All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. He created human beings, honoured them above all His other Creation and made their blood sacred to one another. I bear witness that there is no deity save Allah, having no associates. He is the Ultimate Sovereign, the Ultimate Truth, the Manifest. I also bear witness that our Master Muhammad is the Servant of Allah and His Messenger. He made him the seal of the Messengers. 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: "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 Most Exalted, attributed great sanctity to the human soul. This is because He created Man in the best of stature, gave him life and honoured him in the best manners of honouring. The Almighty says, "and We have certainly honoured the children of Adam and carried them on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what We have created, with [definite] preference. (Al-Israa: 70). That is, We have elevated their standing in honour and privilege above all other creatures.



Amongst the signs of such honouring that Allah, the Almighty, attributed to mankind is that He made their blood sacred and protected their souls. Allah, the Creator of All, has forbidden causing any harm to or assault on humans. The Originator, the Most Exalted says, "and do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden [to be killed] except by [legal] right." (Al-Anaam: 151).



Further stressing the sanctity of the human soul, the Quran mentions the first murder in the history of human beings and its grave results. The Exalted is He says, "and his soul permitted to him the murder of his brother, so he killed him and became among the losers." (Al-Maida: 30). This means the killer of his brother became amongst the losers because he lost his Hereafter for the sake of this world and introduced the evil tradition of murdering to the humanity.



As a result, he bears the burden of his crime and the burdens of whoever follows in his steps and commits a crime till the Day of Judgment. The Prophet pbuh said in this regard, "None is killed unjustly, but the first son of Adam will have a part of its burden because he was the first to establish the tradition of murdering."



Dear Muslims



Allah, the Most High, describes the crime of murdering a human being as a tremendous sin for He says, "whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land - it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one - it is as if he had saved mankind entirely." (Al-Maida: 32). This means whoever kills just one soul it will be as if he had killed the entire human beings on earth. Yet, whoever refrains from killing a person and protects his/her life out of fear of Allah, the Almighty, it will be as if he had saved the lives of the entire human beings in this world.



Indeed, in this Aya, there is an indication to the sanctity of the human life regardless of any colour, race or religion. Allah, the Almighty, says, "but whoever kills a believer intentionally - his recompense is Hell, wherein he will abide eternally, and Allah has become angry with him and has cursed him and has prepared for him a great punishment." (An-Nisaa: 93).



The Messenger of Allah pbuh further described the severe punishment for killing a human being as he said, "Whoever killed a person who is granted the pledge of protection by the Muslims shall not smell the fragrance of Paradise though its fragrance can be smelt at a distance of forty years (of traveling)."



O Believers,



Please know that transgressing the sanctity of human life is one of the gravest sins that invoke severe punishment and great disgrace upon its doer on the Day of Judgment. About this, the Most Exalted, says, "and those who do not invoke with Allah another deity or kill the soul which Allah has forbidden [to be killed], except by right, and do not commit unlawful sexual intercourse. And whoever should do that will meet a penalty. Multiplied for him is the punishment on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein humiliated." (Al-Furqan: 68-69).



On the same matter, the Messenger of Allah pbuh said, "A faithful believer remains at liberty regarding his religion unless he kills somebody unlawfully." This means a believer will continue to find ample scope in his religion as long as he does not kill anyone. Yet, if he sheds blood, then he would destroy his life the same way as he destroyed that of others.



For this reason, the divine decrees prescribed legal retribution for whoever kills a human soul. Allah, the Most High says, "and there is for you in legal retribution [saving of] life, O you [people] of understanding, that you may become righteous." (Al-Baqara: 179).



The aim of such rulings is to protect human beings from any harm or transgression. The Almighty says, "and We ordained for them therein a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds is legal retribution." (Al-Maida: 45).



Furthermore, the Prophet pbuh clearly explained the tremendous punishment that the murderer will face on the Day of Judgment as he said, "The slain will bring his killer on the Day of Resurrection with his forelock and his head in his hand, and with his jugular veins flowing with blood, and will say, 'O Lord, he killed me.'"



As such, Muslims well recognised that killing the life that Allah has forbidden is a great Fitnah. To this effect, Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "Truly, one of the worst dilemmas that one cannot find a way out of is shedding the blood that Allah has forbidden without justification."



This leads us to the fact that Islam is a religion of mercy, forbearance, love and peace. The Most Merciful says, "and We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds." (Al-Anbiyaa: 107).



With this in mind, let us implore to Allah to guide us to right path and make righteousness easy for us.



May Allah 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 Servants of Allah, that you are asked to obey Him the Most Exalted, and know that He has prepared severe punishment to those who violate the sanctity of the human blood. As evidence of this, Allah made bloodshed the first matter concerning which He will judge amongst people on the Day of Judgment. The Prophet pbuh said in this regard, "The first cases to be decided amongst the people (on the Day of Resurrection) will be those of bloodshed."



Reflection on all these sacred Ayas and noble Hadiths leads us to think about the reasons behind all those crimes that are being committed against the innocent people around the world these days. It also makes us wonder how all such blood-shedding is being done under the name of Islam, which prohibits it.



Indeed, it is right time now for one to think as to when those extremist groups will cease to exist and stop reaping the lives of innocent people.



We should also think about our responsibility towards our children and community amidst such circumstances. Undoubtedly, each one of us carries the responsibility of condemning such actions as well as protecting our children against such crimes and extremist ideologies that harm Islam and Muslims too.



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.



O Allah, we seek Your favour to make us amongst those who honour Your sanctities and abstain from committing sins and transgression.



O Allah, please also make us amongst those who will win Your Paradise as our eternal dwelling, O the Lord of the Worlds.



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).



---------------

Plea from Awqaf

To be delivered after Friday prayer 22/7/2016



O Servants of Allah,



In line with its keen interest in giving utmost care and support to the inmates and their families, the Ministry of Interior, represented by its Directorate General of Punitive and Correctional Establishments across the UAE, calls for reintegrating inmates within the community. It also stresses the important role played by the society in joining efforts aimed at rehabilitating, integrating and tarining inmates to qualify for work as active and productive citizens for the best interests of themselves, their families and homeland.



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.