الاثنين، 16 مارس 2015

Friday Sermons - Benefits of modesty

First sermon
Praise be to Allah, the Provider, Who considers modesty as one of the greatest morality. I extol Him as is befitting to His great sovereignty and glorious status. I bear witness that there is no deity but Him, having no associates. I also testify that Muhammad-the best of all Creations- is His Servant and Messenger, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, his family, his companions, who were known for their decency, as well as those who will follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgment.
I urge myself first and all of you to obey Allah and be submissive to Him. Verily, Allah, Exalted is He, has declared the truth in His Holy Book: "and this [Quran] is a Book We have revealed [which is] blessed, so follow it and fear Allah that you may receive mercy." (Al Anaam: 155). He also says, "So give good tidings to My servants who listen to speech and follow the best of it." (Azzumar: 17-18).
Dear Muslims,
There is no doubt that people are different in their characters; some have good morality while others have less or fewer. You may also find others, who are known for their generosity, others for their tolerance and others for their courage and loyalty. All of these fine manners are loved by Allah the All-Glory and His Messenger Muhammad pbuh. Yet one of the principles of Islam, Hayaa or (modesty- a pious shyness from committing religious indiscretions), stands out. This is closest to faith. In this regard our Prophet pbuh said, "every religion has its distinct characteristic, and the distinct characteristic of Islam is modesty." The Prophet was modest and decent. Narrator Abu Saeed said, "the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had modesty more than a virgin in her tent."
In many places in the Quran and Sunna, Islam has urged us to seek the path of modesty. He pbuh considered it part of faith as he said, "faith has over seventy branches or over sixty branches, the most excellent of which is the declaration that there is no deity but Allah, and the humblest of which is the removal of what is injurious from the path and modesty is the branch of faith."
The fact that the Prophet singled out Hayaa in particular means that this part is central and leads to all other branches of faith. This is echoed by what a wise man said that self-respect is dependent on dignity in the same way as a plant is dependent on water for survival. It is also said that anyone who makes modesty his cloak, no one can see his flaws.
For his part, Umar Ibn Al Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "anyone who had his modesty weakened, his piety would wear out. And whoever had weak piety, his heart had died.
On the same matter, a poet praising its virtues said what means: "there is no good living for man if living is decency bare, for the tree remains alive so far as its bark is there."
Decent behaviour is also one's way to committing to acts of worship and benefitting from rewards. Our Prophet pbuh said, "modesty does not bring anything except good. In another narration: "modesty is altogether good."
Looking at modesty from this perspective, it is clear that who embraces such a fine characteristic shall see his faith strengthened and his acts of goodness increased, ultimately leading him towards Paradise. However, someone who goes impudent he does injustice. And who does injustice will be a loser and shall be overwhelmed by remorse. In this Hadith we read: "Al Hayaa is from faith, and faith is in Paradise. Obscenity is from rudeness, and rudeness is in the Fire."
Each of these calls for good and keeps evil at bay. Faith urges the believer to do acts of obedience while decency prevents him from sliding into immorality. Our Prophet pbuh said, "modesty and belief are together. If one of them is removed, the other is removed."
Dear Servants of Allah,
But the most honourable form of modesty is the one towards Allah the All-Glory. Our Lord is the most Decent and loves His servants who are modest and well-mannered. This is evidenced in the following Hadith: "Allah is characterised by modesty and concealment." In another Hadith our Prophet says, "I advise you to obey Allah and be ashamed of Allah in the same way you be ashamed of a righteous man of your own people."
This is achieved by protecting your limbs as dictated by Allah the most Exalted. Abdullah bin Masud narrated that the Messenger of Allah pbuh said, "have Hayaa for Allah as is His due." We said, "O Prophet of Allah, we have Hayaa, and all praise is due to Allah." He said, "not that, but having the Hayaa for Allah which He is due is to protect the head and what it contains and to protect the insides and what it includes, and to remember death and the trial, and whoever intends the Hereafter, he leaves the adornments of the world. So whoever does that, then he has indeed fulfilled Hayaa, meaning the Hayaa which Allah is due."
This means someone who is not modest, lacking Hayaa, is most likely will transgress Allah's prohibitions, and he can easily commit major sins. The Prophet pbuh says, "one of the sayings of the early Prophets which the people have got is: if you don't feel ashamed do whatever you like."
Dear Muslims,
