Concise yet comprehensive Prophetic Hadiths

First Sermon

All praise is due to Allah Who sent His Messenger pbuh with guidance and clear truth, thus, he guided people to the straight path. 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. He called for the best of deeds and the noblest of words. 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: “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 Worshiper,

One of the special gifts that Allah, the Almighty, graced our Master Muhammad pbuh with was the “Jawami Al Kalim” – speech that was concise, yet carrying the most comprehensive messages. The Prophet pbuh said, “I have been given Jawami Al Kalim (comprehensive speech).” Examples on such inclusive Prophetic Hadiths are many, of them there are four that portray the civilised way of building the human personality and controlling the reactions of the heart, expressions of the tongue and inner attitudes in the relationship between a person and Allah, the Almighty, as well as his interactions with other people.

Let us look at the first one of those four narrations. The Prophet pbuh said, “The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended.” Interpreting this Hadith, scholars unanimously consented that it was a so great one so many of them said it constituted “quarter of all knowledge about the principles of Islam.”

This Hadith means that whoever performs an action for the sake of Allah, the Most Exalted, then he will be rewarded by Allah. Yet if a person’s action was intended for the sake of a worldly gain, then he will get what he intended. For this reason, Allah, the Almighty, enjoined upon His Messenger pbuh to devote all his work and life in the way of Allah. The Most Exalted says, “say, ‘Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds’.” (Al-Anaam: 162).

That is to say: My Lord ordered me that I should sincerely intend all my deeds and devote all my life for the sake of His satisfaction.

Indeed, intentions play a great role in attaining the rewards for one’s deeds. The Prophet pbuh said in this regard, “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).”

On this account, a scholar said, “Intentions to perform good deeds are beneficial even without the actions being taken.”

More to the point, in an indication to the great importance of intentions, whenever the Messenger of Allah pbuh urged his companions to do something, he always reminded them to do it with good and sincere intention for the sake of Allah. It was narrated that he pbuh once said to Saad Ibn Abu Waqqas, may Allah be pleased with him, “You will be rewarded for whatever you spend for Allah’s sake even if it were a morsel which you put in your wife’s mouth.”

Thus, each action, which is done at the free will of its doer, is associated with the intention of the doer. For instance, if the objective of a person from his job is to contribute to the development of the community, meet people’s requirements, relieve the distressed, or help the weak, then he will, by Allah’s grace, attain a great reward. He will also be amongst the best people to Allah, the Almighty, as the Prophet pbuh said, “The best of people are the most beneficial to mankind.”

O Servants of Allah,

With good faith and pure intentions, when one is set to perform an action, they should act upon the following Hadith, which is the second amongst the four concise ones we mentioned in the beginning. The Messenger of Allah pbuh said, “Both legal and illegal things are evident but in between them there are doubtful (suspicious) things and most of the people have no knowledge about them. So whoever saves himself from these suspicious things saves his religion and his honour. And whoever indulges in these suspicious things is like a shepherd who grazes (his animals) near the Hima (private pasture) of someone else and at any moment he is liable to get in it. (O people!) Beware! Every king has a Hima and the Hima of Allah on the earth is His illegal (forbidden) things. Beware! There is a piece of flesh in the body if it becomes good (reformed) the whole body becomes good but if it gets spoilt the whole body gets spoilt, and that is the heart.”

In this noble Hadith, matters are divided into three types: clear lawful actions, such as acts of worship, acts of goodness and embracing the best of manners. The second type is the clear unlawful matters that Allah, the Most Exalted, forbade Muslims to indulge in, while the third one is the doubtful things. Muslims should seek sufficient knowledge about such suspicious things before getting involved in them. By so doing, one will adhere to the guidance of the Prophet pbuh when he said, “So whoever saves himself from these suspicious things saves his religion and his honour.”

The Messenger of Allah pbuh, then, highlighted to us one of the most important parts of the human body, namely the heart, warning us that we should take care of and purify it, for “if it becomes good (reformed) the whole body becomes good but if it gets spoilt the whole body gets spoilt.” Indeed, well-being of the body is associated to the soundness of the heart, with the best cure for the latter being remembrance of Allah the Most Gracious (Dhikr) and avoiding envy and animosity.

In this sense, one of the key factors for perfecting one’s faith is to like for others what one likes for himself. This leads us to the third of those concise Hadiths in which the Prophet pbuh said, “None of you will (truly) have faith till he wishes for his (Muslim) brother what he likes for himself.”

This Hadith urges Muslims to strive to do all that is in the interest of people and conducive to helping them and touching their hearts with happiness. They should also show respect to one another so that they may become amongst those who are promised with Paradise. It was narrated that the Messenger of Allah pbuh said to one of his companions, “Do you like (to be admitted to) Paradise?” He said, “Yes.” So, the Prophet pbuh said, “Then you should wish for your brother (Muslim) what you like for yourself.”

Thus, if a true believer sought something for himself, he/she will definitely wish the same thing to be granted to their brother Muslims. The Messenger of Allah pbuh said, “Whoever would like to be taken far away from Hell and admitted to Paradise, let him die believing in Allah and the Last Day, and let him treat people the way he would like to be treated.”

An illustration such quality can be seen in the character of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, who said, “When I read a verse from the holy Quran and realise its importance, I would wish that all people should know what I know.”

Undoubtedly, a society in which members love one another, support each other and work for the best interest of the whole community, will be a coherent one just like the bricks of a wall, enforcing each other.

With this in mind, we seek Allah’s favour to inspire our soul its righteousness and purify it, for He is the best Purifier.

O Allah, we implore to You to guide us all to obey You and obey Your Messenger Muhammad pbuh and obey those You have commanded us to obey in line with Your 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.

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

O Worshipers,

The fourth of those concise Prophet Hadiths is the following: “A sign of one’s good observance of Islam is that he leaves that which does not concern him.” This Hadith forms a foundation of good manners and behaviour for Muslims. It emphasises that part of one’s true faith is keeping away from that which does not concern them, both in speech and actions. A good Muslim is he who minds his own matters, respects others’ privacy, does not interfere uninvited in others’ affairs and keeps silent unless there is something good to say.

On this account, a scholar said, “Verily speech is of four types: to remember Allah, read the Quran, be asked about knowledge and inform about it, or to speak about what concerns you in matters of your livelihood.”

More to the point, this Hadith teaches us that a person will remain safe as long as he is quiet, and if he spoke, his words will either be written for him or against him. Thus, one should be watchful over what he says so that he would speak only that which may bring good to others, otherwise he should keep silent. 

O Servants of Allah,

Let us at this point reflect on the great and noble values and principles that we can draw from those four comprehensive Hadiths. These noble narrations promote the significance of intentions, urge Muslims to seek the lawful sources of provision and choose the good and beneficial words of mouth. These words of wisdom also strengthen the relationship and boost affection amongst people, in addition to highlighting the importance of respecting the privacy of others.

Truly, the meanings included in those gracious Hadiths benefit mankind as a whole, as they set a comprehensive righteous approach and way of life.

Knowing this, you are, therefore, urged to follow those Prophetic teachings and teach them to your sons and daughters so as to be their guide to goodness throughout their lives. Ultimately, by following such Prophetic guidance, they will attain success and happiness in this life and the next and would be a source of pride for their community and homeland.

That is said, please bear in mind that you are instructed to invoke peace and blessings on the Prophet pbuh. He 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.

We beseech Allah, the Lord of the World, to make us amongst those who are sincere to Him, beneficial to His servants and devoted to all that good.