All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him as befitting to His Sublime status and Supreme Dominance. We also praise Him the Most Exalted as befitting His Glory. 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, in line with His orders: "And it will be said to those who feared Allah, 'What did your Lord send down?' They will say, '[That which is] good.' For those who do good in this world is good; and the home of the Hereafter is better. And how excellent is the home of the righteous." (An-Nahl: 30).

O Observers of Fasting,

Allah, the Almighty, has chosen specific days to which He attributed many merits and virtues and blessed them with His unlimited mercy. Such days are the best ones for engaging in worship more than at any other time in the year. Thus, during such days, Muslims perform all worships that may draw them closer to their Creator and, thereby, attain His blessings and bounties. Amongst such days are the last days of the holy month of Ramadan. Indeed, those days and nights are the sap of it. Thus, whoever seeks to see his status elevated to the rank of the devoted worshipers and the obedient believers, they should be more diligent and show sincerity, submission and patience while performing their worships during them.

Allah's Messenger pbuh used to glorify the last ten days of Ramadan and give them a special status over the other days and nights of the holy month. This is because those days are overwhelmed with bounties and blessings. The Mother of Believers, Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her reported that the Prophet pbuh would exert himself in worship during the last ten nights more than at any other time. As such, he pbuh would stay up at night, spending the time in reciting the Quran. He recited the Quran with measured recitation. With each Aya where mercy is mentioned, he used to ask Allah for mercy, and whenever punishment is mentioned, he would seek refuge with Him.

Moreover, Our Master Muhammad (pbuh) was more persistent in waking up his family to stand up for prayer on the last ten nights of Ramadan than at other times. It was reported that Ali ibn Abu Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "the Prophet (pbuh) used to wake up his family during the last ten nights of Ramadan. So everyone, younger or older, would bear standing up for prayer."

Truly, from such practice, Muslims can learn to take care of their family members and hope for them all that is good. Every Muslim should encourage his family to stay up at night with him that they may, by Allah's Grace, win the great rewards granted for reviving those blessed nights. This way, the sentiments of faith will also spread in the house. It was reported that Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said, "when the last ten days of Ramadan came, the Prophet pbuh would stay up at night, wake his family and gird his loins."

This Hadith shows that it Muslims are advised to increase their acts of worships during the last ten days of Ramadan and revive their nights with prayers.

In evidence of this, the Messenger of Allah used to urge men to encourage their wives to strive in performing worships. He pbuh said, "When a man wakes up at night and wakes his wife up, and they pray two Rakaas, they will be recorded among the men and women who remember Allah much."

Indeed, when the two spouses pray together they fill their home with blessings and enlightenment. As such, they cherish the beauty of being close to their Lord, seeking His refuge for themselves, their parents and all of the believers. They will also rejoice the happiness of praying to Allah in the last hours of the night to grant all that is good for their offspring. As a result, they would live in a great blessing of tranquillity and mercy.



It was reported that Umar ibn Al Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, used to pray as much in the night as he could, by Allah's Grace. Then, at midnight, he would wake up his family and recite, "and enjoin prayer upon your family [and people] and be steadfast therein. We ask you not for provision; We provide for you, and the [best] outcome is for [those of] righteousness." (Taha: 132).

Truly, in these blessed nights there is a great opportunity of praying Qiyam (staying up at night for prayer) in line with Allah's orders to His Messenger as He says, "and during the night prostrate to Him and exalt Him a long [part of the] night." (Al-Insan: 26).

On another level, whoever prays with the Imam until he has finished, he will gain the recompense of praying the whole night. The Prophet pbuh said in this regard, "Whoever prays Qiyam with the Imam until he has finished, Allah will record for him the Qiyam of a (whole) night."

One way to benefit from the virtues of the last ten days of Ramadan is by performing a variety of worships such as Tasbeeh, prayer, Dhikr and Quran recitation. For instance, in this Aya, Allah, the Most Gracious, orders His Messenger pbuh to pray, saying "and mention the name of your Lord [in prayer] morning and evening." (Al-Insan: 25). In another Aya, He enjoins the Prophet pbuh to supplicate, saying, "and when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided." (Al-Baqara: 186).

On the same matter, the Prophet pbuh also said, "The supplication of the fasting person is never rejected."

Another way to seize the opportunity and take advantage of these blessed days is to keep the company of the righteous people. This is because their company is conducive to drive one's vigour to a higher level and reduce his weariness. This is why Allah, the Almighty, ordered our Master Muhammad pbuh to keep the company of those who are diligent in their worship, saying, "and keep yourself patient [by being] with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His countenance." (Al-Kahf: 28).

With this in mind, let us implore to Allah to accept our good deeds 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 Lord 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, dear worshipers, that the first thing we should advise each other about is obeying Allah and maintaining the value of giving and voluntary charity. By so doing, we will enhance the UAE's bright image and promote its well-recognised humanitarian role.

Today, we are celebrating the Zayed Humanitarian Work Day, which brings to our minds the noble principles and great values that were enrooted deeply in the UAE community by the founder of the UAE and builder of its civilisation, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may Allah rest his soul in peace, as well as his founding brothers. In Zayed's school we learnt the value of giving with all its humanitarian aspects. His giving exceeded all the borders and surpassed all the boundaries of nationality, faith, race, and colour. The UAE's generous hands reached all around the world following the guidance of the Prophet pbuh as he said: "There is a reward for serving any animate (living being)."



As such, the UAE set a precedent in giving and has become well-known for its humanitarian work. The Messenger of Allah pbuh said in this regard, "Whoever sets a good precedent in Islam, he will attain the reward for that, and the reward of those who acted in accordance with it, without that diminishing from their reward in the slightest."

That is said, please bear in mind that you are commanded to invoke peace and blessings on the Prophet pbuh, his family, companions and those who follow him for the Almighty says, "indeed, Allah and His angels sends blessing upon the Prophet. O you who have believed, ask [Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [Allah to grant him] peace." (Al Ahzab: 56).

O Allah, we seek Your Favour to make easy for us to perform the righteous deeds and guide us to the finest acts of goodness. O Allah, we implore to you to also grant us success to pray the nights of Ramadan out of sincere faith and hoping for Your reward, 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 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)