All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. He enjoined upon us to embrace the best manners. 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: "but if you do good and fear Allah - then indeed Allah is ever, with what you do, Acquainted." (An-Nisaa: 128).

O Worshipers,

Good ethics are the foundation for building the society, one that aims for promoting love and brotherly relationships and pursues development and prosperity. Indeed, with good morals communities advance and civilisations thrive. This is why the noble Messengers and Prophets, throughout history, were sent with a mission of establishing firmly honourable morality and promoting good moral values. As part of achieving such a message and instilling good morals, they urged people to seek knowledge.

Such importance that has been given to good manners is exemplified in the saying of the Prophet Yusuf puh to his brothers in which he elevates highly the value of tolerance: "He said, 'no blame will there be upon you today. Allah will forgive you; and He is the most merciful of the merciful." (Yusuf: 92).

From this perspective, educators and those of intellect have given utmost care to academic curricula in view of their key role in raising productive and knowledgeable generations who are aware of the essential importance and value of their life as well as armed with sound, enlightened and open way of thinking.

Education in its core is strengthening the most beautiful values and good manners in an individual so as to acquire the noblest norms such as honesty, sincerity, adhering to laws and regulations and respecting others, to mention just a few. Such values are conducive to purifying the soul and cleansing the heart. Allah, the Almighty, says, "he has succeeded who purifies it." (Ash-Shams: 9). That is, he has succeeded who purifies his soul with the obedience of Allah and adorns it with all the good conducts.

Throughout history, Arabs were known for their noble merits and great manners. Those include generosity, courage, chastity, magnanimity, helping the needy, high vigour, fulfilment of the promises, and keeping good neighbourly bonds, among others. When Islam came, it was aimed to strengthen such manners and further promote them in the community as illustrated by the Messenger of Allah pbuh when he said, "I was sent to perfect good manners."

Indeed, perfecting morality and enrooting it deep in man's soul is mercy for them in this world and a means for them to attain high standing in the Hereafter. Therein, one's status would be ranked according to the qualities one possesses.

Truly, the Prophet pbuh was the epitome of high morality and ethics. How could he not be so as his Lord specially praised him saying, "and indeed, you are of a great moral character." (Al Qalam: 4). This is why he pbuh is the right model for us to follow. Allah, the Most Gracious, says, "there has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern." (Al Ahzab:21).

A famous Duaa (supplication) by our Master Muhammad (pbuh) says, "O Allah, guide me to the best of characters for none can guide to the best of them but you, and protect me from the worst of characters for none can protect against them other than you." This is because good ethics are the foundation of every goodness and virtue. The Prophet pbuh said, "The essence of virtue is good manners."

In this context, virtue is honouring ties of kinship, being kind to people, choosing the good company and obeying Allah. Those qualities are the tents of good morals. It was narrated that Jaafar ibn Abu Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, illustrated the noble characters that the Prophet pbuh called for saying, "He ordered us to speak the truth, fulfil the trust, honour ties of kinship, be good to our neighbours and abstain from what is forbidden and blood shedding. He also ordered us to not to commit evil, nor to say false statements, nor to eat up the property of orphans."

In fact, those are such beautiful and noble manners and principles which should be embraced by the youths and promoted within the community.

O People of Good ethics,

Nurturing good conducts and noble values is a process that should starts at an early stage of one's life. It should start with one's early education, which in its essence resembles good manners and noble principles. Therefore, Islam has firmly linked knowledge with morality. Allah, the Most High says, "Moses said to him, 'May I follow you on [the condition] that you teach me from what you have been taught of sound judgement?'"(Al-Kahf: 66).

This Aya teaches us to be polite and behave modestly when talking to our instructors following the example of Musa who shows extreme respect to his instructor and asks his permission before telling him his request. Undoubtedly, when students are nursed to follow such conducts inside the school, these will become part and parcel of their character and, hence, reflect on their behaviour within their community outside the school.

In this context, the recent education initiative launched in the UAE to include a subject entitled, "Moral Education" in school curricula was based on the tolerant and noble teachings of Islam. It is aimed at creating and shaping balanced generations, especially at such times that the world is going through.

The integration of this subject into the national education curriculum will certainly support the educational process in creating future generations that are wise, pious and keen to preserve the authentic culture of the UAE and be guided with it. Such culture is deeply grounded on the values of tolerance, compassion and respect to others regardless of their colour, race and religion.

Such moral education is conducive to elevating our future generations to the highest levels of morality, especially as the UAE is unique in its cultural identity that is based on the principles of Islam and the values of its ancestors. This way, they will be further loyal to their nation and keen to boost its high standing and prosperity.

Furthermore, moral education plays key role in strengthening individuals' integrity knowledge wise, morally and intellectually. Eventually, this will reflect positively in their behaviour and dealings, setting thereby a good example for the generations to come. This way, our generations will be inspiring their present by their past while heading towards a bright future, proud of their religion and Arabic identity, yet showing respect to others.

Indeed, moral education plays fundamental role in the creation of men who will preserve the nation's culture and safeguard their country against its enemies.

With this in mind, 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 first thing we should advise each other about is obeying Allah, the Most Glorious, and supporting the efforts shared by the educational institutions that are aimed at creating and shaping future generations that are proactive and ambitious.

At such a stage, the role of family becomes more significant than ever. Allah, the Almighty, says, "and cooperate in righteousness and piety." (Al-Maida: 2). When parents support the school's efforts by striving to impart norms of good behaviour to their children and make efforts to educate them they will be cooperating in righteousness and piety.

The responsibility of upbringing children in a way to preserve our civilisation rests on the shoulders of parents. Late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may Allah rest his soul in peace, and his founding brethren who built the UAE have set an example for good manners and noble values. Thus, our youngsters should follow the model of their ancestors and embrace the best of ethics so as to be successful in this world and in the Hereafter.

Those who are well-mannered will, by Allah's grace, win people's respect in this life and be close to the Prophet pbuh in the next. About them, he pbuh said, "Indeed the dearest amongst you to me, and the nearest to sit with me on the Day of Judgment is the best of you in character."

In the same regard, scholars said, "The religion itself is entirely good character, so whoever surpasses you in character has surpassed you in religion."

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 beseech Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, to grant us success to be good in our character, words and deeds. O Allah, we implore to You to guide us to the best of manners.

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.

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).