Salat, the backbone of Islam
First sermon
All praise is due to Allah. He made the prayer a beacon of light and a source of relief and comfort for the faithful. All grace is due to Allah as is befitting to His Glorious presence and His great sovereignty and virtues. I bear witness there is no deity except Him; He is The Guardian of the Pious, to Whom the hearts of worshippers aspire.
I also bear witness that our Master Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and His dearest Servant, the Imam of the virtuous Believers. I pray to Allah, The Most Gracious, to grant His blessings upon our Master Muhammad (pbuh), his kin and kith 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 our lives in the shadow of Divine obedience, for Allah, the Almighty, says “And to establish prayer and fear Him." And it is He to whom you will be gathered.” (Al Anaam:72).
Dear Believers.
Salat is the backbone of the religion and is the second pillar of Islam. Likewise it is the strongest act of worshipping, the observance of which cannot be dispensed with, either in residence or on travel, whether the person being well or ill. Furthermore it is the first religious duty a person will be held accountable for on the Day of Resurrection.
Truly, it is the core of the righteous deeds as is the heart for the body. Therefore anyone who is sound in his Salat, so will be his deeds. Our Guide Muhammad (pbuh) said, “It is the first thing about which a person will be questioned on the Day of Judgment. If it is found to be sound all his other actions will be sound as well. If his prayer is not sound all his remaining actions would be spoiled.”
Thus, anyone, who diligently observes it, will do the same in regard to other acts of worshipping, as our Prophet said, “whoever keeps it, will have it as light and salvation on the Day of Resurrection.” He also said, “the Prayer is three thirds, a third is the purity (Tahara), a third is bowing (Rukuu), and a third is prostration (Sujud). But if it is rejected, all his other deeds shall also be rejected.”
Indeed Salat has always been one of the tenets of the prophets (pbut). Ibrahim (pbuh) beseeched Allah The Almighty to help him perform it when he said, “My Lord, make me an establisher of prayer, and [many] from my descendants. Our Lord, and accept my supplication.” (Ibrahim:40). Allah, The Exalted is He, commended His Apostles Ishaq and Yaqub (pbut) for establishing Salat saying, “And We made them leaders guiding by Our command. And We inspired to them the doing of good deeds, establishment of prayer, and giving of zakah; and they were worshippers of Us.” (Al Anbiyaa:73).
Allah, The Ever Merciful is He, also enjoined upon Musa (Moses) and Harun (pbut) to observe it, for He says, “And We inspired to Moses and his brother, "Settle your people in Egypt in houses and make your houses [facing the] qiblah and establish prayer and give good tidings to the believers." (Yunus:87). The Prophet Isa (pbuh) received the same Divine order as he was reported saying in this verse: “and has enjoined upon me prayer and zakah as long as I remain alive.” (Maryam: 31).
Similarly Allah, The Most High, commanded the seal of Prophets, Muhammad (pbuh), to perform Salat saying, “And establish prayer at the two ends of the day and at the approach of the night. Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds. That is a reminder for those who remember.” (Hud:114). Through Salat our Master Muhammad (pbuh) got closer to his Creator and relieved himself from worries. Addressing Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him), Muhammad (pbuh) said, “O Bilal, comfort us by the call to prayer,” and the last of his words were “prayer, prayer!.”
Dear Muslims,
Please bear in mind that Salat is one of the acts that effaces sins, for our Master Muhammad (pbuh) said, “these are the five prayers which the Almighty has made obligatory on people: a person who did ablutions in a befitting manner, offered the prayers on time and prostrated both his inner and outer selves before the Almighty, has been promised forgiveness by Him.”
Yet, reward differs from one person to another. For example, those who came early to offer Salat should be treated differently than those who were late. Our Guide Muhammad (pbuh) said, “Had people known the extent [of reward] in pronouncing the call [for prayers] and in [standing in] the first row [in congregational prayers] thenthey would have found no option but to draw lots on it, they would have drawn lots; had they known the extent[of reward] in coming for the afternoon prayers, they would have raced each other towards it; and had they known the extent [of reward] in the night and morning prayers, they would have come for them, even if they had to crawl [on their bellies].”
O Servants of Allah,
Among the virtues of Salat is that it encourages the faithful to strongly adhere to piety and avoid wrong deeds. On this account, Allah The Almighty 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 Ankabut:45).
Reward is granted for the worshipper from the moment he leaves his house with the intention of salat in the mosque and until he comes backhome. Our Prophet (pbuh) said, “he who waits for the call to prayer (in congregation) is similar to one who performs the night vigil. He is considered in prayer since he leaves his house and until he comes back.”
May Allah help us to observe Salat in the good way and grant it Your generous acceptance, and help us all to obey You and those You ordained upon us to obey, in compliance with Your words: "O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you." (An-Nisa: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 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
Praise be to Allah. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah, the only God who has no partner, and I bear witness that our Master Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger. 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 Believers,
Allah, The Most Exalted, says, “certainly will the believers have succeeded: They who are during their prayer humbly submissive.” (Al Muaminun:1-2). The great worshippers are those who are the most humble, modest, and observing of Allah’s Majesty. Once they are in communion with their Lord, they tend to free themselves from the world’s concerns, devoutly addressing Allah, the Most Merciful with a penitent heart and soul. The reward a worshipper will obtain depends on the extent of his focus and the amount of his humility. It also depends on the worshipper’s good performance and his knowledge about the conditions of Salat and the recommended acts relative to it.
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, guide us by Your favour among those You have guided to perform Salat humbly and accept our Salat, You The Lord of The Worlds. We supplicate to you, the Almighty, to accept our Duaa, grant us repentance unto You 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. Our Lord! Grant us good in this world and good in the life to come and keep us safe from the torment of the Hellfire.
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. Give us from the blessings of the sky and grow for us from the blessings of the earth, You are the Ever Providing.
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:45).
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