Actions and intentions
First sermon
All praise is due to Allah with His grace the good deeds are fulfilled. He, The All Knowing, recognises the secrets and the purposes of our intentions. To Him do the good words ascend, and to Him do acts of worships reveal. I bear witness there is no deity but Allah. He has no partner. He, The All Aware, sees us. He, The All Hearing, knows our inner intentions. He, The All Giving, protects us, remembers us and never forgets us.
I bear witness that Muhammad (pbuh) is the Messenger of Allah and His dearest servant, who called people to righteousness. I pray to Allah, The Most Gracious, to grant His blessings upon our Master Muhammad (pbuh), the conveyer of Allah’s noble message, his family, his companions and all those who will follow them in righteousness until the Day of Judgment.
O Servants of Allah! I urge you and myself to be ever God-conscious and to construct your lives in the shadow of divine obedience. Allah, the Almighty, says, "O ye who believe! Observe your duty to Allah with right observance, and die not save as those who have surrendered (unto Him)." (Al Imaran:102).
Dear Believers,
Our Master Muhammad (pbuh) said, “actions are but by intention”. Scholars explained the virtue of this hadith by highlighting the high merit of intention, which is seen as one third of Islam. Indeed, a servant of Allah would receive rewards of Allah for three separate duties: inner conviction or attitude, expression of the tongue and actions. Intention is central to all these three elements.
Imam Bukhari said that there is no useful, richer or comprehensive account of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) than this saying. One scholar said, the hadith comes under the seventy chapters of knowledge as it underscores the importance of intention on which the acceptance of all acts of worshipping depend. Allah, The Most Exalted says, “Who can be better in religion than one who submits his whole self to Allah, does good,” (Al Nisaa:125), that is, he who is sincere in his work for the sake of Allah, the Almighty.
On this matter, Allah also says, “And they have been commanded no more than this: To worship Allah, offering Him sincere devotion, being true (in faith); to establish regular prayer; and to practise regular charity; and that is the Religion Right and Straight.” (Al Bayyina:5).
O Servants of Allah,
The Muslim should apply the hadith by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) on intention in vast areas of life. Truly, many permissible, ordinary things and habits can be acts of worship if good intentions are invoked. A Muslim will get a divine reward as a result. For example, if you eat, drink what is permissible and go to sleep with the intention of strengthening your stamina to obey Allah, then you will be rewarded Ajr (recompense). Similarly, If you go to work with the inner conviction to earn a Halal (permissible) living in order to be self-sufficient and serve your country and family, then you will be duly recompensed.
Moreover, if you show affection to your kids and treat your family well with the intention to maintain its cohesion, you are also rewarded. The wife is equally recompensed when she takes care of her husband and family with the aim of getting closer to Allah. The same is true for a seeker of knowledge who strives hard to learn so as to benefit himself, his community and country.
The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)’s companions ( May Allah be pleased with them) were fully aware of good intentions before engaging in permissible acts. Muaad bin Jabal said, “I seek for my sleep (i.e., through noble intention) just as I seek for ibada (worshipping).”
By the Grace of Allah, our worshipping is based on good intention. Accordingly, Muslims should educate themselves on the good faith in dealing with people, perform good deeds and be righteous. This way they can win Allah’s rewards, for our Master Muhammad (pbuh) said, “ People of this world are four types: a man to whom Allah gives wealth and knowledge, so he fears his Lord concerning it, upholds ties of kinship with it and realises that something is due to Allah for that. This man will attain the highest status.
“(The second is) a man to whom Allah gives knowledge but He does not give him wealth, but he is sincere in intention and says: If I had wealth, I would have done what (the first man) did. He will be judged according to his intention and their reward will be the same.
“(The third one is) a man to whom Allah gives wealth but does not give knowledge, so he squanders his wealth without knowledge and does not fear Allah concerning it or uphold ties of kinship with it, and he does not realise that something is due to Allah for that. His will be the lowest status.
“ (Then there is) a man to whom Allah gave neither wealth nor knowledge, but he says: If I had wealth I would do what (the third man) did. He will be judged according to his intention, and their burden of sin will be the same.”
We can see, as this hadith highlights it, the individual can get higher status if he has a sincere intention or be downgraded to lower ranks if he has an ill intention. Indeed, Islam has reinforced this principle in order to build a society whose ethos lies in good faith.
