Sermon Title: Allah’s Rights Upon His Servants
Themes of the Sermon:
1- Allah’s blessings upon his servants are countless.
2- Allah’s perfection, beauty, majesty, and greatness.
3- Allah’s rights upon His servants.
Praise be to Allah, and may Allah exalt and send peace to the best of the Prophets and Messengers, our Prophet Muhammad, and to his family and companions.
To proceed:
O servants of Allah, fear Allah, as He should be feared, and be mindful of Him in secret and in public:
يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ
“O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims [in submission to Him].” [3:102]
O Muslims:
Allah, the Most High and Exalted, has a great right upon us, which the successful ones have recognized and have striven in fulfilling, and they succeeded. The negligent ones have been heedless of it, wasted it, and thus, they perished and failed.
O Servants of Allah!
Allah, the Most High and Exalted, created us from nothingness, and bestowed upon us the best of blessings; He fed us when we were hungry, provided us with safety when we were afraid, protected us from calamities, and saved us from harm and distress. He enriched us from poverty and showered us with His provisions.
He provided us with good things, granted us gifts, created us in the best form, healthy, and well-proportioned. He placed in our bodies limbs and organs that amaze the intellect with their complexity and organization.
He made the sun and the moon subservient to us, and established for us the night and the day in succession. He set up the mountains and made them firm, caused the water to gush forth and flow, expanded the sky and raised it high, and spread out the earth and flattened it.
O servant of Allah, you cannot enumerate His blessings, for every breath you take, every sip of water you drink, every heartbeat that runs through you, and all the calamities that are averted from you, are all blessings from the Generous One, which you neither feel nor count!
Thus, exalted is He, the Merciful Lord, the Generous Provider, whose servants are never independent of His mercy, and nothing can replace His grace and kindness.
He, the Most High, is unique in His attributes of majesty, beauty, and perfection. To Him belong the most beautiful names and the highest attributes. He is the Mighty, the Compeller, the Supreme, the Irresistible, the Most High, the Great, the Firm, the All-Powerful, the Preserver, the All-Knowing, the Majestic, the Supreme:
هُوَ الْأَوَّلُ وَالْآخِرُ وَالظَّاهِرُ وَالْبَاطِنُ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيم
“He is the First and the Last, the Ascendant and the Intimate, and He is, of all things, Knowing.” [57:3]
Faces are humbled to Him, voices are subdued to Him, necks submit to Him, and the mighty are humiliated before Him. He alone possesses sovereignty and dominion, honor and power. He is the Living who never dies, the Sustainer who never sleeps:
الرَّحْمَنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوَى * لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا وَمَا تَحْتَ الثَّرَى * وَإِنْ تَجْهَرْ بِالْقَوْلِ فَإِنَّهُ يَعْلَمُ السِّرَّ وَأَخْفَى * اللَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ لَهُ الْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَى
“The Most Merciful [who is] above the Throne established. To Him belongs what is in the heavens and what is on the earth and what is between them and what is under the soil. And if you speak aloud - then indeed, He knows the secret and what is [even] more hidden. Allah - there is no deity except Him. To Him belong the best names.” [20: 5-8]
He, the Most High, is the Kind, the Merciful, the Pardoner, the Generous, the Appreciative, the Forbearing, the Giver, the Bestower, the Forgiving, and the Accepter of Repentance. He, Glory be to Him, forgives sins, accepts repentance, removes missteps, and pardons wrong doing. All goodness is in His hands, and evil is not attributed to Him:
وَهُوَ الَّذِي يُنَزِّلُ الْغَيْثَ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا قَنَطُوا وَيَنْشُرُ رَحْمَتَهُ وَهُوَ الْوَلِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ
“And it is He who sends down the rain after they had despaired and spreads His mercy. And He is the Protector, the Praiseworthy.” [42:28]
O Servants of Allah!
Indeed, the majesty of our Lord and His perfection are too great to be counted, and His generosity and grace are so vast that they cannot be comprehended. So where are we in relation to His right upon us?
