Friday Sermon-

Praising Allah

First Sermon

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. He bestowed His favours abundantly on us. I bear witness that there is no deity save Allah, having no associates. All the praises and thanks are due to Him. I also bear witness that our Master Muhammad is the servant of Allah and His Messenger. He was the best of all who praised Allah. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, his pure grateful family and companions, and all those who follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgment.

As to what follows,

O servants of Allah, I urge you and myself to be aware that you are asked to obey Him, the Most Sublime, in line with His orders: “and remember the favour of Allah upon you and what has been revealed to you of the Book and wisdom by which He instructs you. And fear Allah and know that Allah is Knowing of all things.” (Al Baqara: 231).  

O Worshipers,

Please know that praising Allah is a matter of showing gratitude to Him for the countless blessings He has granted us and appreciating favours He conferred upon mankind. Thanking Allah is also one of the finest worships. In every prayer Muslims recite Surat al Fatiha saying, “All Praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.” Thus the entire universe is submitted to Allah with thanks and appreciation. Allah, the Most Sublime says, “and to Him is [due all] praise throughout the heavens and the earth. And [exalted is He] at night and when you are at noon.” (Ar-Roum: 18).

Furthermore, praise is amongst the greatest things that Allah privileged Himself with for He says, “and He is Allah; there is no deity except Him. To Him is [due all] praise in the first [life] and the Hereafter. And His is the [final] decision, and to Him you will be returned.” (Al Qasas: 70). Indeed, all His creation exalt Him and give thanks to Him as He says, “the seven heavens and the earth and whatever is in them exalt Him. And there is not a thing except that it exalts [Allah] by His praise, but you do not understand their [way of] exalting. Indeed, He is ever Forbearing and Forgiving. (Al Israa: 44).

It is also good to know that Allah, the Almighty, ordered His Prophet Noah pbuh to praise Him as He says, “and when you have boarded the ship, you and those with you, then say, ‘praise to Allah who has saved us form the wrongdoing people.” (Al Muminoon: 28). Verily, all the prophets set the best role model for believers in praising Allah. For example, the following Aya shows that Ibrahim pbuh also thanked Allah for blessing him with Dawood and Isaac and said, “praise to Allah, who has granted to me in old age Ishmael and Isaac. Indeed, my Lord is the Hearer of supplication.” (Ibrahim: 39). In another Aya, we can see that Dawood and Sulaiman also showed gratitude to Allah by saying, “praise [is due] to Allah, who has favoured us over many of His believing servants.” (An-Naml: 15). Allah also commanded His Messenger Muhammad pbuh to praise Him for He says, “say, [O Muhammad], "Praise be to Allah, and peace upon His servants whom He has chosen.” (An-Naml: 59).

Likewise, angels are also amongst the creatures who glorify Allah, the Most Gracious, as evidenced in this Aya, “and you will see the angels surrounding the Throne, exalting [Allah] with praise of their Lord. And it will be judged between them in truth, and it will be said, ‘[All] praise to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.” (Az-Zumar: 75).

O You who praise Allah,

Please also know that Allah promised a great reward to those who praise Him as the Prophet pbuh said, “saying ‘all praise is due to Allah’ fills the scales, and saying ‘Exalted is Allah and all praise is due to Him’ fill, or fills, that which is between heaven and earth.” In this Hadith, there is an indication to the great reward of praising Allah, a reward that fills the scale of good deeds. It also means that if the reward of exalting and praising Allah was made into a physical entity, it would fill all the space between heaven and earth because such acts reflect glorification of and submission to Allah.

Indeed, thanking Allah is so blessed act that angels hasten to record it in one’s good deeds register. It was narrated that the Prophet was once praying and when he raised his head from bowing he said, “Allah listens to him who praises Him”. A man behind him said, “O our Lord! All the praises are for You, many good and blessed praises.” When the Prophet completed the prayer, he asked, “who has said these words?” The man replied, “I.” The Prophet said, “I saw over thirty angels competing to write it first.”

