First Sermon:

Praising prophet Mohammad isn’t enough alone:

Dear brother, we are celebrating prophet Mohammad‘s birth anniversary (PBUH) and I mentioned last week the fact that if we keep praising the Prophet PBUH all our lives without following his Sunna, that praising won’t avail at all, exactly like an ignorant illiterate son who spends his life praising his learned acknowledgeable father. After all that praising, his father will remain an important learned man, and he will remain a big ignorant illiterate man. Hence, praising alone doesn’t avail, as we should follow the sunna of the Prophet PBUH, Allah says:

{And Allah would not punish them while you (Muhammad) are amongst them, nor will He punish them while they seek (Allah's) Forgiveness.}

(Al-Anfal-33)

Allah wouldn’t punish the nation of the prophet Mohammad as long as they follow his Sunna.

{And Allah would not punish them while you (Muhammad) are amongst them}

“Amongst them” means that the Sunna of the prophet is being followed and applied in their life, therefore, their homes, their businesses, their relationships, and their sad occasions are Islamic, hence, if you follow the Divine method in your life, you will be protected by Allah.

Islam is a collective and individual religion:

By the way, the greatness of this religion lies in being a collective religion. Verify, if the nation apply the religion it will be able to achieve victory over the most powerful forces on earth, and if the religion was applied by one individual he/she would reap its fruits alone., Don’t worry about the people who turn away from religion, because if you apply it alone you will reap its fruits, but you care about people, you call them to the path of Allah, you worry about them, and you spare no efforts to convince and persuade them of this religion, but finally if people didn’t respond to this religion unlike you, you will survive and reap the fruits of it. Allah is Great, and no person earns any (sin) except against himself (only), and no bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another.

Following Sunnah and keeping away from lusts:

Dear brother, we celebrate the prophet‘s birth anniversary to remember that we should follow his Sunna Allah says;

{But if they answer you not (i.e. do not believe in your doctrine of Islamic Monotheism, nor follow you), then know that they only follow their own lusts.}

(Al-Qassas 50)

There are only two choices, either you follow the Sunna of the Prophet PBUH and apply it in your life, or you follow your lusts, there is no third choice.

{But if they answer you not (i.e. do not believe in your doctrine of Islamic Monotheism, nor follow you), then know that they only follow their own lusts.}

Desires should be fulfilled according to Allah’s guidance:

{And who is more astray than one who follows his own lusts, without guidance from Allah}

(Al-Qassas 50)

And there is a third meaning, which is to fulfill your desires according to guidance from Almighty Allah, like when a man longs for a woman, he should get married to her as marriage is the legitimate way to be with a woman.

(The best intercession is when you intercede between two in marriage)

Dear brother, if man longs for money there will be uncountable ways to earn it. You should adjust yourself to the fact that there is no restraining in Islam, because basically, Allah makes a clean canal for each and every desire to be fulfilled, and you should know that desires are the ladder by which you ascend or fall down. Desires are neutral, and the clearest example is when you fill up your car with fuel, and the fuel pump draws the fuel from the tank through tubes to the cylinder chamber for combustion, which converts gasoline into motion so that your car can move, but on the other hand, if you pour this fuel onto your car and give it a sparkle, your car will burn and explode. The same goes with desires which could be a useful force or a destructive force. Therefore, without desires we wouldn’t be able to elevate and ascend to the Creator of the heavens and earth. What makes you move? It is your need for food and drink, and through this motion, your faith is tested, are you honest? Are you pure chaste? Do you take something that’s not yours? Will you earn ill-gotten money? Will you cheat or hurt Muslims? The answers to all these question is the test of your faith, and when you earn Halal money for example, then Allah will bless your money.

Mercy and faith go together:

The noble prophet (PBUH) said:

“I am but a mercy granted (by the Lord, Most Gracious).”

Allah says;

{And We have sent you (O Muhammad) not but as a mercy for the 'Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists).

(Al-anbya 107)

{And by the Mercy of Allah, you dealt with them gently}

(AL-Imran 159)

How did he derive that mercy? How did he get it? Scholars said: you derive mercy through your connection with Allah, and your heart derives mercy from the connection with Allah which will make you merciful. If there are two measures; one for mercy and the second for faith, the pointers of both of them will move together, meaning that you are merciful as much as you are a believer and you are a believer as much as you are merciful.