Among the rights of our Lord upon us is to devote ourselves to Him with perfect love and reverence, submission and surrender, so we honor and appreciate Him as much as we can. can. It is astonishing for the weak, small human to confront this glorious, great Lord without reverence and respect. The first of the messengers, Noah (peace be upon him), was amazed by his people for that reason, and said to them:
مَا لَكُمْ لَا تَرْجُونَ لِلَّهِ وَقَارًا
What is [the matter] with you that you do not attribute to Allah [due] grandeur?" [71:13]
In addition, one of the rights of the Lord upon His servants is that they thank Him for His grace upon them, devoting themselves with perfect love for Him, complete trust in Him, and thinking well of His decrees. Allah has described His righteous guardians among His creation with their perfect love for Him, as well as His love for them, as He says:
وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَشَدُّ حُبّاً لِلَّهِ
“But those who believe are stronger in love for Allah.” [2:165]
And He says describing them:
يُحِبُّهُمْ وَيُحِبُّونَهُ
“He will love and who will love Him.” [5:54]
May Allah bless me and all of you through the Great Quran, and benefit us from its verses and wise reminders. I say this statement, and I ask Allah for forgiveness for me, you, and all Muslims for every sin, so seek His forgiveness, for He is the Most-Forgiving, the Most-Merciful.
The Second Sermon
All praise is due to Allah, and may Allah exalt and send peace to the Messenger of Allah, and to his family, his companions, and those who follow him.
O Servants of Allah:
Among the rights of the Almighty Lord upon His servants is to obey His command and not to disobey His prohibition, to fear His wrath and punishment, and to prioritize His will above their desires. They should not put their beloved things ahead of His beloved ones, nor should they conflict between their desires and the duties He has imposed upon them. They should not disbelieve in their Lord out of arrogance and refuse to submit to Him, nor should they claim freedom from His obedience and compliance. Verily, the servants have no independence from Allah, and there is no escape from Him except to Him. Their beginning is by His creation, and their return is to Him.
Furthermore, the servants have to believe in the unseen that Allah’s messengers have conveyed and not to oppose it with imaginary intellects or alleged opinions. Indeed, He, the Exalted, says about Himself:
وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
“And Allah Knows, while you know not.” [2:216]
They are also supposed to believe in their ultimate return to Him, prepare for meeting Him, and not to feel secure in this worldly life and be content with it. The Almighty say:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ لَا يَرْجُونَ لِقَاءَنَا وَرَضُوا بِالْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَاطْمَأَنُّوا بِهَا وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ عَنْ آيَاتِنَا غَافِلُونَ * أُولَئِكَ مَأْوَاهُمُ النَّارُ بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ
“Indeed, those who do not expect the meeting with Us and are satisfied with the life of this world and feel secure therein and those who are heedless of Our signs.” [10:7]
Moreover, the servants must not associate anything with Him. For He, the Exalted, has no equal that could match Him in His attributes, nor any rival that could resemble Him in His qualities and perfections. There is no lord besides Him who creates and provides, so as to be invoked and hoped for instead of Him. Whoever turns away from Allah to the worship of anything other than Him has indeed denied His right, rejected His favor, and deserved His wrath and punishment.
In summary, the right of Allah, the Exalted, upon the servants is to be worshiped alone, as the Prophet (ﷺ) said to Mu'adh bin Jabal, "O Mu'adh, do you know the right of Allah upon His servants?" He said, "Allah and His Messenger know best." He replied, "That Allah be worshipped and nothing be associated with Him." He said, "Do you know their right upon Him if they do that?" He replied, "Allah and His Messenger know best." He said, "That He does not punish them." reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.
Blessed is the one who fulfills the right of his Lord, escapes from His punishment, and attains the abundant reward and blessings from Him. May Allah make us, all of you, and all Muslims among them, with His generosity, grace, and kindness.
Then, exalt and send peace to our Prophet Muhammad. O Allah, exalt and send peace to our Prophet Muhammad, and to his family, and all his companions.
O Allah, we ask You for all that is good, both immediate and deferred, what we know of it and what we do not know. And we seek refuge in You from all evil, both immediate and deferred, what we know of it and what we do not know. We ask You for Paradise and what brings us closer to it in word and deed, and we seek refuge in You from the Fire and what brings us closer to it in word and deed. O Allah, grant success to the guardian of our affairs in what You love and are pleased with, and guide him by the forelock to righteousness and piety. Our Lord, grant us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and protect us from the torment of the Fire.
O Servants of Allah: Remember Allah with abundant remembrance, and glorify Him morning and evening. And our final prayer is that all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
