IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST MERCIFUL, THE MOST COMPASSIONATE
THE THIRD SERMON FOR THE MONTH OF DHUL-HIJJAH
DATED 15/12/1445 AH (JUNE 21, 2024 CE)
THE FIRST SERMON
TOPIC: THE NIGHT PRAYER: A SCHOOL FOR THE RIGHTEOUS
AND THE DELIGHT OF THE DEVOUT
THE FIRST SERMON
All praise is due to Allah, who encourages His faithful servants to perform the night prayer and has promised great rewards and high ranks for it. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone, without any partners. To Him belongs the dominion and all praise, and He has power over all things. I also bear witness that our Prophet Muhammad is His servant and messenger, His chosen one from among His creation. May constant blessings and peace be upon our beloved Prophet Muhammad, his family, his companions, and all those who follow his path, adhere to his Sunnah, and emulate his guidance until the Day of Judgment.
As to what follow:
Fear Allah, O Muslims, for piety is the trait of Allah’s allies who fulfill their obligations and avoid prohibitions. Allah the Exalted says: (أَلَا إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاءَ اللَّهِ لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ * الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَكَانُوا يَتَّقُونَ) “Behold! Verily, the friends of Allah shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve * Those who believe and were conscious of Allah” (Surah Yunus: 62-63).
Dear esteemed listeners, Qiyaamul-layl (the night prayer) is a noble act of worship, a significant act of devotion, a divine ordinance, a prophetic tradition, a commendable characteristic, and a spiritual school. It is an intimate meeting with the Lord of the worlds. Despite all these commendable attributes and honorable qualities, this act of worship, which is the best after the obligatory prayers, has few people who aspire to it. For many people today, it has become something forgotten, as we live in a time where religion has turned out to be a stranger. Therefore, to remind ourselves and to seize this blessed time with acts of obedience to attain great rewards, our discussion today will focus on: “THE NIGHT PRAYER: A SCHOOL FOR THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE DELIGHT OF THE DEVOUT.”
Indeed, the night prayer, O Muslims, is among the best of the voluntary acts of worship and one of the greatest means by which a servant can draw closer to his Lord, the Almighty. It is the habit of the righteous, the honor of the believers, and the practice of the successful. During the night, the believing servants of Allah are alone with their Lord, turning to their Creator and Sustainer, complaining to Him about their conditions and sins, and asking Him for His bounty. Allah has praised those who stand in prayer during the night. He says: (أَمَّنْ هُوَ قَانِتٌ آنَاءَ اللَّيْلِ سَاجِدًا وَقَائِمًا يَحْذَرُ الْآخِرَةَ وَيَرْجُو رَحْمَةَ رَبِّهِ قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِي الَّذِينَ يَعْلَمُونَ وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ إِنَّمَا يَتَذَكَّرُ أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ)
“Is one who is devoutly obedient during periods of the night, prostrating and standing in prayer, fearing the Hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord, [like one who does not]? Say, “Are those who know equal to those who do not know?” Only those of understanding will remember.” (Surah Az-Zumar: 9).
Ibn Abbas said: {Periods of the night} means the middle of the night. Al-Hasan and Qatadah said: {Periods of the night} means its beginning, middle, and end. (See Tafsir Ibn Kathir 7/88).
Allah also describes the servants of the Most Merciful as: (وَالَّذِينَ يَبِيتُونَ لِرَبِّهِمْ سُجَّدًا وَقِيَامًا) {And those who spend [part of] the night to their Lord prostrating and standing [in prayer]} (Surah Al-Furqan: 64).
As-Sa’di said: “They frequently pray at night, sincerely for their Lord, humbling themselves before Him.” (Tafsir As-Sa’di p. 586).
Allah also says: (كَانُوا قَلِيلًا مِنَ اللَّيْلِ مَا يَهْجَعُونَ * وَبِالْأَسْحَارِ هُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ) {They used to sleep but little of the night * And in the hours before dawn they would ask forgiveness} (Surah Adh-Dhariyat: 17-18).
Imam At-Tabari said: “They used to sleep only a little at night because Allah praised and commended them for it, describing them as being engaged in much work, staying up at night, enduring its hardships in acts that bring them closer to Him and please Him.” (Tafsir At-Tabari 22/412).**
Brothers in Islam, the night prayer has great virtues, we shall mention some of them as follow:
it is the best prayer after the obligatory prayers. Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “The best fasting after Ramadan is the month of Allah, Muharram, and the best prayer after the obligatory prayer is the night prayer.” (Reported by Muslim and Ahmad in the Musnad).