Mercy is what Muslims lack nowadays:

Dear brother, when the noble prophet (PBUH) conquered Mecca and the swords of his soldiers surrounded it, the destiny of the people in Mecca was determined by one word from the prophet, and we are talking about the people who hurt the prophet, got him out of Mecca, fought him in three wars, and killed his companions. Yet, when he conquered Mecca, and when their destiny was in his hands, he asked them:

“What do you think I will do to you? They replied: an honorable man and son of honorable brother. He said. Then go, you are free.”

Our society lack mercy and there is extreme cruelty and harshness nowadays. Someone might spend hundred thousand a day, yet he gives to one of his employee insufficient amount of money claiming that he is content with that income. The biggest thing we miss is that we should have mercy upon one another, we should believe in the saying of the noble prophet;

((Do you think that you get help (victory) and sustenance except because of the ones who are vulnerable amongst you)?)

[Reported by Al-Bukhari, as narrated by Musa’ab Bin Sa’ad]

One of the biggest reasons behind victory and wealth is the existence of a weak person whom you can, humiliate, or can give insufficient money even if you know that he is extremely poor, but if you feed that weak person when he is hungry, dress him when he is in need to clothes, teach him when he is ignorant and illiterate, help him to get married when he is single, provide him shelter when he is homeless, and provide him medicines when he is sick, you will express your merciful because he is weak and he can’t say a word. A respected doctor told me: “I swear by Allah when I go to the public hospitals where all patients are poor, and they can’t argue with you if you offend him”, then he said to me: I work in one of the biggest hospitals but when I work in the public hospital and look after those poor patients I do that to draw near to Almighty Allah and to get closer to Him. That poor patient is an easy target for your treatment, as you can tell him that his malady is incurable, you can say the harshest words to him, you can ignore and neglect him completely, whereas you treat patients in the high class hospital with best attitudes, you provide them with your extreme care, and you worry about your reputation and position unlike your behavior in the public hospital, you should know that you got to take care of the poor patients because they are servants of Allah, and if you do so, then Allah appears in glory and mercy into your heart.

The law of Mercy

Dear brother, we need mercy, the ayah which is considered to be the law of mercy is when Allah said;

{And by the Mercy of Allah, you dealt with them gently}

This means that because of the prophet‘s connection with Allah, his heart is filled with mercy, that mercy was reflected in gentleness, and that gentleness was the reason behind the gathering of people around the prophet (PBUH)

{And had you been severe and harsh-hearted, they would have broken away from about you}

If you don’t connect with Allah, your heart will be filled with cruelness which will turn into harsh-hearted and as a result, people would have broken away from about you.
This ayah is an equation; so the equation is: a connection with Allah + mercy + tenderness = gathering
Disconnection + cruelty +harshness =leaving out.
Who needs this ayah? Every one of us needs it. If you were a father, don’t you hope for the gathering of your children around you, don’t you hope for their love to you and their obedience to your orders, to appreciate and praise you in your absence? The triumph is not to be praised in your presence, it is rather to be praised in your absence. Therefore, the powerful people are praised in their presence and the prophets are praised in their absence. Everyone needs the connection with Allah so that the heart will be filled with mercy. As I mentioned before, mercy and faith are two measures that move together. You are merciful as much as you are a believer and you are a believer as much as you are merciful.

The mercy of the prophet (PBUH) on people

Dear brother, a Bedouin met the prophet (PBUH) and said in a savage manner: be just Mohammad, the money is neither your money nor your father’s money. If you say these words to a powerful man he may kill you or imprison you, but what happened to that Bedouin after his saying? The prophet said; that is true it is the money of Allah, as He honored his worshiper and pleased him.
The prophet heard an infant crying at al-Fajr prayer, the longest prayer in the life of the prophet was the dawn prayer, but when he heard the crying of that baby he reauthord the shortest chapter (Surah) and then he said after He was asked about the reason of reciting that short prayer: I heard that baby calling for his mother and I wanted to have mercy upon him.
He used to get upset when he sees someone overburdening a stumper, how about he who overburdened people.
He saw one of his companions slaughtering an ewe in front of its sister, so he got angry and said; hide it from its sister, do you want to kill her twice?.
Dear brother, when the Arab Peninsula subjugated entirely to the prophet (PBUH), he said:

“If there is someone whose money was taken by me, here is my money let him take what he wants, and if there is someone whose back was whipped by me, here is my back and let him avenge himself on me. If I insulted someone, he can insult me; and he shall not be afraid of enmity; it's none of my business neither is of my nature."

