All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. He enjoined upon us to use our time in the best of ways. 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 Exalted, in line with His orders: "O you who have believed, fear Allah . And let every soul look to what it has put forth for tomorrow - and fear Allah . Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what you do." (Al-Hashr: 18).

O Worshipers,

Please know that time is amongst the most valuable things in man's life. It is one's lifespan and is related to his age. Accordingly, each moment that passes, it in fact reduces one's life and brings him nearer to term. This fact was put by Hassan Al Basri when he said: "O son of Adam, you are nothing but a number of days, whenever each day passes then part of you has gone.

Time is of great importance, a fact highlighted when Allah, the Almighty, has taken oath on it in many places in the holy Quran. For instance, the Most Exalted says, "by the dawn, and [by] ten nights." (Al-Fajr: 1-2). In another place, the Most High he says, "by the night when it covers. And [by] the day when it appears." (Al-Lail: 1-2). He also says, "by time." (Al-Asr: 1).

Indeed, time is amongst the greatest blessings that Allah, the Most Gracious has bestowed upon us. About it the Most Sublime says, "and it is He who has made the night and the day in succession for whoever desires to remember or desires gratitude." (Al-Furqan: 62).



To bonder on this issue, we should think on how to be grateful for the favour of time. One of the best ways to appreciate such bounty is to best invest our time in attaining great achievements and bettering ourselves. Thus, one should start every single day in a spirited and resilient way and, thereby be highly productive. This way, one will, by Allah's favour, be amongst the best of people. It was narrated that a Bedouin said to the Prophet pbuh, "O Messenger of Allah! Who is the best of people?" He pbuh said "He whose life is long and his deeds are good."

So, each one of us should recognise the value of their time and never waste even one minute of it without engaging in beneficial acts. To do this, a person should possess the skill to manage their time in the best of ways in order to achieve their goals or reach to their targets in timely manner. This way, time will be saved and best used in beneficial activities. The Messenger of Allah pbuh said in this regard, "There are two blessings which many people lose: (They are) Health and free time for doing good."

A loser is the one who sells some goods for a price that is less than their actual cost and undervalues a precious thing. In this Hadith, they lose because they failed to appreciate those two blessings as they do not realise their real value and, hence, do not fulfil their duties towards them. As a result, we see some people who waste time, about whom a poet said, "Time is amongst the most of your precious trusts, and yet I can see it the easiest for you to waste."

Truly, time a priceless treasure for those who use it well and a gracious favour for those who manage to advantage from it before it has gone. Consisting of just 24 hours, a day is limited, brief and fleeting. Thus, if we seize the opportunity and use it properly, it will bear witness for us before our Lord on the Day of Judgment. A scholar said in this regard, "No new day dawns upon us without saying: O people! I am a new day and I bear witness to your deeds. So, take provisions by best using me for once the sun sets, I shall never get back to you until the Day of Resurrection."

O Observers of prayer and time,



Please know that Allah, the Most Exalted, made time an opportunity for people to engage in good and beneficial actions. Respecting time is, therefore, one of the most important factors of success. Indeed, only those who keep good management of their time and strive to be useful for themselves, their homeland and the whole world are the ones who would attain glory and elevated standing.

Please also know that the foundation for nations' advancement and prosperity is the proper investment of each second of their members' time so that they realise grand accomplishments in record time. Ultimately, they serve the entire humanity, something that requires organisation and good management of time.

In this sense, we should think about how to best manage our time. Undoubtedly, proper planning is of great help in managing one's time in the perfect possible manner and achieving his goals. This requires full commitment to avoid wasting time and to finish tasks as per schedule.

Hence, a person who is well organised should allocate part of his time for his work, which would be indispensible. Another part must be assigned for the family, a portion that again cannot be misused. The Prophet pbuh said, "You have a duty you owe to your Lord, to yourself and to your family. So, you should give each one his right." Indeed, it is in this way that time is organised and not wasted.

From this perspective, it also should be emphasised that we need to respect others' time. This is possible by respecting timings and appointments, working hours, meetings, Majlises or any other kind of dealings with people.

Equally important, one must arrange priorities and organise daily chores and tasks. By so doing, productivity increases and, accordingly, growth and prosperity. A scholar said in this regard, "It is not permissible for me to waste an hour of my life. I would think even when I am resting or relaxing, so I would not get up without an idea to write down."

Throughout history, many nations developed and several countries prospered because their members succeeded in investing their time in the best proper manner. To this effect, a proverb says, "People would always think how to spend their time. Yet, the wise ones amongst them would always explore every avenue to best invest it."

Truly, civilised people are those who highly value their time and manage it well. To this end, not only they would perform their work to their best, but they would also strive to improve it. This would as well apply to all other things they do, be it sports, reading or any other kind of activity. This way, they would contribute to building their countries and, at the same time, expand their perceptions.

With this in mind, we beseech Allah, the Almighty, to bless for us our time and 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 first thing we should advise each other about is obeying Allah, the Most Glorious, and know that time is man's wealth. No matter how grand such wealth is, yet it would still be little. No matter how long the time is, yet life is short. It is, therefore, a must for each one of us to seize the opportunity and manage our time in the best way as we will all be accountable for it on the Day of Judgment. The Messenger of Allah said, "man's feet will not move on the Day of Resurrection before he is asked about his life, how did he consume it, his youth, how did he wear it out, his wealth, how did he earn it and how did he dispose of it and about his knowledge, what did he do with it."

In this sense, parents in a family are responsible to manage their time perfectly and teach their children to use a good deal of their time in studying and seeking knowledge. This is conducive to expanding their perceptions and growing their wisdom.

As for the remaining part of their children's time, parents should direct them to invest it in acquiring new skills, exercising to build their bodies and minds as well as in maintaining stronger bonds with their relatives. This can be achieved through exchanging visits with them. It was narrated that Abdullah ibn Masood, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "I hate to see a man living in leisure with nothing to do either for his worldly life or the next life."

In like manner, the school has an important role to play in instilling the quality of respecting time deep in the generations' minds. This is possible through good management of the students' time so that they use it in innovative works. Through such commitment, the community will prosper and happiness will touch the hearts of its members. This is because time management and organisation is the engine that pushes the wheel of production to its maximum capacity.

Each one of us is, therefore, required to ponder and think whether or not they give proper attention to their time and strive to use it in the perfect possible way. We should also reflect and see if we have succeeded in distributing our time fairly and in a beneficial manner between ourselves, our family, our community and our homeland.

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.

We ask the favour of Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, to make our times full of beneficial actions and grant us success to take initiative in performing all that which is good.

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.

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

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.

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).