Friday Sermon
4 July 2008 / 1 Rejab 1429
Strengthening Our Relationship with Allah
Through Good Deeds
My dearest brothers,
Let us strengthen our taqwa to Allah. Rise to carry out all that He commands. Strive to leave everything that He forbids. May we succeed in this world and the hereafter.
Dearest congregation,
The heart of the faithful will always long for his Creator. The heart of the faithful will always want to speak (munajat) to Allah and to remember Allah. The faithful will weep in repentance. The faithful will yearn to purify his heart and soul. The faithful will want to improve his relationship with his Creator.
Allah s.w.t, the Most Compassionate and Merciful to all His creations, has endowed upon His servants special time and moments to assist them to strengthen their relationship with Him.
For example, in a day, there are special moments, such as the last third of the night, after dawn until sunrise, and between Maghrib and Isya’.
In a week, Allah s.w.t accord special status to Friday, as the chief of all days (sayyidul ayyam).
In a month, Allah s.w.t accord special status to 3 days. The Holy Prophet s.a.w. was reported not to have missed fasting on the 3 clear days of a month (ayyamul Baidh). The Prophet s.a.w said in a hadith:
Which means: The Messenger of Allah, Nuh a.s, fast on all days. The Messenger of Allah, Daud a.s, fast half the time. He would fast on alternate days. The Messenger of Allah, Ibrahim a.s., fast on alternate times. He would fast 3 days of every month. (Hadith narrated by At-Tabrani dan Al-Baihaqi)
Beyond that, Allah s.w.t has accorded special status to certain months of the year. In those months, Allah multiply the rewards for those who seek to do good in these months.
My dear brothers,
Allah’s mercy and compassion to us is vast and expansive. Alhamdulillah, on this day, we meet the blessed month of Rejab. Rejab is known as the door that opens to all the blessed months. Because what follows Rejab are Syaaban then Ramadhan. These are the three blessed months, in which the Prophet s.a.w. was reported to have fast a lot.
Today is the first day of Rejab. The faithful (mukminin) will seize this opportunity to prepare themselves for the most blessed month of Ramadhan. They will begin to cleanse their souls and hearts from today, so as to be prepared to be enlightened and blessed by Allah in the month of Ramadhan. The Holy Prophet s.a.w would ask Allah s.w.t. with the following prayer in the month of Rejab:
“O Allah! Bless us in the months of Rejab and Syaaban, and let us meet the month of Ramadhan” (Hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad)
This should be our prayer as well, from today. May we be blessed by Allah s.w.t. in this month of Rejab and the next month of Syaaban. And may we all meet the blessed month of Ramadhan. Let us increase our devotion to Alalh s.w.t. in these blessed months.
My dear brothers,
Don’t we want to seize this opportunity? Each one of us would look forward to our work bonuses at the end of the year. We all would be happy to get these bonuses. But Allah also gives us this bonus, not in monetary terms, but in terms of rewards. In terms of His blessings and mercy. But more importantly, beyond these rewards, there are important lessons to be had from these special months of purifying our souls and hearts.
First, is that these months provide us with the golden opportunity to improve and strengthen our relationship with Allah s.w.t., the Al-Mighty, to Him belong the kingdoms of heaven and earth, and to Him is all glory and power.
For the believers, we know that there is no real power and strength except that of Allah s.w.t.
Secondly, all good deeds will not only purify our souls and strengthen our spirituality, but will also beautify our actions and character. A truly good act will change us into respectful human beings.
For example, when we do good deeds, our spirituality becomes stronger, and we will not neglect our duties and responsibilities. The compassion in us will grow. We will like to assist those in need. We will want goodness for everyone.
Each one of us has a role to play. Let us remind ourselves that there is no good deed which is too small in the eyes of Allah s.w.t. For each, Allah s.w.t. will reward accordingly. As Allah s.w.t. says in the Holy Quran:
Which means: ”Whoever does good whether male or female and he is a believer, We will most certainly make him live a happy life, and We will most certainly give them their reward for the best of what they did.” (Surah Al-Nahl verse 97)
This is the outcome of the good deeds that we do. Thus, we must learn and appreciate the values and spirit of each ritual and good deed that we do as Muslims.
These are part of our Singaporean Muslim Identity. When we understand and appreciate the rituals of Islam, and we translate the values within these rituals in our everyday actions, we will become principled individuals who are always ready to contribute to the larger good.
Hopefully, with these values, we will succeed both in this world and the hereafter. And hopefully, we will gain the multiple rewards from Allah s.w.t. and receive His blessings and mercy
Amin Ya Rabbal A’lamin.
No comments:
Post a Comment