All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. May the peace be upon His righteous servants. He chose for His Messenger his companions who became the Imams of guidance and the beacons of light after him. 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 family, 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 Almighty, in line with His orders: "but Allah sent down His tranquility upon His Messenger and upon the believers and imposed upon them the word of righteousness, and they were more deserving of it and worthy of it. And ever is Allah , of all things, Knowing." (Al Fath: 26).

Dear Muslims,

Please know that Allah, the Almighty, arranged for each prophet a group of companions who supported them in their righteous message and continued to preach people about their teachings and messages after them. Allah, the Exalted, had chosen the best of the companions for the last of His messengers, Muhammad pbuh. They believed in him, supported his mission and were the best company to him. In return, Allah, the Most Glorious, promised them abundant rewards and prepared Paradise for them to dwell therein forever.

The Almighty says, "and the first forerunners [in the faith] among the Muhajireen and the Ansar and those who followed them with good conduct - Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him, and He has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever. That is the great attainment." (At-Tawba: 100).

Indeed, the companions were the best of the Ummah after the Prophet pbuh. They were the most versed in knowledge, the purist in heart, the most humble in character and the truest in speech. They were the allies of Allah and the guide for His servants in their living. And thanks to their praiseworthy conducts, they are still alive in people's minds even after their demise. The Prophet pbuh praised them when he said, "the best of people are (the people of) my generation."

Credit also goes to them as they were the ones who expressed allegiance to the Messenger of Allah pbuh under the tree, for which they received Allah's sublime blessings and He was pleased with them. That is why the pledge was called "Ar-Ridhwan Pledge" (the Pledge of Satisfaction). The All-High says, "certainly was Allah pleased with the believers when they pledged allegiance to you, [O Muhammad], under the tree, and He knew what was in their hearts, so He sent down tranquillity upon them and rewarded them with an imminent conquest." (Al Fath: 18).

There is no doubt that the companions were the people of honesty, loyalty and purity. Thus, the Prophet pbuh commanded us to acknowledge their merits and warned us from abusing them. He said, "do not revile my Companions. By Him in Whose Hand is my life, if one amongst you would have spent as much gold as (the mountain of) Uhud it would not amount to as much as one much on behalf of one of them or half of it." This means if any one of you were to spend gold equivalent to the mountain of Uhud in charity, his reward would not be equal to the reward that one of my companions would attain for spending a handful or even half of that.

O Servants of Allah,

Please know also that the best of the companions are al Muhajireen (migrants) and the ten companions who were promised Paradise followed by those who fought in the battle of Badr, then those who took part in the battle of Uhud, the people of Ar-Ridwan Pledge of Allegiance, and finally the rest of the companions, may Allah be pleased with them all. Yet, for all of them, Allah, the Most Exalted, prepared Paradise as their dwelling. He says, "but to all Allah has promised the best [reward]. And Allah, with what you do, is Acquainted." (al Hadid: 10).

The first amongst the companions who was promised Paradise was Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him. He was the first to embrace Islam amongst men and was given the title of "As-Siddiq" (Testifier to the Truth) because he did not hesitate to believe the Prophet pbuh in the event of Israa and Miraj when other people didn't. He was the closest to the Prophet pbuh that when he was once asked, "who is the most beloved person to you?" He said, "Aisha." Then he was asked, "who amongst the men?" He said, "her father."

One of the greatest achievements of Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, was the compilation of the Quran that we recite today. He also laid the foundation of stability, security, unity and compassion. He was thus an example to emulate in undertaking responsibility, fulfilling the trust and striving for the stability and harmony of his society.

O Worshipers,

The second best of the companions in serving Islam and Muslims was the honourable Umar Ibn al Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him. The Prophet pbuh said, "Stick to the two after me, Abu Bakr and Umar." Umar was also one of those who were given the glad tidings of Paradise. Allah, the Almighty, strengthened Muslims with Umar's acceptance of Islam so that they could declare their faith. For such merits, he was given the title of al-Farooq (the one who distinguishes between right and wrong). The Prophet pbuh married his daughter Hafsa, Umm al Moumineen, may Allah be pleased with her. Umar married Um Kulthum, the daughter of Ali Ibn Abu Talib, may Allah be pleased with them. When Uthman bin Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, was asked about Umar, he said, "indeed, in my opinion, his inner self is better than his outer self and no one amongst us can parallel him." Having said that, may Allah be pleased with al Farooq Umar Ibn al Khattab: He set a unique example in knowledge, wisdom, determination, dedication and justice.