After "Hunayn" battle, the Prophet (PBUH) became powerful and ruled the entire Arab peninsula, one of his companions came to him and told him that his tribe became angry for the unfair share they were given, and although He was in the most powerful attitude Abu Sa’eed Alkhudri said:

((When the Messenger (PBUH) distributed the war spoils to Koraish and Arab tribes, he didn’t allocate any share to the Ansar. They became angry and the gossip about that spread, yet some of them said: “The Messenger (PBUH) joined his tribe”. Then Sa’ad Ibn Oubada visited him and said: “O Messenger of Allah! Ansar people became angry because of your distribution of the spoils; you allocated shares to your tribe and great shares to Arab tribes but no share to this district of Ansar”. The Messenger said: “What about you Sa’ad?” He replied: “O Messenger of Allah! I am just one of my tribe”. He said: “So gather your tribe in this stable”. Sa’ad went out and gathered his tribe in the stable. The Messenger said: “O Ansar community, I heard that you had been angry. Didn’t I come to you while you were straying and Allah guided you? And while you were poor, Allah enriched you? And while you were enemies, Allah reconciled you?” The Ansar said: “However, Allah and his Messenger is better and preferable award. The Messenger said: “Don’t you reply to me, O Ansar tribe?!” They said: With what we would answer you while the favor grace is done by Allah and his Messenger?” He said: “If you wish you could say- truthfully and this would be accepted as true- [You came to us accused of lying and we believed you, let down and we supported you, fugitive and we lodged you, poor and we enriched you]. O Ansar tribe! You were angry for an ephemeral remnant in the life, which I used to reconcile tribes to be Muslims and entrusted you to your faith, don’t you be satisfied to win the Messenger in your residence while the people win the ewes and camels?” The Ansar tribe cried until they moistened their barbs and said: “We accept the Messenger of Allah to be our share and allotment.”))

[Ahmad and Ad-Daremi]

In Badr battle, the number of mounts (animals for riding, horse, camel, mules...etc) was on;y three hundreds, and the Companions were more than one thousand, what can one do in this situation?!
The leader of that army was the Prophet PBUH himself who said: let every three men take turns in riding a mount (animal), I, Ali and Abu Lubabah will take turns (riding) one animal, when it was His turn to walk, his two companions said to him: O Allah's Messenger, stay riding, but the Prophet said:

“I am not less than you in needing the reward, and you are not stronger than me in walking!”

It was also narrated that he was, once, on a journey when he ordered his companions to cook an ewe. A man volunteered to slaughter it, another volunteered to skin it, and a third volunteered to cook it. The Prophet volunteered to gather firewood. When his companions told that they would do that mission instead of him, he answered:

“I know you can do it, but I do not like to be distinguished. Allah dislikes seeing His servant distinguishing himself from his companions."

A Bedouin came to ask the prophet-PBUH- about something so he entered the mosque asking: Who among you is Muhamad? This means that there was no certain chair or sofa the noble prophet used to set on, the prophet said; I am Muhammad. In another narration; the companions replied: that man with the shining face.

Being merciful to sh3er indicates one’s level of faith:

Dear brother, if you connect with Allah your heart will be filled with mercy and you will have mercy upon the people around you; if you are merciful towards people they will love you and gather around you, every father and mother, teacher and manager need this ayah,

{And by the Mercy of Allah, you dealt with them gently}

In the Qudsi hadith the prophet tells that Allah says;

(If you love My mercy, then have mercy upon My servants)

((A woman was tortured in Hell because of a cat which she kept locked till it died, she neither fed it, nor watered it when she locked it up, nor did she set it free to eat the vermin of the earth.))

[Agreed upon from Ibn Omar]

How about those who prevent food from million and a half people?
Three hundred countries see those people who are under the siege in Gaza, by Arabs and foreigners, and the steely walls are built to block the tunnels to make people starve to death. A woman was tortured in Hell because of a cat which she kept locked till it die; have mercy on people, and Allah will have mercy on you, have mercy on your son, your domestic servant, and your employee,

(If you love My mercy have mercy on My servants)

The furthest heart from Allah is the hard heart, and the indicator of the faith of man is his mercy upon the people around him,

“I am but a mercy granted (by the Lord, Most Gracious).”

A man wanted to fight with the prophet in one of his battles. the Prophet (PBUH) asked him; do you have a father and a mother? He said; yes I have, the prophet said; then fight and strive for their sake.
The prophet was fighting in one of Ramadan days; the weather was too hot that he grabbed a pot, raised it high in front of all his companions and broke his fast. But when he knew that some of his companions did not break their fast, he said: "Those are the disobedient. The prophet said that because they didn’t have mercy upon themselves, Allah allows you to break your fast in travel or in hardship.

