All praise is due to Allah, the Most Great, the Most High. To Him all the deeds are reported. 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 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).

Dear Muslims,

When Allah, the Almighty, created us, He enjoined us to do good deeds and promised that all such deeds will be weighed in the scale of justice. The Almighty says, "and We place the scales of justice for the Day of Resurrection, so no soul will be treated unjustly at all. And if there is [even] the weight of a mustard seed, We will bring it forth. And sufficient are We as accountant." (Al-Anbyaa: 47).

Knowing that all people shall stand before Allah to be judged for every small or great work they have done in this life, one should hasten to do all that is good in order to take provision for the Day of Judgment. Each one's deeds are presented to Allah, the Most Exalted, on Mondays and Thursdays, while the whole year's deeds will be raised in Shaaban. Undoubtedly, there is wisdom in this.

On each day, Allah, the Most High, will ask His angels about what His servants did during the day and night although He knows best about everything. On the same, the Prophet pbuh said, "Angels come to you in succession by night and day and all of them get together at the time of the Fajr and Asr prayers. Those who have passed the night with you (or stayed with you) ascend (to the Heaven) and Allah asks them, though He knows everything about you, well, 'in what state did you leave my servants?' The angels reply, 'when we left them they were praying and when we reached them, they were praying'."

In this Hadith, "in succession" means one group comes after the other. Here, Allah, the Almighty, ask each group of angels that ascends to Heaven, "in what state you left my servants?" This does not mean He lacks knowledge, for "indeed, from Allah nothing is hidden in the earth nor in the heaven." (Al Imran: 5). He rather asks them openly in order to praise His servants before His angels who will say, "when we left them they were praying and when we reached them, they were praying."

Moreover, the Exalted is He has attributed extra credit to the Fajr and Asr prayers because performing worship during the times reflects faithfulness as these are normally the times when people will be either busy or sleeping.

Allah, the Almighty, stressed this in His holy Quran. He says, "and [also] the Qur'an of dawn. Indeed, the recitation of dawn is ever witnessed." (Al-Israa: 78). Here, the "Quran of dawn" means that the Fajr prayer is witnessed by the angels of night and day too.

Allah further orders Muslims to be steadfast on observing obligatory prayers, with more emphasis on the middle one, the Asr prayer. He says, "maintain with care the [obligatory] prayers and [in particular] the middle prayer and stand before Allah, devoutly obedient." (Al-Baqara: 238). Thus, whoever maintains these two prayers will, by Allah's grace, receive great rewards and earn His Paradise. This was indicated by the Prophet pbuh when he said, "Whoever prays the two cool prayers (Al Bardayn: Asr and Fajr) will go to Paradise."

It is, then, such a great success to those who observe the five obligatory prayers in congregation so that Allah, the Most Gracious, boasts of them before His angels in the highest Heavens.

O Servants of Allah,

As deeds are presented to Allah on Mondays and Thursdays, the Prophet pbuh used to fast in these two days. Usama Ibn Zaid, may Allah be pleased with him, said in this regard, "I said, 'O Messenger of Allah, sometimes you fast, and you hardly ever break your hardly ever fast, except two days which, if you are fasting, you include them in your fast, and if you are not fasting, then you fast them on your own.' He pbuh said, 'which two days?' I said, 'Monday and Thursday.' He said, 'those are two days in which deeds are shown to the Lord of the worlds, and I like my deeds to be shown (to Him) when I am fasting'".

Truly, in these two blessed days, the Almighty offers people a gateway to His Paradise and forgiveness as pointed out by the Prophet Pbuh in this Hadith, "the gates of Paradise are opened on two days, Monday and Thursday. In these two days, every servant (of Allah) who does not associate anything with Him is forgiven except the person in whose (heart) there is rancour against his brother. (About them) it would be said, 'look towards these two until they have made a reconciliation'." That is: give these two people time to reconcile their differences.

O Worshipers,

Please know that the year's deeds are lifted to Allah, the Almighty, in the month of Shaaban, about which the Prophet pbuh said, "that is a month to which people do not pay much attention, between Rajab and Ramadan. It is a month in which the deeds are taken up to the Lord of the worlds, and I like that my deeds be taken up when I am fasting."

In this Hadith, the Prophet pbuh explains that the reason for his fasting during Shaaban is that it is a month which people normally neglect and hence worships performed during it will be more rewarded by Allah. This is because performing worships during these times will be more difficult. And who engages much in worship then is truly sincere. As an exalted month during which deeds are shown to Allah, the Almighty, one, being fasting, shall attain multiple rewards, and his acts will get accepted. He will, thus, be blessed with Allah's sublime satisfaction.

O Believers,

Shaaban is a great season for the believers to purify their souls and prepare for the holy month of Ramadan. It is an occasion for those who undertake good deeds to increase them so as to fill their records with righteousness and win multiple rewards from their Creator. Allah, the Almighty says, "and those who have believed and done righteous deeds - We will surely assign to them of Paradise [elevated] chambers beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally. Excellent is the reward of the [righteous] workers." (Al-Ankaboot: 58).

Yet, those who have fallen short of good deeds will find in Shaaban an opportunity to make amends by turning a sincere repentance that is conducive to effacing their previous sins because Allah is the Most Merciful and His blessings upon the believers are gracious. The Exalted is He says, "but indeed, I am the Perpetual Forgiver of whoever repents and believes and does righteousness and then continues in guidance." (Taha: 82).

One way for one to get his sins wiped out and see his standing elevated to higher levels is by performing righteous deeds after falling in sins. The Almighty says, "indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds. That is a reminder for those who remember." (Taha: 82). This means good deeds remove one's wrongdoings. So, truly, they are successful those who seize the opportunity during the seasons of bounties to repent to their Lord, return to Him, hence, hasten to perform all that is righteous, seeking to win His Paradise.

With this in mind, let us implore to our Lord to raise our status by degrees, purify our hearts and forgive our sins.

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, be steadfast on obeying Him and know that soon we are going to witness a blessed night, being the night of the middle of Shaaban. About it, our Master Muhammad pbuh said, "indeed, Allah looks down on the night of the middle of Shaaban and forgives all of His creation except for the polytheists and those with grudges." That is: those with rancour against others.

Therefore, we must make a conscious effort to cleanse our hearts and put things right between people for this is amongst of the best of acts. The Messenger of Allah pbuh said, "shall I tell you what is better than prayer, fasting and giving for charity?" They said, "Yes." He said, "mending discord."

Truly, having a pure heart and showing forbearance are amongst the causes of winning Allah's forgiveness and seeing one's rank raised by degrees. Allah, the Almighty says, "and let them pardon and overlook. Would you not like that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." (An-Noor: 22).

It is, then, such a great happiness that will touch the heart of those who show goodwill towards others, reconcile with whoever breaks with him and forgive whoever mistreats them. Ultimately, by Allah's favour, they will attain great rewards and receive His bounties.

In fact, the Almighty attributes to the month of Shaaban many merits. Thus, it is worthwhile to seize this opportunity to engage further in the acts of goodness in a way that brings us closer to our creator. This, by Allah's favour, will get our deeds taken up to Him and make us amongst those who will be granted His forgiveness on the night of the middle of Shaaban.

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 grace to make us amongst those who make the best use of the times of bounties and be foremost in performing acts of goodness. O Allah, please grant us Your forgiveness and accept from us our good deeds, O Lord of the Earth and the Heavens.

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).