All praise is due to Allah. He completed His favour upon us and perfected for us His religion. 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 was the best of those who performed Hajj and Umrah, remembered Allah and were grateful of His favours. 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, so as to win His Paradise as our eternal dwelling. The Almighty says, "but those who have feared their Lord - for them are chambers, above them chambers built high, beneath which rivers flow. [This is] the promise of Allah. Allah does not fail in [His] promise." (Az-Zumar: 20).

O Believers,

The Day of Arafah is a great one that Allah, the Almighty, has prescribed and attributed a gracious status to it. In an indication of its glorious status, the Most Exalted swore by it as He says, "and [by] the witness and what is witnessed." (Al-Burooj: 3).

In this Aya, the witness is Friday and the witnessed is the Day of Arafah on which Allah, the Most High perfected His religion and completed His favour upon us. It was on the witnessed site of Arafah where Allah sent down the following Aya to His noble Prophet pbuh, "this day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favour upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion." (Al-Maaida: 3).

On this account, Umar ibn Al Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "(this Aya) was revealed to the Prophet pbuh on the Day of Arafah on Friday."

In the Day of Arafah, Allah, the Most Sublime, praises his servants and forgives their sins. Thus, on no other day does the Satan feel as belittled, humiliated, and angry as he does on this sacred day. The reason for this is the mercy of Allah that descends in this day and the forgiveness that He grants to people for major sins. This is because the Satan seeks to spread animosity amongst people in order to make them fall in major sins. In the following Aya, Allah, the Almighty, warns people about this as He says, "and tell My servants to say that which is best. Indeed, Satan induces [dissension] among them. Indeed Satan is ever, to mankind, a clear enemy." (Al-Israa: 53). The Most Exalted also says, "Satan threatens you with poverty and orders you to immorality, while Allah promises you forgiveness from Him and bounty. And Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing." (Al-Baqara: 268).

O Servants of Allah,

Having known the gracious standing of the Day of Arafah, one should strive to attain its virtues. This can be possible by seizing the opportunity in each minute of this blessed day to engage in acts of worship so as to win Allah's forgiveness and mercy. As such, we should spend this whole sacred day in supplicating to Allah, the Almighty, as advocated by the Prophet pbuh when he said, "The best of supplication is the supplication of the Day of Arafah. And the best of what I and the Prophets before me have said is: 'There is no deity save Allah, having no associates. To Him belongs all that Dominion, and to Him all the Praise is due. And He is over all things competent."

Amongst the best of supplications on this day is to pray to Allah to bestow His blessings upon us, our families, our homeland, our rulers and all the Muslims around the world.

One of the noble scholars said in this regard, "The Day of Arafah is amongst the best days of the year for supplication." In this day, we supplicate humbly, assured that Allah will answer our prayers. The Messenger of Allah pbuh said, "Hearts are like containers. Some are larger than the others. So, when you ask Allah, the Most Exalted, put trust in Him, for Allah does not accept the supplication of the inattentive, heedless heart."

O People of Dhikr,

Please know that on the Day of Arafah, it is also recommended to recite the Quran and remember Allah much for this is a cause for winning His Paradise as an eternal dwelling. It was narrated that Muaadh ibn Jabal, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "There is nothing that brings more salvation from the punishment of Allah than the remembrance of Allah the Most Exalted." In this sense, reciting the holy Quran is the best of Dhikr.

Amongst the other acts that draw us closer to Allah, the Almighty, is to perform the Sunna and Nawafil prayers. This way, we will achieve Allah's satisfaction and earn His gracious rewards and favours.

It so happens that people get occupied with worldly life matters that might take a great portion of their day. In such cases, the best act of worship that covers the whole Day of Arafah is fasting. On this account, when the Prophet pbuh was once asked about fasting on this glorious day, he said, "Fasting on the Day of Arafah is an expiation for the preceding year and the coming one."

It is really such a great reward and generous giving that we should strive to grasp.

Dear Muslims,

One of the signs of goodness in this glorious day is the gathering of pilgrims from all around the world in one place and at the same time. On the Day of Arafah, Allah, the Creator of all Creation, gathers Muslims together for them to draw a lesson in achieving unity and harmony as well as promoting the values of tolerance and forbearance. They also learn to avoid disagreement and enmity for Allah, the Most Forgiving, delays His forgiveness for those who are in disagreement, so He tells His noble angels: "delay these two until their issues are reconciled."