He who is not merciful will not be granted Allah’s mecry:

The prophet (PBUH) said;

{“He who gives a respite to a debtor in hardship or releases him (of his debts) will be over-shaded with Allah’s Throne on the Day when there will be no shade but His Shade.”}

If you lend someone an amount of money when you enjoying a good financial state and the debtor is neither liar nor swindler but he is in hardship, you will be merciful if you give him a respite even if the lawsuit is ready, you have a lawyer and you are able to suit anyone who won’t pay his debts.

{And if the debtor is in a hard time (has no money), then grant him time till it is easy for him to repay, but if you remit it by way of charity, that is better for you if you did but know.}

(Al-Bakara-280)

Those who are not merciful will not have the mercy (of Allah) the prophet (PBUH) said;

{If you come to a debtor who is in hardship, be tolerant with him, perchance Allah will be tolerant with you and answer your calls}

Connection with Allah makes one merciful:

Dear brother, the whole life of the prophet was full of mercy, and be sure that the indicator of your faith is your mercy upon the people around you, whether they are relatives or not. The mercy which you raise by, is the public mercy, our need to food is installed inside us, and we don’t need someone to order us to eat. The same goes with mercy, when you have mercy upon your children, be sure that Allah installed that mercy in the heart of every mother and father, it is not an acquired mercy but it si natural, and you are rewarded through it. When you make your children know their lord, help them to obey Him, watch their morality, and watch their behavior, then you make them sublime,
Dear brother, we benefit from the prophet’s birth anniversary when we take him as a good example, when we follow his Sunna, and we should strengthen our connection with Allah to derive mercy from Him and to draw near to Him.
I say these words, and ask Allah’s Forgiveness for me and you; so ask Him His Forgiveness and He will forgive you, and you will gain a lot by doing that.

The second sermon

Praise be to Allah, the Sustainer of the worlds. And I bear witness that there is no god except Allah, the Protector of the righteous, and I bear witness that our Prophet Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger who is endowed with a Great character. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon Him and his folks and companions.

Faith without obedience is Satan’s faith like:

Dear brother, there are many illusions in our life, you may see a man who is not upright, who commits many sins, who takes ill-gotten money, and who claims after all that he is a believer. Beware that the belief of anyone who doesn’t obey Allah, is like the belief of Satan

{ [Iblis (Satan)] said: "By Your Might, then I will surely mislead them all,}

(Saad -82)

{ (Allah) said: "What prevented you (O Iblis) that you did not prostrate, when I commanded you?" Iblis said: "I am better than him (Adam), You created me from fire, and him You created from clay."}

(Al-Araf 12)

{ [Iblis (Satan)] said: "O my Lord! Give me then respite till the Day they (the dead) will be resurrected."}

(Al-Hijr -36)

According to the previous ayat, Satan believed in Allah and in Jis majesty, he believed in Him as a Creator, he believed in the Hereafter, yet he didn’t obey Allah so he was deprived of His mercy. Hence, the faith that doesn’t lead you to obey Allah doesn’t count, but the faith which bears the fruits of uprightness, obedience, commitment, and duty is the faith that Allah wants.

Invocation

O Allah! We beseech You to show us the way of righteousness together with those to whom You showed it; and to give us good health together with those whom You have healed; and to be our Protector, as You are of those whom You protect; and to bless what You have bestowed on us; and to save us from the affliction that You have decreed –for You rule with justice and You are never judged; and he whom You protect shall never be humiliated and he whom You make Your enemy shall never be elevated. Blessed and dignified are You!
And we thank You for what You have decreed, we ask Your forgiveness and we repent to You. O Allah! Please lead us to the good deeds for no one leads to them but You; please lead us to the good conduct for no one leads to it but You; please make us do well in the deen (religion), which is our dignity, and make our lives good for it is our existence, and grant us safety on the Day of Judgment for it is our Final Destination. Please supply our life with all good things and make our death a rest from every evil.
O our Master, the Lord of all Worlds! Please make me desire what You have made lawful and reject what You have made unlawful, and make me by Your benevolence independent of all sh3er, and make my obedience to You turn me away from my disobedience; and by Your generosity and mercy elevate high the word of rightness and of the deen; lead Islam to victory, and grant Muslims dignity in every place on earth. Show us Your strength against Your enemies. O Allah, the most Generous!