Our Guide Muhammad (pbuh) said, “Verily Allah has recorded the good deeds and the evil deeds." Then he clarified that: "Whosoever intends to do a good deed but does not do it, Allah records it with Himself as a complete good deed; but if he intends it and does it, Allah records it with Himself as ten good deeds, up to seven hundred times, or more than that. But if he intends to do an evil deed and does not do it, Allah records it with Himself as a complete good deed; but if he intends it and does it, Allah records it down as one single evil deed."
O Believers of Allah, please ponder upon how Allah, The Most Gracious is He, considers the intention as a full good deed, while He multiplies His rewards when the good deed is fully accomplished.
May Allah purify our intention and let our words be right and actions upright. May Allah help us all to obey Him and those He ordained us to obey, as the Almighty says: "O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you." (Annisa:59).
May Allah bless you and me with the ability to implement the Holy Quran and the Sunna of His Messenger Muhammad (pbuh). I say this and ask Allah, the Almighty, to grant us forgiveness. Supplicate to Allah for forgiveness for He is the Most Forgiving and the Most Merciful.
Second sermon
Praise be to Allah. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah, the only God who has no Associate, and I bear witness that our Master Muhammad is His servant and messenger, who was true to his promise. May the peace and the blessings of Allah be upon our master Muhammad, his family, his companions and all those who will follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgment.
Dear Muslims,
Sincere intention is a guarantee for continuous reward should a Muslim fail to undertake the good actions he used to perform, let us say, sponsoring an orphan, giving charity and observing night vigil because of a force majeure like illness or so. Allah, The Ever Merciful, shall still recompense the person equally just for his good faith. Our Master Muhammad (pbuh) said, “A traveller’s or sick person's deeds are recorded in accordance with what he used to do when he was resident or well.”
Our Guide (pbuh) also said, “Whoever goes to his bed with the intention of getting up and praying during the night, but, being overcome by sleep, fails to do that, Allah will have recorded for him what he has intended, and his sleep will be reckoned as a charity (an act of mercy) for him from his Lord.”
O Servants of Allah,
Allah has commanded you an order to which He and His angels are both committed, when He says, "Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet: O ye that believe! Send ye blessings on him, and salute him with all respect." (Al-Ahzab:56). The Prophet (pbuh) said, "for everyone who invokes a blessing on me will receive ten blessings from Allah."
May the peace and the blessings of Allah be upon our master Muhammad (pbuh), his family, and all his companions. May Allah be pleased with the Rightly Guided Caliphs and all those who will follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgment.
O Allah grant us sincere intention and repentance unto you. We supplicate to you, the Almighty, to accept our prayers and guide us to fulfill actions to earn Your mercy, forgiveness and spells. We also beseech You to confer on us safety from every sin, and booty of all righteousness, and to win paradise and deliverance from the Fire.
O Allah, we implore You at this instant not to let a sin unforgiven, a distress unrelieved, an illness unhealed or a handicapped without relief, a dead without mercy or a debt unsettled. O Allah, 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.
May Allah grant our leader HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his Deputy, HH Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, success and provide strength and support to his brothers, Their Highness the Rulers of the Emirates, and his trustworthy Crown Prince HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
O Allah, forgive all of the Muslims, men and women, living and dead, and make blessings follow us and them. May Allah have mercy on Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Maktoum and all their brothers, the late UAE Sheikhs. O Lord, forgive and show mercy, You are the Ever Merciful and there is no strength nor power save with Allah, the High, the Great.
O Allah, send upon us helpful, wholesome and healthy rain. O Allah, give us rain and do not make us among the despondent. O Allah, relieve us, O Allah, relieve us, O Allah, relieve us. We pray to Allah, the most gracious, to continue blessing the UAE and all Muslim countries with safety and security.
O Servants of Allah, Remember Allah and He will Remember You. Be grateful for His benevolence He will increase His blessings to you. Allah, the Most High, says, “and establish regular Prayer: for Prayer restrains from shameful and unjust deeds; and remembrance of Allah is the greatest (thing in life) without doubt. And Allah knows the (deeds) that ye do.” (Al Ankaboot:59).
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