All praise is due to Allah. He made the holy Quran guidance, cure and light for mankind. Indeed, in Quran there are lessons and guidance for those of understanding. 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 is the last of the Prophets and 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 High, in line with His orders: "Alif, Lam, Meem. This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah." (Al-Baqara: 1-2).

O Observers of Fasting,

May Allah, the Ultimate Sovereign, accept your fasting and your prayers at night. May Allah also accept your good deeds and your recitation of the holy Quran, about which Allah says, "and indeed, it is a mighty Book. Falsehood cannot approach it from before it or from behind it; [it is] a revelation from a [Lord who is] Wise and Praiseworthy." (Fussilat: 41-42).

Quran is the revelation of Allah and His guiding light. In it He tells us about the ancestors and those who will come after us. Indeed, in Quran is honour and glory for mankind as stated by the Almighty in this Aya, "We have certainly sent down to you a Book in which is your mention. Then will you not reason?" (Al-Anbiyaa: 10). In interpretation of this Aya, Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "it means in Quran is your honour."

We are blessed these days with witnessing the holy month of Ramadan, the month of Quran. In this month, Allah sent down His Book to the lower Heaven from a Preserved Slate wherein it is inscribed. The Most Exalted says, "indeed, We sent it down during a blessed night. Indeed, We were to warn [mankind]."

Allah, the Almighty, chose the Night of Decree to be blessed with the revelation of His Honoured Quran as stated in this Aya, "indeed, We sent (the Quran) down during the Night of Decree." (Al-Qadr: 1).

Jibril pbuh descended by permission of his Lord to reveal the Quran, enlightening, therein, the earth with the words of its Creator. During the month of Ramadan, the Prophet pbuh used to revise the Quran with Jibril. Iban Abbas, May Allah be pleased with Him, said in this regard, "Jibril used to meet him on every night of Ramadan and the Prophet pbuh would recite the Quran to him."

Quran and fasting have the common merit of interceding on behalf of those who are devoted to them on the Day of Resurrection. Thus, the fasting believer who also recites Quran will, by Allah's Favour, attain two intercessors; fasting will intercede for him for being observant of it, and Quran will intercede for him for reciting it at night. The Prophet pbuh said in this regard, "Fasting and the Quran will intercede for the servant on the Day of Resurrection. Fasting will say, 'O Lord, I prevented him from food and drink during the day, so allow me to intercede for him.' The Quran will say, 'O Lord, I prevented him from sleeping during the night, so allow me to intercede for him.' And they will be allowed to intercede."

On another level, the righteous people used to devote a great amount of their time in Ramadan for reciting the Quran. For example, Uthman ibn Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, was attached to the Quran so much so he said, "I do not wish a day or a night to pass without me seeing the words of Allah." That is: the Quran. This is because reading the Quran attentively is a form of worship that is rewarded.

Moreover, Imam Malik, may Allah rest his soul in peace, used to devote himself to reading the Quran during Ramadan.

O Reciters of Quran,

In the sacred month of Ramadan, we need to advise each other on how to live with the Quran. Living with the Quran is being diligent in reciting it and not letting our daily life responsibilities deprive us from the merits of the words of Allah. Contemplating on its meanings imparts tranquillity to our souls and minds for, indeed, its positive effects on its reader is tremendous. Allah, the Almighty says, "Allah has sent down the best statement: a consistent Book wherein is reiteration. The skins shiver therefrom of those who fear their Lord; then their skins and their hearts relax at the remembrance of Allah." (Az-Zumar: 23).

Truly, by reciting the Quran our faith will get further assured. The All-High says, "the believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, their hearts become fearful, and when His verses are recited to them, it increases them in faith; and upon their Lord they rely." (Al-Anfal: 2).

A good example on Quran's gracious impact is that Umar ibn Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, entered Islam when he read these first Ayas of Surat Taha, "Ta, Ha. We have not sent down to you the Quran that you be distressed." (Taha: 1-2). In this Aya, Allah, the Almighty, linked between the revelation of the Quran and the happiness of mankind.

Another example on the great effect of Quran on our souls is that Al Fudhail ibn Iyadh, may Allah rest his soul in peace, repented to his Lord when he heard the recitation of this Aya, "has the time not come for those who have believed that their hearts should become humbly submissive at the remembrance of Allah and what has come down of the truth?" (Al-Hadeed: 16). Thereafter, he became an honourable Imam.

