the fifth one, he says, ‘O Lord! I am well pleased.’ So it is said to him: ‘Then for you is this and ten the like thereof.’ So he says: ‘I am well pleased, O Lord!’ So it is said to him, ‘Indeed you shall have this, and whatever your soul desires, and whatever delights your eyes.’  So he says, ‘I am well pleased, my Lord!’

Then he (Moses) said, ‘(Which is) the highest of their (inhabitants of Paradise) ranks, my Lord?’ He (Allah) said, ‘They are those whom I choose. I establish their honour with My own hand and then set a seal over it (and they would be blessed with bounties) which no eye has seen, no ear has heard and no human mind has perceived.” So no soul knows what delight of the eye is hidden for them; a reward for what they did.