All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. He guides His obedient servants to His love and admits the doers of good to His Paradise. 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, for He loves His obedient servants. The Almighty says, "indeed, Allah loves the righteous [who fear Him]." (At-Tawba: 4).

Dear Muslims,

Allah the Most Exalted has urged us to show sincerity in His love, for He says, "say, [O Muhammad], 'If you should love Allah, then follow me, [so] Allah will love you." (Al Imran: 31). The Messenger of Allah pbuh also urged his companions to have a profound love in their hearts for Allah the Almighty and strive to draw closer to Him, the Most Exalted, by performing plentiful of righteous deeds.

In this context, many of the companions of the Prophet pbuh used to ask him about the deeds that are conducive to please Allah the All-High and help them to win His love. This calls for a question on the deeds that Allah, the Most Gracious, loves most and enjoins His servants to perform much. The answer to this question is that the actions that Allah the Almighty loves are many. Yet, the most important of such acts is to be steadfast in performing the prescribed acts of worship.

On this account, it was narrated that Abdullah Ibn Masood, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "I asked the Prophet pbuh: 'Which deed is loved most by Allah?' He pbuh said, 'To offer prayers at their early (very first) stated times'."

So, you are urged, O Servants of Allah, to maintain strictly your prayers, for Allah, the Most Exalted, says, "maintain with care the [obligatory] prayers and [in particular] the middle prayer and stand before Allah, devoutly obedient." (Al-Baqara: 238). Draw closer to your Lord by doing all acts of obedience that He loves. You can even go nearer to Him, the Most Exalted, by observing all kinds of Nawafil (supererogatory acts of worship), whether prayers, charity or any other acts of righteousness. While, so doing, seek the love of Allah, the Most Sublime, and the attainment of his guidance.

An accentuation of this can be seen in the following narration for the Messenger of Allah about the things that His Lord loves most. He pbuh said that Allah says, "And the most beloved things with which My servant comes nearer to Me, is what I have enjoined upon him; and My servant keeps on coming closer to Me through performing Nawafil (praying or doing extra deeds besides what is obligatory) till I love him, so I become his sense of hearing with which he hears, and his sense of sight with which he sees, and his hand with which he grips, and his leg with which he walks; and if he asks Me, I will give him, and if he asks My protection (Refuge), I will protect him; (i.e. give him My Refuge)."

Thus, whoever observes such acts of obedience and hastens to perform acts of goodness will, definitely, win the love of Allah and His satisfaction. As a result, Allah, the Most Compassionate will continue blessing them with His innumerable bounties. In this regard, it was reported that Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said, "The Prophet pbuh was asked, 'Which deed is most beloved to Allah?' He pbuh said, 'The most regular and constant deed even if it were little'."

In this Hadith there is an indication to the moderation that Allah the Almighty and His Messenger pbuh love. Such moderation is based upon persistence on performing obligatory acts of worship as well as working as much hard as possible in accomplishing Nawafil, doing good deeds and adopting the approach of easiness. This way, the Muslim can, by Allah's grace, achieve betterment through excellence in obeying their Lord, and ultimately win His love and satisfaction.

Dear Muslims,

Love of Allah the Almighty requires us to know and do what Allah loves. Thus, it is good to know that in terms of relationships between Muslims, Allah loves Ihsan (kindness or perfection). The Most Exalted says, "and do good; indeed, Allah loves the doers of good." (Al-Baqara: 195). The kindness that Allah the Almighty loves can be achieved through fearing Allah and being conscious of Him in all our word of mouth and deeds too. As such, when a Muslim should speak, one must say the best of words, and when carrying out a task, one must seek perfection and do it to the possible best.

Moreover, one should be kind towards others; give to those who are deprived, pardon whoever wrongs him, repel evil by that deed which is better, be patient and show persistence. While so doing, one should show persistence and seek the satisfaction of Allah and His love. Allah, the Most Exalted says, "and Allah loves the steadfast." (Al Imran: 146).

Amongst the other actions that are most beloved to Allah, the Almighty, is trusting Allah and relying upon Him, for the Almighty says, "indeed, Allah loves those who rely [upon Him]." (Al-Imran: 159). There is no doubt those who do their best, take the necessary means and rely upon their Lord, knowing that His arrangement is better that theirs, will cherish tranquillity and assurance of the heart. Truly, those are the fruits of treating others in the manner that Allah loves, showing them leniency and tolerance. The Messenger of Allah pbuh said, "Indeed Allah loves tolerance in selling, tolerance in buying, and tolerance in repaying."

Such tolerance entails that one should strive to be fair in all his dealings and avoid taking that which is not his right. Truly, such beautiful qualities are amongst those loved by Allah the Almighty, for He says, "indeed, Allah loves those who act justly." (Al-Maida: 42).

O Servants of Allah,

This a precious opportunity to also advise each other on the values and ethics that Allah, the Most Exalted loves. Such values include beauty. This was emphasised by the Messenger of Allah pbuh when a man asked him, "O Messenger of Allah pbuh! Verily, a person likes his dress to be nice and his sandals to be nice." Thereupon, the Prophet pbuh said, "Indeed, Allah is beautiful and loves beauty."



In this context, beauty should be manifested in one's words of mouth, deeds and appearance. The Messenger of Allah pbuh said, "Indeed Allah loves to see the results of his favours upon His servants." That is to say, in their outlook, good dressing and elegance. What more, Allah further loves to see the effects of His bounties to be reflected in people's hearts. This can be shown by thanking Him and acknowledging His favours. Allah the Almighty says, "and whatever you have of favour - it is from Allah." (An-Nahl: 53). So, one should be grateful to Allah the Most Giving for all His favours, whether small or big.