It is also the school prepared for great matters. When Allah the Exalted chose His Prophet and Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) to bear the final message, He commanded him to perform the night prayer. Allah says:
(يَاأَيُّهَا الْمُزَّمِّلُ * قُمِ اللَّيْلَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا * نِصْفَهُ أَوِ انْقُصْ مِنْهُ قَلِيلًا * أَوْ زِدْ عَلَيْهِ وَرَتِّلِ الْقُرْآنَ تَرْتِيلًا إِنَّا سَنُلْقِي عَلَيْكَ قَوْلًا ثَقِيلًا)
{O you who wraps himself [in clothing] * Arise [to pray] the night, except for a little * Half of it – or subtract from it a little * Or add to it, and recite the Qur’an with measured recitation * Indeed, We will cast upon you a heavy word.} (Surah Al-Muzzammil: 1-5).
So, the night prayer and the recitation of the Qur’an were the preparation for bearing this great and arduous message. The honor of a believer in this world lies in the night prayer.
Sahl ibn Sa’d reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “Gabriel came to me and said: ‘O Muhammad, live as long as you wish, for you will die; love whomever you wish, for you will be separated; do whatever you wish, for you will be recompensed for it. Then he said: ‘O Muhammad, the honor of a believer is his standing in prayer at night, and his dignity is in his being independent of people.” (Reported by Al-Hakim in Al-Mustadrak, and also found in Hilyat al-Awliya and Tabaqat al-Asfiya, verified by Adh-Dhahabi in At-Talkhis).
If the night prayer were only a means for the forgiveness of sins, the acceptance of supplications, and an entry to Paradise, it would suffice.
Our Lord, the Blessed and Exalted, descends every night to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains and says: “Who will call upon Me that I may answer him? Who will ask of Me that I may give him? Who will seek My forgiveness that I may forgive him?” (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Ahmad).
Jabir reported that he heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) say: “Indeed, in the night, there is an hour in which no Muslim servant asks Allah for good in it but He gives it to him, and that is every night.” (Reported by Muslim and Ahmad).
Abu Malik Al-Ash’ari reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “In Paradise, there is a room whose outside is seen from its inside and its inside from its outside.” Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari asked: “For whom is it, O Messenger of Allah?” He said: “For those who speak kindly, feed the hungry, and stand in prayer at night while the people are asleep.” (A hasan hadith, reported by Ahmad in Al-Musnad, Al-Bayhaqi in As-Sunan Al-Kubra, and At-Tabarani in Al-Mu’jam Al-Kabir).
Abdullah ibn Salam reported: When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) arrived in Medina, people rushed to meet him, saying, “The Messenger of Allah has arrived!” I went among the people to see him. When I saw his face, I recognized that his face was not the face of a liar. The first thing he said was: “O people, spread peace, feed the hungry, and pray at night while people sleep; you will enter Paradise in peace.” (Its chain of transmission is authentic, reported by Ibn Hibban in his Sahih and Ibn Majah in his Sunan).
Brothers in faith, know—may Allah have mercy on you—that sincerity is the essence of good deeds, and without it, actions are neither valid nor acceptable. Strengthen your sincerity to Allah through the night prayer.
Al-Hafiz Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbali (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “The night prayer is preferred over the daytime prayer because it is more conducive to secrecy and closer to sincerity. For this reason, our righteous predecessors exerted themselves in the night prayer.
Al-Hasan said: ‘A man would have guests in his home, then get up in the night to pray without his guests knowing. They would strive in supplication without their voices being heard. A man would lie down with his wife on the same pillow and cry the whole night without her knowing.'” (See: Lata’if Al-Ma’arif p. 39).
Servants of Allah, the Prophet (peace be upon him) was keen on performing the night prayer to the extent that he would not leave his family members and relatives sleeping without waking them up.
Ali ibn Abi Talib said that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came to him and Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet (peace be upon him), one night and said: “Will you not pray?” I said: “O Messenger of Allah, our souls are in the hands of Allah. If He wants to wake us, He will wake us.” He then left when I said that, and he did not return to me. I heard him as he was leaving, striking his thigh and saying: {But man is ever more quarrelsome than anything} (Surah Al-Kahf: 54). (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Al-Bayhaqi in As-Sunan Al-Kubra).
