The rights of the Muslim over the Muslim
First sermon
All due praise is to Allah. I duly praise Him as is befitting to His Majesty and sanctity and I bear witness there is no deity worthy of worship save Him Alone, having no partners. I also certify that Muhammad is the Servant of Allah and His Messenger. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, his family, his companions, and all those who will follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgment.
O Servants of Allah, I urge you and myself to be ever conscious and do construct our lives in accordance to what Allah, the Almighty, has ordered us just as He says,“O you who have believed, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice. He will [then] amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment.” (Al Ahzab: 70-71).
Dear Muslims,
The Prophet Muhammad pbuh said, “The rights of a Muslim on the Muslims are five.” In another version:“six are the rights of a Muslim over another Muslim.”
It was said to him, “and what are these O Messenger of Allah?” He said, “When you meet him, readsalam upon him. When he invites you accept his invitation. When he seeks your counsel advise him, and when he sneezes and says, ‘All praise is due to Allah,’ you say Yarhamuka Allah (may Allah have mercy on you). When he is ill visit him, and when he dies follow him (his funeral procession).”
Dear Muslims,
The rights mentioned in this Hadith refer to the type of deeds and rights a Muslim must fulfill in dealing with other people.
The first of these rights is saying Assalamu Alaykum (peace be upon you-the standard Muslim greeting). Spreading greeting and responding to it cause to promote the meaning of peace amongst individuals. So when someone greets another saying Assalamu Alaykum, he, in fact, pledges him safety and security.
In the following verse, Allah, the Almighty, has urged us to respond to others’ greeting nicely. He says, “And when you are greeted with a greeting, greet [in return] with one better than it or [at least] return it [in a like manner]. Indeed, Allah is ever, over all things, an Accountant.” (Annisaa: 86).
Our Master Muhammad pbuh explained to us that greeting all people is of the good acts that nurtures love and coexistence amongst people. Abdullah Ibn Amru Ibn Alaas (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “a person asked Allah's Apostle: "what (sort of) deeds in or (what qualities of) Islam are good?" He replied, "To feed (the poor) and greet those whom you know and those whom you don't know.”
The second set of rights that promote community cohesion is to answer the invitations by others, whether the occasion is joyful or sorrowful. Accepting the call of people is advisable because it increases intimacy and deepens friendship between members of the society. In this regard, the Prophet pbuh said, “when he invites you to a feast accept it.”
Our Guide Muhammad pbuh would willingly accept the invitation of whoever had offered it. He said, “I shall accept the invitation even if I were invited to a meal of a sheep's trotter, and I shall accept the gift even if it were an arm or a trotter of a sheep.”
This is an advice for us to positively respond to social invitations from people, irrespective of their status. Our Prophet pbuh also affirmed that we should accept the wedding invitations for the immense pleasure it shall bring to the host. He pbuh said, “If anyone of you is invited to a wedding feast, let him accept.”
The third right that individuals should observe is offering and accepting advice. Our Prophet pbuh considered offering advice as a right of a Muslim overanother Muslim, when he said, “when he seeks your counsel give him.”
Truly, offering advice is a highest form of community cohesion, inviting people to guide each other for performing good deeds. For their part, Muslims’ gatherings should be for advice and counseling. The Prophet pbuh said, “religion (Islam) is Nasiha (means sincerity or giving advice).”
The fourth right is Tashmit, that is, to say to someone who sneezed Yarhamuka Allah (may Allah have mercy on you). It is a way of establishing communication amongst people based on saying prayers. So if someone has sneezed and thanked Allah, then whoever heard him should wish for him Allah’s mercy. To answer Tashmit, one must reply back by praying for him.
As such, Tashmit fosters affection and love between individuals, not to mention it is a right of a Muslim over another Muslim as mentioned by our Prophet Muhammad pbuh. He said, “to wish mercy on him when he sneezes and says, 'Praise be to Allah,'.”
O Servants of Allah,
The fifth right is to visit someone if he is ill whether in his house or in the hospital. This is considered one of the most rewarding deeds. So any patient should feel honoured and cherish the fact that Allah, the Most Exalted, will admonish those who fail to fulfill the right to visit him.
Our Guide Muhammad pub said, “Allah (mighty and sublime be He) will say on the Day of Resurrection, ‘O son of Adam, I fell ill and you visited Me not.’ He will say, ‘O Lord, and how should I visit You when You are the Lord of the worlds?’ He will say, ‘did you not know that My servant So-and-so had fallen ill and you visited him not? Did you not know that had you visited him you would have found Me with him?’”
Bearing this in mind, O Allah, we seek Your grace to make us amongst those who fulfill rights. We also seek Your help to obey You and those You have ordained upon us to obey pursuant to Your instructions: "O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you." (Annisaa: 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 my words and pray to Allah, the Almighty, to grant us forgiveness. Supplicate to Allah for forgiveness for He is the Most Forgiving and the Most Merciful.
Second sermon
All praise is due to Allah. I bear witness there is no deity but Allah, having no partners. I also 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 Prophet Muhammad, his pure Family, his Companions and all those who will follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgment.
O Servants of Allah,
Obey Allah and be aware that Islam is keen to maintain good rapport amongst individuals. This should not only be confined to when they are still alive, but also extend to after when they died. Thus, Islam has established for the deceased some rights over the living, including attending their funeral, performing the funeral Salat, burying them, praying for them, supplicating to Allah to forgive them and have His Mercy on them, visiting their relatives, and giving charity on their behalf.
All of these acts are meant to strengthen the brotherly and friendly relations between members of the community. Our Prophet Muhammad pbuh said, “when he dies follow his funeral.” Furthermore, He pbuh promised those who perform such deeds will receive great rewards.
In this regard, he said, “whoever accompanies the funeral (the dead body) until he performs the funeral prayer will have a reward equal to (one carat), and whoever accompanies the burial procession, will be doubly awarded (two carats).” They then asked, ‘what is meant by the two carats?’ He pbuh replied: “like two huge mountains.”
For his part, the dead person will receive large amount of reward. The Prophet Muhammad pbuh said, “If a Muslim dies and a group of forty people, who do not associate any one with Allah, pray for him, Allah will accept their intercession for him (by way of their Duaa for him).”
Attending a funeral procession is therefore a mercy from Allah, may Glory be to Him, over the living and the dead alike. It is also a comfort for the bereaved.
O Servants of Allah,
Allah has commanded you an order He has been the first to undertake, then His angels, for He says, “Indeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, ask [Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [Allah to grant him] peace.” (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, we seek Your favour to let our hearts be full of Your gratitude and keep our tongue moist with Your remembrance. May Allah bless us with good provision, accepted work, well-being in mind and body and blessed living life and progeny. O Allah guide us to know what is good, make us benefit from what we have learnt, and increase our knowledge.
O Allah, Give us piety and purify our souls. You are Master and the Lord of souls. O Sustainer, amend our intentions, grant that our spouses and our offspring be a joy to our eyes and make success be an ally to us. 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.
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. 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.
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 assistance 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 or power save with Allah, the High, the Great.
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 prayer. Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, and the remembrance of Allah is greater. And Allah knows that which you do.” (Al Ankaboot: 45).
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