O Servants of Allah,

The one who follows in possessing a lofty status amongst the companions is Uthman Ibn Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, who was amongst the first to embrace Islam. The Prophet pbuh gave him the glad tidings of Paradise and took the pledge on his behalf in the Pledge of Allegiance. Uthman used to be a modest person that the angels used to show modesty to him. On this matter, the Prophet pbuh said, "should I not show modesty to one whom even the Angels show modesty." And as a sign of being very close to the Prophet, he married him to two of his daughters; first to Rukaiya and when she died to her sister Umm Kulthum. That is why he was given the title of "Dhu al-Nurain" (the one who is blessed with two lights).

Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, was also amongst the first muhajihreen. He set a unique example in serving his community and being active in solving their problems. For instance, he bought the well of Ruma from his own wealth and allowed wayfarers to use it. In another instance, when the Prophet pbuh said, "who will add to this Masjid in return for a house in Paradise?" Uthman was the one who did it and he also equipped what was called the "army of distress". Thereupon, the Prophet pbuh said, "whatever Uthman does after today will not harm him."

Dear Muslims,

The fourth of the companions in status and great merits is the noble Ali Ibn Abu Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, the Prophet's cousin and one of those who were promised Paradise. Ali was the first youth to embrace Islam and he married the Prophet's pbuh daughter Fatima. He stood firm by Abu Bakr supporting him and likewise did with Umar, acknowledging their superiority and merits. In this regard, it was narrated that Mohammed Ibn Al Hanafiya said, "I asked my father (Ali Ibn Abu Talib), 'who are the best people after Allah's Messenger pbuh?' He said, 'Abu Bakr.' I asked, "who then?' He said, 'then Umar.' So I said, 'then you?' He said, 'I am only an ordinary person'."

Furthermore, Ali used to defend Uthman, may Allah be pleased with them, and he was a person of knowledge and wisdom. He also demonstrated remarkable courage in fighting the Khawarij who accused the Muslims of apostasy and shed their blood. Indeed, he was decisive in protecting the society from their evil and dangerous actions.

With this in mind, we beseech Allah, the Almighty, to be pleased with Ali as well as the rest of the ten companions who were given the glad tidings of Paradise, including: Talha, al-Zubair, Abdul Rahman bin Awf, Saad bin Abu Waqqas, Saeed bin Zaid and Abu Obeida bin al-Jarrah. Each of them had their own influential contributions in serving Islam and Muslims. So, may Allah be pleased with them and with all of the companions.

O Allah, please grant us the love of your Messenger and his companions. May Allah guide us all to obey Him and obey His Messenger Muhammad pbuh and obey those He have commanded us to obey in line with His 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, 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.

O Worshipers,

Please know that the first thing we should advise each other about is obeying Allah, the Most High, following the guidance of His Messenger pbuh and seeking knowledge about the life of his companions, may Allah be pleased with them. We should also love them, value their status and take example of them in their sound knowledge, courage, moderation, humbleness and purity of heart. Possessing such great characters, they established a coherent and compassionate society where people used to be benevolent, respectful to one another and gave each one their earned status. Mercy was also one of their attributes that Allah, the Almighty praised in His Aya: "merciful among themselves." (Al Fath: 29).

Bearing this in mind, we need to nurture the love for the Prophet's companions in the hearts of our children by providing them with knowledge about their names, lives and prominent stances. We should also teach them to supplicate to Allah for them because they were our guide after the Prophet pbuh as they devoted their lives to preserve the teachings of Islam and Sharia for the generations to come.

On the same matter, Ibn Abd al-Barr al-Maliki said, "there was unanimous agreement amongst scholars that acquiring knowledge about the Prophet's pbuh companions is the best of knowledge. I believe that in a religious community, scholars will, definitely, be interested in knowing the companions of their prophet because these were the medium between the prophet and his people."

From this perspective, the UAE's wise leaders evaluated highly the companions and demonstrated keen interest in promoting their status in the hearts of the generations. As such, they gave directions to incorporate bright examples from the companion's biography in the school curriculums and in the lessons of the mosques. Moreover, the recent law issued against discrimination and hatred criminalised all types of abuse to the prophets, their wives, families or companions.

That is said, please bear in mind that you are commanded 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, please bless us with the love of Your Prophet pbuh, his righteous companions and chosen caliphs. O Allah, we implore you to help us follow their guidance, O the Most Giving, the Most Forgiving.

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 Lord, may we ask You to help us with what gets us closer to Paradise and furthers us from Hell. 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).