What a generous day; it is a day for settling problems and strengthening our relationship with Allah, the Almighty, and with other people through respecting their rights that Allah has ordained and His Messenger pbuh has advised in his farewell speech. In his final speech, the Prophet pbuh asked his companions, "Do you know what day is today? Do you know which month is this month? And do you know what town is this town?" He then said, "Allah has made your blood, your properties and your honour Sacred to one another (i.e. Muslims) like the sanctity of this day of yours in this month of yours, in this town of yours."



In this Hadith, the Prophet pbuh prohibited blood shedding, disgracing honour and assaulting others' properties. Indeed, those are the higher objectives of Islam. Islam strengthens the foundations of peace around the globe and urges for human co-existence so that welfare and stability would prevail. Truly, our religion seeks the safety of all people around the world and mercy for all is one of its great objectives.

Let us, therefore, grab the opportunity on the Day of Arafah and engage in acts of obedience to our Lord and strengthen our ties with the members of our community.

With this in mind, we beseech Allah, the Almighty, to bring together our hearts, expand our breast and bless us with His forgiveness. May Allah grant us success to do that which attains His satisfaction and realise our aspirations.

O Allah, we implore to You to accept from the pilgrims their pilgrimage and help them to return to their homeland safely.

We implore to Allah the Almighty 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 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,

Please be aware, O Worshipers that the most important thing we should advise each other about is obeying Allah, the Most Glorious, and know that the Day of Arafah is one in which we rejoice the mercy of our Lord, His favours upon us and his forgiveness. The Messenger of Allah pbuh said, "The Day of Arafah, the day of Sacrifice and the day of Tashriq are our festival, the people of Islam."

About the Day of Sacrifice, Allah, the Almighty, enjoined His Messenger pbuh to establish the prayer and then attend to his sacrifice. He says, "indeed, We have granted you, [O Muhammad], al-Kawthar. So pray to your Lord and sacrifice [to Him alone]. Indeed, your enemy is the one cut off." (Al-Kawthar: 1-3).

Al Kawthar is a river in Paradise about which the Prophet pbuh said, "It is a river which my Lord, the Exalted, has promised (to grant) me in Paradise: there is abundance of good in it and upon it there is a pond which my people will approach on the Day of Resurrection. There are vessels as numerous as stars (in the sky)."

Concerning the second verse "so pray to your Lord and sacrifice," it refers to Eid prayer and sacrifices. The Prophet pbuh used to establish Eid prayer and then slaughter the sacrifice.

That is said, please bear in mind that you are instructed to invoke peace and blessings on the Prophet pbuh. The Messenger of Allah 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 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, O the Most Gracious the Most Forgiving.

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 the Muslim countries with stability and peace.

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

O Allah, we ask your grace to continue blessing us with Your favours, grant success to our children and guide our youths to the righteous path. May Allah also protect our spouses, bless our offspring, bring our hearts together and expand our breast, O the Lord of the Worlds.

O Allah, may we ask You for all that is good, in this world and in the Hereafter. O Allah, we seek Your grace to admit us, our parents, whoever has done a favour to us and all Muslims to Your Paradise.

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 our parents, relatives and whoever has done a favour to us.

May Allah accept from all those who pay Zakat, compensate for them and bless their provisions.



O Allah, we pray to You to grant Your forgiveness and reward to who built this mosque and to his or her parents as well as to anyone who gave to this mosque.

O Allah, we also supplicate to You to forgive whoever built a mosque where Your name is remembered or donated a Waqf that goes for the best interest of Your servants or the benefit of their offspring.

O Allah, make this gathering one of compassion, and our dispersion after it one that is infallible. O Allah, do not let anyone amongst us be deprived or desperate.

We pray to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, to protect the UAE against any of temptations, both apparent and hidden, and continue blessing the UAE with safety and security.

Our Lord, give us in this world that which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the torment of the Fire.

O Servants of Allah "indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded." (An-Nahl: 90).

Remember Allah and He will remember you. Be grateful of His benevolence and He will increase His blessings to you. Allah says, "and establish prayer. Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, and the remembrance of Allah is greater. And Allah knows that which you do." (Al-Ankaboot: 45).