HIBAPRESS – Casablanca
The Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs circulated today's Friday sermon to all imams and preachers in the Kingdom's mosques. The sermon was chosen to address the topic of Monotheism as the Foundation of Faith and the Source of a Good Life, and it was as follows:
THE FIRST SERMON
Praise be to Allah, who favored His obedient servants with sincere faith, and delivered the monotheists from the evils of self-desire and Satan. We praise Him, the Exalted, and thank Him, and seek His help and forgiveness. We bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, without partner. And we bear witness that our master Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger, His chosen from His creation and His intimate friend, the most excellent one who affirmed Allah the Almighty with his heart, actions, and conduct. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon him, his pure and noble family, and his generous companions, the Emigrants and Helpers, and those who followed them and followed their path as long as night and day alternate.
To proceed; O believers, men and women, Allah the Almighty says, commanding His Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, to declare the truth of monotheism:
“Say, ‘Indeed, my prayer, my [sacrificial] offerings, my life and my death are for Allah, Lord of the worlds. No partner has He. And this I am commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims.’” [1]
O servants of Allah;
The necessity of reforming religious practice requires an understanding of the reality of faith, as clarified by the noble verse. Thus, the believer is with Allah and through Allah, affirming His oneness through obedience, in which they have the right to earn through all their actions, which are subject to divine will and over which they have no control. This depends on realizing the meaning of Allah's saying:
“No partner has He.”
The negation of associating partners here encompasses all types of associating partners with Allah. The most dangerous of these to a person is deifying oneself and succumbing to one's selfishness and arrogance. Selfishness is a disease of pretense and behavior, especially in transgressing the rights of others, being arrogant towards them, and usurping their rights. As long as we have not realized the meaning of glorification, which we repeat in every prayer, in our conduct and dealings with others, we have not yet reached true faith, which is a condition for a good life and yields the meaning of faith, Islam, and ihsan (benevolence), which is offering security, peace, and benevolence to others. As the Prophet, peace be upon him, said to Abdullah bin Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, and through him to the entire Ummah:
“O young boy; I shall teach you some words: Protect Allah, and He will protect you. Protect Allah, and you will find Him with you. When you ask, ask Allah. When you seek help, seek help from Allah. Know that if the whole creation were to unite to benefit you with something, they would not benefit you except with something that Allah has already decreed for you. And if they were to unite to harm you with something, they would not harm you except with something that Allah has already decreed for you. The pens have been lifted, and the pages have dried.” [2]
This noble prophetic hadith confirms and further clarifies the noble verse that monotheism combines fulfilling obligations,
“Protect Allah, and He will protect you,”
and entrusting oneself to Allah in His dominion,
“Know that if the whole creation were to unite to benefit you with something, they would not benefit you except with something that Allah has already decreed for you.”
O servants of Allah;
Realizing the meaning of “There is no god but Allah,” which this verse emphasizes, means that a person knows themselves as a creation of Allah the Almighty. It also means knowing the reality of Allah the Almighty, manifested in His most beautiful names, which makes the believer watchful of Allah in secret and in public. The intention, as was insisted upon in a previous sermon, is to act upon knowledge, not merely to have knowledge. Rather, it is conviction and presence that yields the required conduct, which involves benevolence towards oneself and others. This is the sought-after good life.
O servants of Allah;
If we realize these meanings, our souls will rise above desires and doubts, our hearts will be at ease with what is with Allah, and our affairs will be straightened in our various social relationships.
For every transgression or bad behavior, there are underlying impulses of the soul that command evil, and self-love that blinds one from seeing the rights of others. The person who violates the rights of others is blind and sees only themselves. This is a destructive selfishness that the guidance and values of religion reject.
The salvation from this selfishness is monotheism, based on the remembrance of Allah the Almighty and seeking refuge in Him, and being mindful of Him in all great and small matters, and constantly turning to Him. It is realizing the meaning of “There is no might nor power except with Allah,” which calls for humility and disassociation from all forms of associating partners with Allah.
