Think well of Allah the Almighty

First Sermon

All praise is due to Allah, the Most Generous, the Bestower of favours and bounties. Both His hands are extended to His Creation in all that is good. 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 High and 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 Worshipers,

Allah, the Exalted is He, created mankind and urged them to put trust in Him, return to Him in all their matters and think well about Him, being given many reasons to do so. Having confidence in Allah, the Almighty, reflects one’s belief in that He is the All-Merciful and His mercy encompasses all things. About Allah’s mercy, the Prophet pbuh said, “Before Allah created the creations, He wrote a Book (wherein He has written): My Mercy has preceded my Anger.”

Moreover, Allah, the Almighty, is the Most Powerful and nothing in the earth or the heavens can cause failure to Him. He is the Most Generous and no spending can ever make Him poor nor could His countless bounties upon His Creation ever be depleted. The Messenger of Allah pbuh described Allah’s never-ending favours as he said, “Allah’s Hand is full, and (its fullness) is not affected by the continuous spending, day and night.” That is to say: what is in Allah’s Hand does not decrease no matter how much provisions He bestows upon His Creation in the day and in the night.

He pbuh also said, “Do you see what He has spent since He created the Heavens and the Earth? Yet all that has not decreased what is in His Hand.” Indeed, Allah, the Most Exalted, is the Ever-Rich and the All-Merciful, the All-Powerful and the Ever-Firm.  

Dear Muslims,

Please know that part of faith is assuming good assumption about Allah, something that we should learn from the traditions of the Prophets and Messengers pbut. Indeed, thinking well about Allah, the Almighty, was one of their qualities. For instance, one can draw a lesson from the Prophet Ibrahim pbuh who, when he was leaving his home, said, “indeed, I will go to [where I am ordered by] my Lord; He will guide me.” (As-Saffat:99). Ibrahim pbuh had good thoughts about His Lord; he trusted that Allah, the Most Exalted, will make easy for him his affairs and guide him to the right path. Ultimately, his wishes were made true.

One more role model in this regard is that set by Allah’s Prophet Musa (Moses) pbuh. When he and his people reached to the seashore and the Pharaoh pursued them, the two companies saw one another, then the companions of Musa were afraid and said, “indeed, we are to be overtaken!” (Ash-Shuaraa: 61). However, Musa pbuh reassured them and said, “No! Indeed, with me is my Lord; He will guide me.” (Ash-Shuaraa: 62). Thus, Musa thought well about Allah, the Almighty, and trusted that He will save him and alleviate his hardship. His trust returned fruitful as Allah, the Most High, saved him and all of his companions. The Almighty says, “and We saved Moses and those with him, all together.” (Ash-Shuaraa: 65).

Moreover, the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad pbuh set a formidable example of someone who had true confidence in His Lord. He used to advise all his companions to think good of Allah, the Almighty. A good example is that when he was with Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, in the cave, Abu Bakr said to him, “If any of them should look under his feet, he would see us.” He pbuh said, “O Abu Bakr! What do you think of two (persons) the third of whom is Allah?” So, “Allah sent down his tranquillity upon him and supported him with angels you did not see.” (At-Tawba: 40).

Taking example of the Prophet pbuh, confidence in Allah was also the quality of his companions and the righteous people of that time. In this regard, it was narrated that Abdullah Ibn Masood, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “The best quality ever of a pious servant is to think well of Allah. And whenever a faithful servant assumes well about Allah, it will be his. Indeed all the goodness is in the Hand of Allah the Most Exalted.”  

Another example was Saeed Ibn Jubair, who supplicated to Allah saying, “O Allah, I ask you to grant me true reliance on You and good expectations of You.” This is because with good assumption about Allah, one’s heart gets assured, tranquillity get imparted into his soul and he will be granted all that is good. Truly, trust in Allah is a great blessing that opens wide doors for hope and welfare.

O Servants of Allah,

This calls for a question as to when should one think well of Allah, the Almighty? The answer to this question is that we should have a positive outlook about Him, the Most High, at all times and under all circumstances. Our Master Muhammad pbuh said, “Allah says: I am just as My servant believes me to be.”

On the same matter, a scholar said, “Part of assuming the best about Allah is to trust that He will answer your call when you supplicate to Him, He will accept your repentance when you sincerely repent to Him, and that He will forgive you when you ask for His forgiveness. This comes out of our belief that the Most Exalted is ever fulfilling to His promises.”  So, Allah will relate to the person the way the person expects Him to. When the servant pins his hopes on Allah and expect His mercy and bounties, his Lord will never disappoint him.

Bearing this in mind, you are urged to put your trust in Allah in all aspects of your lives, hoping for the best from Him and being positive that He will surely open for you he doors of His favours and endow His bounties upon you. Expect the best of Allah in all your matters so as to win His pleasure and succeed in what you do.

In like manner, if you are in hardship or grief, you need to turn to your Lord for help because He is seeing His servants and is Acquainted of all things. We should trust Him positively, and thereby be assured that He shall, by His grace, relieve our distress. The Most Merciful says, “Allah will bring about, after hardship, ease.” (At-Talaq: 7).

More to the point, our assuming the best about Allah really means pinning our hopes and expectations on Him. As such, when the servant beseeches Allah, he should truly believe that his call will be answered. This is why the Prophet pbuh said, “O people! When you beseech Allah in supplication, trust that He will answer you.” 

Therefore, one should always be positive and expect the best outcomes. At the same time, one should strive to perform all that is good for himself and serves the best interests of his community. In doing so, one should show diligence and optimisms for the Prophet pbuh liked the good omen.

Indeed, good omen is part of positivity, the latter being conducive to make individuals capable of overcoming challenges and wisely handling all issues. Optimism truly reflects in positive attitude towards life and resilience. A positive person always thinks well of Allah and trusts that all what He decides for him is for his good. This contributes to a healthy society where individuals enjoy high spirit and possess skills that help them achieve welfare for themselves and others too.

With this in mind we seek Allah’s grace to make us amongst those who think well of Him. O Lord of the Worlds, please make us amongst those who are sincerely reliant on You. 

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.

As to what follows,

Please be aware, O Worshipers, that the most important thing we should advise each other about is obeying Allah, the Most Exalted and Sublime, be confident in Him, take the necessary means and strive to perfect our work. In this regard, one of the righteous ancestors said, “If the believer thinks well of His Lord, he will perfect his work.”

Indeed, trusting in Allah reflects in resilience and positivity. A believer who thinks well of Allah will strive to do all that is good in this world and take provision of good deeds for the Hereafter, trusting that the Almighty will guide him to success and righteousness.

Scholars said, “One needs to show persistence in handling his affairs, having confidence in Allah and being assured that He will accept his deeds and will help him on the righteous path.”

You are, therefore, urged, dear worshipers, to assume good assumptions about Allah the Almighty. Yet while doing so, you need to be sincere and associate your trust in Allah with hard work. You are also responsible for nurturing the principle of thinking good about Allah in the minds and hearts of your daughters and sons.