Further, explaining the importance of praising Allah, the Prophet pbuh said, “the best of supplications is: ‘All praise is due to Allah’.” This is because by supplicating to Him, one will be remembering Allah and seeking His help. Praising Allah embodies both and it is considered as the topmost in expessing gratitude. Additionally, it is greatly appreciated by Allah as the Prophet pbuh said, “Verily, the words liked most by Allah are: “Exalted is Allah and all praise is due to Him.”

From this perspective, the Prophet pbuh used to make the best use of his time in thanking Allah and glorifying Him. Thus, whenever he woke up from his sleep, he used to say, “all the praises are due to Allah Who has made us alive after He made us die (sleep) and unto Him is the Resurrection.” And after eating or drinking he used to say, “all praise is due to Allah, a praise which is abundant, pure, and full of blessings.” The Prophet pbuh emphasised the importance of praising Allah when he said, “Allah will be pleased with His servant who praises Him when he eats and praises Him when he drinks.” As for the end of the day, whenever the Messenger of Allah pbuh went to bed, he used to say, “Praise is due to Allah Who has given me sufficiency, has guarded me, given me food and drink, been most gracious to me, and given to me most generously. Praise is due to Allah in every circumstance.”

It is good also to emphasise that rewards by Allah are not only limited to thanking Him, the All-High, for all the blessings that He bestowed upon us, but also for doing so at times of calamity and distress. Whoever was tried by Allah and sought refuge with and thanked Him, he would attain His sublime satisfaction and forgiveness. In this regard, the Prophet pbuh said, “when a child of the servant (of Allah) dies, Allah says to the angels, ‘have you taken the child of My servant?’ they reply, ‘yes.’ Allah says, ‘have you taken the fruits of his work?’ They reply, ‘yes.’ So He says, "what did My servant say?’ They reply, ‘he praised you and mentioned that to You is the return.’ Then Allah says, "build a house in Paradise for My servant, and name it 'the house of praise.” That is because he did not complain about Allah’s will, but thanked Him and submitted that to Him is the return. Thus, Allah rewarded him by making Paradise his eternal dwelling..

O Worshipers,

Indeed, remembrance of the countless favours of Allah is conducive to helping us constantly show gratitude to Him. On this account, Allah, the Exalted is He, says, “and if you should count the favours of Allah, you could not enumerate them. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.” (An-Nahl: 18). Therefore, whoever was blessed by Allah with safety, stability, welfare and prosperity, it would be as though he possessed the whole world, as our Master Muhammad pbuh said, “whoever among you wakes up physically healthy, feeling safe and secure within himself, with food for the day, it is as if he acquired the whole world.” Indeed, there are countless blessings a person enjoys during the course of his life that many others are deprived of. So, it is such a beautiful thing that a man praises his Creator and thanks him for all the bounties He conferred upon him in both words and deeds. 

With this in mind, we implore to Allah to make us amongst those who thank You, praise Your blessings and appreciate Your favours.

O Allah, may You 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 Lords 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.

As to what follows,

O worshipers,

Please be aware that the first thing we should advise each other about is obeying Allah, the Most High, thank Him plentifully and praise Him for He deserves to be praised. By thanking Allah, His bounties and blessings on us will be increased and one can enjoy satisfaction and tranquillity. Amongst the things that will help us appreciate Allah’s favours and show gratitude to Him is looking at those who less fortunate. In this regard, the Prophet pbuh said, “look at those who are lower than you (financially) but do not look at those who are higher than you, lest you belittle the favours Allah conferred upon you.”        

Indeed, those who were thankful to Allah in this world would be amongst the greatest people in favour and the most rewarded on the Day of Judgment. On this account, Umran Ibn Hussain, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “please know that the best of people for Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, on the Day of Judgment are those who were thankful to Him.”