Ibn Hajar said: Ibn Battal commented: “This indicates the virtue of the night prayer and waking up sleeping family members and relatives for it.” At-Tabari said: “Had the Prophet (peace be upon him) not known the great virtue of the night prayer, he would not have disturbed his daughter and his cousin at a time Allah has made for rest. However, he preferred for them to attain that virtue over comfort and rest, in compliance with Allah’s command: (وأمر أهلك بالصلاة) {And enjoin prayer upon your family}.” (Fath Al-Bari 3/11).
Abu Sa’id and Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “When a man wakes up at night and awakens his wife and they pray two rak’ahs together, they are recorded among those who men and women who remember Allah often.” (Its chain of transmission is authentic, reported by Abu Dawood, Ibn Hibban in his Sahih, and Ibn Majah).
Muhammad ibn Isma’il Al-Kahlani As-San’ani said: “This indicates the permissibility of waking up a sleeping person for a voluntary prayer and also shows the great virtue of the night prayer.” (See: At-Tanwir Sharh Al-Jami’ As-Saghir 1/559).
O Muslims, standing before Allah at night is among the greatest honors. Therefore, the sinner does not deserve this honor and is not worthy of conversing with the Almighty Lord in this blessed hour. Sufyan Ath-Thawri said: “I was deprived of the night prayer for five months because of a sin. It was said: ‘What was it?’ He said: ‘I saw a man crying, and I said to myself: This is showing off.'” (Al-Majalis Al-Wa’dhiyya fi Sharh Ahadith Khayr Al-Bariyya by As-Safiri Ash-Shafi’i 1/456 and Mukhtasar Minhaj Al-Qasidin by Ibn Qudamah p. 67).
A man said to Al-Hasan Al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him): “O Abu Sa’id, I spend the night in good health, and I love to perform the night prayer, and I prepare my water for purification. So why is it that I do not get up?” Al-Hasan said: “Your sins have shackled you.” (Fasl Al-Khitab fi Az-Zuhd wa Ar-Raqa’iq wa Al-Adab by Muhammad Nasiruddin Muhammad ‘Uwaydah 7/99).
Al-Fudayl ibn ‘Iyad said: “If you cannot perform the night prayer and fast during the day, know that you are deprived and shackled by your sins.” (Lata’if Al-Ma’arif p. 46 and Nuzhat Al-Majalis wa Muntakhab An-Nafais 1/120).
Dear listeners, it is permissible to perform the night prayer at the beginning, middle, or end of the night, as all of these times were practiced by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).
Anas ibn Malik said: “We never desired to see the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) praying at night except that we saw him, and we never desired to see him sleeping except that we saw him.” (Authentic, reported by Al-Bukhari and An-Nasa’i). Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar said: “This means that his prayer and sleep varied at night, and he did not set a specific time but rather prayed according to what was convenient for him.” (See: Sahih Fiqh As-Sunnah wa Adillatuhu 1/400).
The best time for the night prayer: it is recommended in the last third of the night, so that a servant will be exposed to the great blessings of Allah in those hours when only a few people wake up to worship their Lord.
Abu Huraira reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “Our Lord descends every night to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains and says: I am the King, I am the King. Who is there who supplicates to Me so that I may respond to him? Who is there who asks of Me so that I may give to him? Who is there who seeks My forgiveness so that I may forgive him?” (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim). In a narration by Muslim: “… until the dawn breaks.”
As for the number of rak’ahs (units) of the night prayer, servants of Allah, there is no specific number or set limit. The night prayer is fulfilled even with just one rak’ah of witr after the Isha prayer.
Qadi Iyad said: “There is no disagreement that there is no limit that cannot be exceeded or reduced in the night prayer, and that the more one increases in it, the greater the reward. The disagreement is about the practice of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and what he chose for himself. Allah knows best.” This means, whether the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to pray eleven or thirteen rak’ahs.
Ibn Abdul Barr said in At-Tamhid: “There is no disagreement among Muslims that there is no set limit for the night prayer, and that it is a voluntary act of goodness and a righteous deed. Whoever wishes may pray a little, and whoever wishes may pray a lot.” This is supported by the statement of the Prophet (peace be upon him): “Ibn Umar reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: ‘The night prayer is two two rak’ahs, and if one fears the break of dawn, he should pray one rak’ah to make his prayer an odd number.” (Reported by Imam Ash-Shafi’i in Al-Umm).