Undoubtedly, the benefits of Quran are countless. It was through reciting Allah's words and reflecting over its meanings that many people have become scholars. Allah, the Exalted says, "if We had sent down this Qur'an upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and coming apart from fear of Allah." (Al-Hashr: 21). That is humbly submissive to Allah out of fear of Him.

Furthermore, rewards of reading Quran are great as stated by the Messenger of Allah in this Hadith, "whoever recites a letter from the Book of Allah, he will be credited with a good deed, and a good deed gets a ten-fold reward. I do not say that Alif-Lam-Mim is one letter, but Alif is a letter, Lam is a letter and Mim is a letter."

Thus, when we read Quran and ponder upon its meanings, our good deeds get, by Allah's Grace, multiplied and we will be blessed with Allah's mercy and guidance. The Almighty says, "and We had certainly brought them a Book which We detailed by knowledge - as guidance and mercy to a people who believe." (Al-Araaf: 52).

O Observers of Fasting and People of the Quran,

This leads us to advise each other on how to lay out a plan for reading, memorising and listening to the holy Quran. There are precious times that we need to dedicate for reading the words of Allah. Those are between Adhan and Iqama and after obligatory prayers. During these times, each of us should read as much Quran as possible and be steadfast on doing so. In fact, the importance of being persistent on performing good deeds was stressed by Our Master Muhammad pbuh when people asked him once, "What deeds are loved most by Allah?" He pbuh said, "The most beloved deed to Allah is the most regular and constant even if it were little." He also said, "Take upon yourselves, the deeds which are within your ability." That is: commit yourselves to the deeds that you can do constantly and regularly.

Concerning memorisation of the Quran, a good time to do so is after Fajr prayer. This is because at such time, one's mind is normally clear and his body relaxed. We need to memorise Allah's words lest we forget them and thereby fall in a great sin.

Indeed, it is such a beautiful thing that all the family members gather to read Quran, filling the house with piety and peaceful atmosphere. This way, Allah will bless them with tranquillity and mercy.

Moreover, reading Quran has superior impact on people's behaviour. For this reason, the Prophet pubh used to wake his family members up in Ramadan and increase his acts of obedience and worship.

With this in mind, let us beseech Allah to grant us success to recite His Book at night and in the early morning as befits His satisfaction. May Allah also bless us with the intercession of Quran and fasting.

O Allah, please 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, O Servants of Allah, that you are asked to obey Allah as it ought to be by observing Him in private and in public, and follow the guidance of Quran. Indeed, those who are guided by it are righty guided and those who seek knowledge through it will attain a sound vision.

Thus, you are advised to invest your times during the holy month in reciting Quran and contemplating on its meanings. You should also teach your children the Quran for this is a right for them that you should fulfil.

From this perspective, the UAE wise leaders have given utmost care to Quran. As such, they established the holy Quran memorisation centres to accommodate for all people, younger and older, males and females. They also organised international and national Quranic contests for which valuable prizes were allocated in order to motivate generations to read the book of Allah.

Such care was also reflected by printing the Quran in the finest of forms and distributing it. Moreover, a radio station dedicated for the holy Quran was established, broadcasting programmes that are aimed to teach the correct way of recitation. This allows people to listen to Quran from everywhere and thereby attain the reward for listening to it and reflecting over its meanings too.



On another account, the UAE launched recently an initiative under the motto "Reading nation" with an objective of collecting and printing 5 million books to be distributed all over the world. The campaign is aimed at encouraging people to read and acquire knowledge.

Truly, the best of books to read during the holy month of Ramadan is the Book of Allah. So, let us recite it and ponder upon its meanings.

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 ask You by every Name that You have named Yourself with, revealed in Your Book, taught to any one of Your creation or kept unto Yourself in the knowledge of the unseen that is with You, that You make the Quran the spring of our hearts, and the light of our breasts, the banisher of our sadness and the reliever of our distress.

May Allah make us amongst the people of Quran, enlighten our homes with it and allow it to intercede for us on the Day of Resurrection.

O Lord, we beseech You to also make us amongst those who follow Your Quran by doing that which is lawful and avoiding that which is prohibited.

May Allah make us amongst those who fast Ramadan out of sincere faith, and hoping for Your rewards.

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, 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).