The value of time and patience in the light of Surat Al Asr
First sermon
Praise be to Allah, The Self-Sufficient, The Ever-Forgiving. He wraps the night over the day and grants unfailing reward for those who obey him and seek His satisfaction. I testify that there is no deity but Allah, One without partner. He has enjoined upon us to advise each other to do what pleases Him and stay away from what leads to sins and prohibitions.
I also bear witness that Muhammad is His dearest Servant and Messenger. He is the most elevated of all people. He faced hardship but remained firm and patient. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon his him, his family, his companions and those who follow in their footsteps until the Last Day.
As to what follows, I urge you and myself to be ever conscious of Allah and to construct our lives in accordance to what He has ordered us as He says, “And fear a Day when you will be returned to Allah. Then every soul will be compensated for what it earned, and they will not be treated unjustly.” (Al Baqara: 281).
O Believers,
Allah, The Most Exalted, commanded us to read the Quran and ponder over its meaning, as he says, “[This is] a blessed Book which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], that they might reflect upon its verses and that those of understanding would be reminded.” (Sad:29).
Surat Al Asr (The Time) contains lots of meanings of great educational and behavioural value. About it a scholar said that a profound study of it would provide ample guidance for attaining one’s salvation. It was one of the favourite Suras for the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) which they would recite when they gathered or separated.
Allah The Almighty opened the Surat Al Asr with an oath: “By (the Token of) Time (through the ages),” highlighting the merits of the space of time human beings avail. It pictures time as one of the most precious blessings Allah has bestowed upon his Creation, for it is the site and frame for seeking good deeds.
The winner is seen as the one who seizes his time rationally and protects himself from falling into sin, while the loser is undoubtedly the one who wastes his time in what displeases Allah The Most High. As such please be alert not to misuse your time, and try whatever you can to do good and be beneficial. Time can either be for you or against you. Allah says, “So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it. And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it.” (Azzalzala:7-8).
Given the special status of Asr (the afternoon time), Allah has stressed the importance of some acts of worship in this slot of time. For example, He ordered us to carefully uphold the Asr prayer, saying, “Maintain with care the [obligatory] prayers and [in particular] the middle prayer and stand before Allah, devoutly obedient.” (Al Baqara:238). Similarly our Master Muhammad (pbuh) warned us against neglecting or failing to offer this prayer. He said, “Whoever leaves the Asr prayer, all his (good) deeds will be annulled."
Dear Muslims,
Surat Al Asr shows that people are of two kinds: some are doomed to face depraved condition and ruin, while others will be saved from the state of loss. O blessed are those who invest wisely in time and devote themselves to the acquisition of sustainable things in life, mostly strengthening their faith in Allah The Almighty. On this account, He says, “Verily Man is in loss, except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy.” (Al Asr:2-3).
Truly, sincere faith is indispensable to man as it is a treasure house of joy, security and quietude. Without it, man’s good acts will fall short of winning the rewards of Allah The Most High. Its basic foundation is a genuine submission to Allah, the Most Exalted, and to His commands and satisfaction with His provision. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, “He has tasted the flavour of faith who is pleased with Allah as Lord, with Islam as religion and with Muhammad as Prophet.”
Part of faith is to devotedly engage oneself in good deeds and acts of worship. That is why faith is mentioned first in the Surat Al Asr to indicate that it is a stringent requirements for the righteous deeds. It says, “Except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds,” (Al Asr:3). The good work here means any act that complies with religion, norms and common sense.
O believers,
However, salvation cannot be complete unless the individual stays away from immoral people and keep company with the wise and good. This way he can give and receive advices in compliance with what Allah says, “And (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy.” (Al Asr:3).
The truth is to act according to the precepts of the Holy Quran by fulfilling its injunctions and avoiding its prohibitions. It also calls upon the individual to counsel one’s relatives, neighbours, friends and loved ones, guide them to acts of obedience and piety, assist them in performing good actions and encourage them to increase their good deeds.
Thus whoever uses his time for performing these acts, Allah The Almighty will dearly recompense him in this life and the next. In this regard, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, “One who invites people to guidance will get a reward like the rewards of those who follow him without anything being taken away from their rewards.”
With this in mind, we can see that the finest quality of people who has found the way to salvation is their keen interest to advise and support each other to stay firm and patient. Allah says, “And advised each other to patience.” (Al Asr:3).
The latter is a valuable characteristic for a person to have because it can give him strength to obey Allah, endures hardships and avoid the course of sins. Thus whoever is blessed with patience, Allah will grant him unfailing reward and will ease his distress. Our Guide Muhammad (pbuh) said, “and no one is granted a gift better and more comprehensive than patience.”
O Allah, we ask your favour to let us be amongst your guided and patient servants and help us to obey You and those You have ordained upon us to obey in compliance with your injunctions: “O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with 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 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, having no associates. 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 family, his companions and all those who will follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgment.
Dear Believers,
As to what follows, we urge you to fear Allah and be mindful of the good characters the Holy Quran has guided us to. And please know that the attainers of success are those who seize their time to do good and advise people to follow the right path and embrace patience. It is said that patience is a remedy for every grief and good things come to him who waits.
Describing the virtues of patience, our Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, “Indeed, ahead of you are days of patience, wherein patience will be like grasping hot coals, and the one who does good deeds will have the reward of fifty men who do likewise.” Someone added, “O Messenger of Allah, the reward of fifty of them?” He said, “The reward of fifty of you.”
No wonder then that patience is the gem of all morality. So whoever is patient shall be greatly recompensed according to what Allah the Almighty says, “Indeed, the patient will be given their reward without account." (Azzumar:10).
Dear Muslims,
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, 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, beneficial knowledge, well-being in mind and body and blessed living life and progeny.
O Allah, increase Your blessings upon us and do not withhold Your provision from us, honour us and do not disgrace us, give us and do not deprive us, advocate us and do not disfavour us. O Allah, bestow upon us Your satisfaction and grant us self-content. O Allah, make piety our pursuit, solidify our faith and increase our wisdom.
O Allah, we seek Your mercy and forgiveness. We turn to You in repentance, put our hope and trust in You to guide us to do the righteous actions and accept our supplications to You. 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 Hellfire.
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 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, grant the favour of Your forgiveness to whoever have donated a Waqf to benefit Your servants and bless the wealth of whoever have given Zakat. We beseech You to bestow Your forgiveness and great reward upon who built this mosque, his parents and anyone who have contributed to it with good deeds. O Allah, forgive anyone who built a mosque in which Your Name is remembered.
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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