On Social Compassion

On Social Compassion

All praise is due to Allah, the Merciful and the Most Compassionate. He urged for compassion amongst all people. I bear witness that there is no deity save Allah, having no associates. He is the Absolute Ruler, the Truth and the Manifest. I also bear witness that our Master Muhammad is the servant of Allah and His Messenger. He was the most soft-hearted amongst people, the most virtuous and the most merciful. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, his pure grateful family and companions, and all those who follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgment.

As to what follows,

O servants of Allah, I urge you and myself to be aware that you are asked to obey Him, the Most High, in line with His orders: "O you who have believed, fear Allah and believe in His Messenger; He will [then] give you a double portion of His mercy and make for you a light by which you will walk and forgive you; and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." (Al Hadid: 28).

O Servants of Allah,

Please know that Islam, through its noble principles and wise rulings, has emphasised the importance of such values as solidarity, compassion, cooperation and cohesion being a strong foundation for building the society. Allah, the Almighty says, "and cooperate in righteousness and piety." (Al Maeda: 2). Social compassion is coming together for the sake of spreading goodness across the entire community. It emanates from one's feeling of sympathy towards others as such it lets him voluntarily stand by them. This way, social cohesion happens, letting people show mercy to one another.

Dear Faithful, Generous and Benevolent worshipers,

Solidarity requires us as yet to support those in need materially and morally. This entails wishing for others that which we wish for ourselves as our Master Muhammad pbuh expressed it: "The example of the faithful believers is like the human body; if the head aches, the whole body aches. In like manner, a faithful believer would suffer if other believers suffer." As you may see, social cohesion underlies such a context where the public interests come first, overriding personal ones, and where cooperation and mercy should be the norm. With this, the society shall emerge stronger and more coherent, one whose members are tightly interconnected as described in this Hadith: "A faithful believer to a faithful believer is like the bricks of a wall, enforcing each other." While saying that, he pbuh clasped his hands, by interlacing his finger."

O Worshipers,

In many places, the holy Quran has stressed the importance of social compassion and explained its meanings. For example, in the following Aya, Allah, the Most Sublime, says, "worship Allah and associate nothing with Him, and to parents do good, and to relatives, orphans, the needy, the near neighbour, the neighbour farther away, the companion at your side." (An-Nisaa: 36). In this Aya, Our Lord orders us to show mercy to family, relatives, neighbours, friends, the poor and the vulnerable people.

Indeed, such gracious conducts were further stressed by the Messenger of Allah pbuh in words and in deeds, setting the best example for believers to emulate. He pbuh used to sit with members of his community, talk to them, greet them first, treat their children affectionately, help the needy amongst them, visit the sick, comfort the distressed and strive to help them. Furthermore, he pbuh would always support whoever asked for help and would do his best to solve their problems. Verily, all these merits demonstrate his humble character, kindness and considerate attitude towards people.

This is indeed the example to follow so we can help each other to address life requirements and burdens. There are various teachings in Islam that call for social solidarity of which the Messenger of Allah pbuh was the best example. He was compassionate with his family and relatives and urged people to give to the poorer. He pbuh said, "the best charity is that which is practiced by a wealthy person. And start giving first to your dependents."

O Servants of Allah,

Another aspect of compassion highlighted in Islam is offering financial support to relatives. Those who maintain the ties of kinship, sponsor relatives and stand by them by catering for their urgent needs shall receive multiple rewards, as evidenced in this Hadith: "giving charity to a poor person is charity, and (giving) to a relative is two things; charity and upholding the ties of kinship."

Compassion is vast and wide and is by no means limited to relatives. It should include neighbours by treating them in kindness, sharing with them their happy occasions, supporting them at hard times and giving them gifts. On this account, Abu Dharr Al Ghifari, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet pbuh said, "O Abu Dharr! Whenever you prepare a broth, put plenty of water in it, and give some of it (as a present) to your neighbours." This is because gift-offering helps foster social relations and strengthen friendship and mutual affection. It is one of the acts that our Master Muhammad pbuh recommended when he said, "give gifts to each other and you will love one another." This shows how much Islam is a religion of mercy. It is keen to nurture love and kindness in the heart of people and promote amongst them compassion and solidarity.

An equally important aspect of compassion is to show lenient attitude towards the poor and mercy towards the helpless and the orphans. Allah, the Exalted is He says in this regard, "so as for the orphan, do not oppress [him]." (Ad-Dhuha: 9).

Furthermore, the umbrella of forbearance expands to cover the whole society so much so everyone cooperates for the goodness, unites at times of adversity, shows sympathy at crises and strives to alleviate sufferings of one another. The Prophet pbuh said in this respect, "a Muslim is a brother of another Muslim, so he should not oppress him, nor should he hand him over to an oppressor. Whoever fulfilled the needs of his brother, Allah will fulfil his needs; whoever brought his (Muslim) brother out of a discomfort, Allah will bring him out of the discomforts of the Day of Resurrection, and whoever screened a Muslim, Allah will screen him on the Day of Resurrection."

It is good to know also that one way to bring others out of discomfort and show support is by donating blood to those who are wounded in action, sick and injured. Those who donate their blood and help save a life shall be rewarded abundantly by Allah, the Almighty, for He says, "and whoever saves one - it is as if he had saved mankind entirely." (Al Maeda: 32). Then, glad tidings to those who are lenient and willing to help, share people's happiness, comfort them in mourning, visit them when they are unwell, respect the elderly and shows mercy on the youngsters.

With this in mind, we implore to Allah, the All-High, to bless us with a merciful heart and help us to be amongst the doers of good.

O Allah, may You 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,

Dear Worshipers,

Please be aware that the first thing we should advise each other about is obeying Allah, the Most High, and to promote social compassion and solidarity which is an authentic quality of the UAE society. One such an example is "Al Fazaa" (providing relief), a collective action to bring relief to the distressed, help the poor and comfort them. Abu Mousa Al Ashaari narrated that the Prophet pbuh said, "every Muslim has to give in charity." The people asked, "if someone has nothing to give, what will he do?" He said, "he should work with his hands and benefit himself and also give in charity (from what he earns)." The people further asked, "if he cannot find even that?" He replied, "he should help the needy who appeal for help."

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 his companions.

O Allah, we pray to You to make us amongst those who are compassionate and help us cooperate in the way of goodness. O Lord, may you grant us success to give for charity and do all that is good, O 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.

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.

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.

O Allah, we implore you to send upon us wealthy rain and make us not amongst those who are desperate. O Allah, relieve us! O Allah, relieve us! O Allah, relieve us! O Lord, provide us from the blessings of the sky a beneficial rain and make our crops grow.

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).
Top