The Prophet Companions were characterised with Hayaa as much as angels [out of respect] showed respect to some of them. Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said, "Allah's Messenger pbuh was lying down in my room with his thigh or shank uncovered when Abu Bakr asked for permission to enter. He gave him permission to enter, remaining as he was. Then Umar asked for permission to come in and he gave him permission, remaining as he was.
"Then Uthman asked for permission to enter and the Prophet sat up and arranged his garment and then came in and spoke. When he left, I said, 'O Messenger of Allah, Abu Bakr came in and you did not exert yourself nor concern yourself with him. Then Umar came in and you did not exert yourself nor concern yourself with him. Then Uthman came in and you sat up and arranged your garment.' He said, 'should I not be modest before a man before whom the angels are modest?'"
Aisha also said, "whenever I entered the house in which the Prophet pbuh and my father (i.e. Abu Bakr) are buried, I used to take off my sheet (from head) thinking that it's only my father and husband (whom I am visiting), however By Allah! When Umar got buried with them, I never went inside without being fully covered; this is because of being ashamed of Umar."
That is said, if Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, felt ashamed of a man buried, then modesty must be shown first and foremost to those who are still alive. Similarly any Muslim woman must act with dignity when dealing with all people. We read in the holy Quran the story of a woman who was known for her modest behaviour. About her Allah the Almighty says, "then one of the two women came to him walking with shyness. She said, 'indeed, my father invites you that he may reward you for having watered for us'." (Al Qasas: 25).
Truly modesty is a protection for the Muslim woman and man from misdeeds. So whoever stays ashamed of Allah the Exalted is He by averting one's gaze, protecting one' limbs, maintaining the chastity of heart and tongue, he will see his manners elevated and his treatment of people dignified.
Bearing this in mind, we implore Allah to bless us with piety and embellish us with modesty. We also plead with Allah to help us obey Him, His Messenger Muhammad pbuh and those He has decreed on us to obey in compliance with His orders: "O you who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you." (Annisaa: 59).
May Allah direct us all to the blessings of the Glorious Quran and the Sunna of His Messenger pbuh and benefit us all in whatever is in them.
I say this and ask Allah the Great, the Most Honoured for forgiveness for me, you and all the Muslims for every sin, so invoke Him for forgiveness, for He is the Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Second sermon
Praise be to Allah. I bear witness that there is no deity but Him, having no associates. I also bear witness that our Master Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger, 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.
Servants of Allah
Please be aware that you are asked to obey Him, the Almighty, as it ought to be by observing Him in private and in public and know that modesty is one of the most comprehensive branches of faith. So if someone shows modesty towards Allah, he will be keener to observe religious obligations and other recommended actions. Likewise he will avoid things that are forbidden as well as things that are disliked.
On another level, if someone shows modesty towards people, he will also avoid treating them in ways they do not like. Further, if he is ashamed of himself, he will hold himself accountable and watch over his speech and acts. If he does that, this shows he has a pure soul and truly he is conscientious. Our Prophet pbuh says, "whenever there is modesty in a thing, it adorns it. Whenever there is outrage in a thing, it debases it."
Dear Servants of Allah,
Bear in mind that you are asked to offer prayer and greetings upon our most noble Prophet pbuh for Allah says, "indeed, Allah and His angels sends blessing upon the Prophet. O you who have believed, ask [Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [Allah to grant him] peace." (Al Ahzab: 56). On the same matter, the Prophet pbuh said, "for everyone who invokes a blessing on me will receive ten blessings from Allah." He also said, "nothing turns back the Decree except supplication."
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: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali, and all those who will follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgment.
May Allah bless us with modesty in all whatever we do and guide us to the best of manners and acts. May Allah help us also to be amongst Your servants who obey You in private or in public. O Allah the most Beneficent, the All Knowing.
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.
O Allah, 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.
O Allah, forgive all of the Muslims, men and women, living and dead, and make blessings follow us and them. O Lord, forgive and show mercy to our parents, relatives and whoever has done a favour to us.
O Allah, we pray to You to grant Your forgiveness 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.
We pray to Allah, the Most Gracious, to preserve my continue from all temptations, both apparent and hidden, and my continue blessing  and all Muslim countries with safety and security.
O servants of Allah, please 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).
Translation
Mostapha El Mouloudi

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