Urging for this, the Messenger of Allah pbuh said, "Indeed Allah is pleased with the servant who, upon eating his food or drinking his drink, he praises Him for it." Here, "pleased" means loves his servant to do so. In fact, thanking Allah for His bounties and recognising that whatever favours one has is bestowed by Allah and that all provisions are in His hand, is conducive to impart purity to the soul and heart, which will, in return, be filled with earnest love to Allah.

Such sincerity can be manifested in cooperation with others in all that which is good and performing acts of kindness. As a result, people will love one another and become amongst those whom Allah loves and thus raise their status in this world and in the Hereafter. In this regard, the Messenger of Allah pbuh related that Allah the Most Sublime said, "Those who love each other for the sake of My Majesty shall be upon podiums of light, and they will be admired by the Prophets and the martyrs."

With this in mind, let us invoke Allah the Almighty to grant that we love Him and love those He loves. O Allah, please make us love all deeds that may draw us nearer to Your love.

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 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 Who sent amongst us a Messenger from ourselves who recited to us His verses, taught us the Book and wisdom and purified us. 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 Exalted.

O Worshipers,

Excellence in observing the acts of worship, treating others gently and embracing the best of manners are qualities that contribute to strengthening the bonds of love and affection in the community and boosting harmony and consolidation amongst its members. By so being, one will win Allah's love and satisfaction. The Prophet pbuh said, "If Allah loves a person, He calls Jibril (Gabriel), saying, 'Allah loves so and so, O Gabriel love him.' So Gabriel would love him and then would make an announcement in the Heavens: 'Allah has loved so and-so therefore you should love him too.' So all the dwellers of the Heavens would love him, and then he is granted the pleasure of the people on the earth."

It such a great success to win the love of Allah and His servants too. You are urged, therefore, to strive in doing all that is beloved to Allah the Almighty, whether in acts of worship, dealings with people or manners. You should also nurture in the minds and hearts of your daughters and sons the love of Allah and guide them on the path to win Allah's love and satisfaction.

That is said, please bear in mind that you are instructed to invoke peace and blessings on the Prophet pbuh. Allah, the Most Sublime, says, "indeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, ask [Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [Allah to grant him] peace." (Al-Ahzab: 56).

On the same matter, the Prophet 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.

May Allah be pleased with the Rightly Guided Caliphs: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali, and all of the noble Companions.

O Allah, we implore to You to provide for us Your love and the love those whose love will benefit us before You. O Allah, please provide for us from what we love and make Your provisions a strength for us in what we love.

O Lord, we seek Your favour to make pardoning amongst our qualities, tolerance our character, compassion our inherited behaviour and giving our culture.

O Allah, please continue blessing us with happiness, tranquillity and welfare. Our Lord, please continue blessing our nation, houses, families and relatives with contentment.

May Allah have mercy on the honourable martyrs of our country and those of the coalition and gather them with the righteous. May Allah make their dwelling with the ones upon whom Allah has bestowed favour of the prophets and the steadfast affirmers of truth. Indeed, You answer to the supplications.

O Allah, please grant the best reward for the families of the martyrs and offer them patience and solace. May Allah grant victory to the soldiers of the Arab Coalition who gathered to restore the rights to their owners. O Lord, please be by their side and guide the Yemeni people to everything that is good. O Allah, make them rally for the word of truth and legitimacy, and bless them with welfare and stability, O the Most Generous.

O Lord, we beseech You to bless all of the Muslim countries and the whole world with stability and peace.

O Allah, we supplicate to You to make patience our way for achieving creativity, seeking knowledge, obtaining higher status and serving our beloved country as well as keeping its flag fluttering high in the sky.

O Allah, we seek Your grace to increase the UAE in delight and beauty and give the best of rewards and recompense to whoever sowed the seeds of goodness and welfare in it. Indeed, You are the Most Merciful of the merciful.

May Allah grant success and continued health and care to the UAE President HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. May Allah also ensure success to his Vice-President, trustworthy Crown Prince and his brothers, Their Highnesses the Rulers of the Emirates.

O Allah, please forgive all of the Muslims, men and women, living and dead. May Allah have mercy on Sheikh Zayed, Sheikh Maktoum and the Late UAE Sheikhs. O Lord, forgive and show mercy on them and bless them with Your kindness and satisfaction. O Lord, forgive and show mercy on our parents, relatives and whoever has done a favour to us.

We pray to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, to continue blessing the UAE with stability and welfare and bless its provisions. O Allah, please continue blessing the UAE with safety and security.

O Allah, please grant us wisdom in our speech and in our deeds. O Allah, please make us amongst those who fulfil their promises and are committed to their covenants. Indeed, You are the Possessor of Glory and Honour.

O Allah, we implore you to send upon us wealthy rain and make us not amongst those who are desperate. O Allah, relieve us! O Allah, relieve us! O Allah, relieve us! O Lord, provide us from the blessings of the sky a beneficial rain and make our crops grow.

Remember Allah and He will remember you. Be grateful of His benevolence and He will increase His blessings to you.

Please stand up for prayer.

-----

To be delivered after Friday prayer 27/10/2017

O Worshipers,

The Ministry of Health and Prevention, in cooperation with the Federal Authority for Competitiveness and Statistics, is conducting a nationwide health survey from 25/10/2017 until 31/5/2018. The aim of the initiative is to assess the availability and quality of healthcare services in the UAE.

As part of the survey, a national research and medical teams, carrying identification cards, will visit sample families across the UAE. Thus, we urge all people to cooperate with the field teams to ensure accuracy of the data collected.

That is said, we beseech Allah to confer His blessings and grant peace upon our Prophet Muhammad pbuh, his family and all of the companions.

- Note: Imam should read the announcement while standing and facing the worshipers.