Abdullah ibn Umar said: “The night prayer is two two rak’ahs, and one should say taslim (salutation) after every two rak’ahs.” (Reported by Malik in Al-Muwatta).
Servants of Allah, there are several reasons that assist in performing the night prayer: sincere intention and determination to get up, striving against oneself in this regard, going to bed early, performing ablution before sleeping, maintaining the bedtime supplications, avoiding sins and transgressions, eating and drinking moderately, having the concern for the Hereafter to dominate the heart, knowing the virtue of the night prayer, and achieving the love of Allah, the Almighty. (See: Mukhtasar Minhaj Al-Qasidin p. 67, Lata’if Al-Ma’arif p. 119, and Sahih Fiqh As-Sunnah 1/401-402).
I say these words of mine and I ask Allah for forgiveness for myself and for you and for all Muslims from every sin and mistake. So seek His forgiveness; indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.
SECOND SERMON:
TOPIC: EID AL-ADHA AND THE LESSON OF SACRIFICE
Praise be to Allah, the Originator and Restorer, who has blessed us with the past Eid al-Adha. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone without partner, and I bear witness that our Prophet Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, his family, and his companions abundantly.
Thereafter: (يَـٰأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِۦ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنتُم مُّسۡلِمُونَ) “O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims” (Surah Al-Imran: 102).
Brothers in faith, Eid al-Adha has come and gone, leaving us with lessons, the most important of which is the lesson of sacrifice from the family of Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him). This blessed family accepted the sacrifice despite the enormity of the trial. The son accepted to sacrifice himself, the father consented to the sacrifice of his son, and the mother obeyed her husband and left her child without objecting even with a single word. If only the Ummah could realize that Islam commands them to sacrifice and to make sacrifices, especially now when enemies have multiplied against the Islam, nations have conspired against it, sanctities have been usurped, honor has been violated, blood has been shed, sincere scholars have been oppressed, reformers have been fought, and they have become strangers in their own lands.
Servants of Allah, sacrifices in the path of Allah take various forms and images.
It includes the sacrifice of oneself and wealth, sacrificing the great and the small, in word and deed, by spreading knowledge, offering help and goodness, speaking the truth before a tyrant ruler, supporting the oppressed even when supporters are few, proclaiming the truth even if witnesses are absent. It is about selflessness, giving, striving in the path of Allah, exerting effort to alleviate people’s suffering, relieving their distress, and sacrificing comfort and sleep to spread virtue in society and combat corruption, all in hopes of Allah’s reward and seeking His pleasure.
Brothers in Islam, the events witnessed by the beloved Palestine and the truthful examples set by honest men, sincere women, and innocent children are the finest examples of sacrifice in its most magnificent forms and clearest meanings.
This is in the face of a criminal military machine supported shamelessly by the world powers. One of the great lessons from the story of the sacrifice is that with hardship comes ease, and after difficulty comes relief.
Supplication:
O Allah, we ask You by Your Greatest Name, which if You are called upon by it, You respond, and if You are asked by it, You give, and by all Your beautiful names that we know and do not know, to answer our prayers, fulfill our desires, meet our needs, relieve our distress, forgive our sins, cover our faults, accept our repentance, grant us good health, pardon us, and reform our families and offspring. Have mercy on us with Your vast mercy, a mercy that suffices us from anyone other than You. Make us among Your sincere servants and the pious. O Allah, forgive our sins, our mistakes, and our excesses in our affairs, for You are more knowing of our sins, and no one forgives sins except You. O Allah, grant us a good end and make us among the people of Paradise, and save us from the Fire. By Your mercy, O Most Merciful of the merciful. O Allah, honor Islam and the Muslims, and humiliate disbelief and the disbelievers. O Allah, we seek refuge in You from their evils, and we seek refuge in You from their schemes. O Allah, unite the hearts of Muslims upon the truth. O Allah, grant victory, honor, strength, and power to the people of Palestine, instill fear in the hearts of their enemies and ours. O Allah, heal their wounded, release their captives, and relieve their siege. O Allah, lift their distress, and remove their suffering. O Allah, support their Mujahideen with Your power and Your soldiers, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, grant us security in our homelands, reform our leaders, and guide them to what You love and are pleased with. O Allah, forgive our dead and the dead of the Muslims, O Most Merciful of the merciful and O Lord of the worlds.