May Allah benefit me and you with the Magnificent Quran and with the hadith of the master of the first and the last. Our final supplication is: Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
THE SECOND SERMON
Praise be to Allah, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, the Knower of the unseen and the seen. Not an atom's weight or less or more escapes His knowledge. May prayers and peace be upon him who was sent as a mercy to the worlds, our master Muhammad, and upon his family and all his companions.
O servants of Allah;
We mentioned in previous sermons that Allah the Almighty has shown people the path to a good life by explaining its two conditions: faith and righteous deeds. It is incumbent upon scholars to explain these two conditions and elaborate on them in a manner that binds the Muslim to what they should do, and places them before their responsibility. This is so that the believer has a distinct identity characterized by faith, meaning the awareness of Allah's presence and His greatness, and His uniqueness in creating all things, and that all matters belong to Him. This means that a person should not claim any part of divinity, neither by belief nor by conduct and behavior. The comprehensive description of this claim is the word that people use today: "selfishness," which is to revolve around oneself and disregard the rights and feelings of others.
O believers;
What we wish to emphasize in this sermon is that every believer, male and female, should understand that faith is not merely a verbal utterance if it is not corroborated by action and conduct. From here, we understand faith as the first condition for a good life. If the condition of some people is misery, hardship, and trials, the first thing they should pay attention to is the extent to which their declaration of "There is no god but Allah" aligns with their liberation from various types and degrees of associating partners with Allah and selfishness. This requires those who hear this reminder to examine their state of faith in terms of humility and understanding life in all its manifestations, and interpreting human life based on the different and varied branches of faith.
Therefore, faith has seventy-odd branches, as the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
“Faith is seventy-odd – or sixty-odd – branches. The best of them is the saying ‘There is no god but Allah,’ and the lowest is the removal of harm from the road, and modesty is a branch of faith.” [3]
The branches of faith are the daily practices of a Muslim, including worship, dealings, and conduct. These are what Umar bin Abdul Aziz meant when he wrote to his governor Adi bin Adi: “Indeed, faith has obligations, laws, limits, and practices. Whoever completes them has completed faith, and whoever does not complete them has not completed faith. If I live, I will explain them to you so that you may act upon them. If I die, I am not eager to accompany you.” [4]
And with this, O believers; correct monotheism is the foundation of a good life, by which the believer is happy and makes others happy through good example, good companionship, and good neighborliness, while preventing harm and refraining from causing harm, and removing all that may harm others, whether materially or morally. The sum of all this is the Prophet's saying:
“Fear Allah wherever you are, and follow a bad deed with a good deed, and it will erase it, and deal with people with good character.” [5]
So, fear Allah, O servants of Allah, and offer abundant prayers and peace upon the teacher of good to people, our master Muhammad. O Allah, bestow Your prayers, peace, and blessings upon our master Muhammad, whenever those who remember Him remember Him, and when those who are heedless are heedless of remembering You and Him.
And O Allah, be pleased with the Rightly Guided Caliphs: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali, and with the rest of the companions, the Emigrants and Helpers, and those who followed them in excellence until the Day of Judgment. And be pleased with us with them, by Your pure grace and generosity, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds.
And O Allah, grant victory with Your evident victory and Your firm support to him whom You have entrusted with the affairs of Your servants and appointed to govern Your lands, our master, the Commander of the Faithful, His Majesty King Mohammed VI. O Allah, grant him success in what You love and approve, guide his steps, and fulfill his endeavors. Grant him the blessing of health and well-being, and delight him with his beloved Crown Prince, His Royal Highness Prince Moulay Al Hassan, supported by his happy brother, His Royal Highness Prince Moulay Rachid, and by the rest of the noble Royal family, for You are the All-Hearing, the All-Responding.
And O Allah, encompass with Your vast mercy, generous bounty, and favor, the two mujahid kings, our master Mohammed V and our master Hassan II. O Allah, make their resting place pleasant, honor their abode, and place them in the highest of the high, with those blessed from among the Prophets, the truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous.
O Allah, fill our hearts with the light of Your knowledge, and adorn our limbs with the beauty of Your obedience and excellent worship. O Allah, have mercy on us, elevate us, and have mercy on our parents and all our deceased and the deceased Muslims. Have mercy on us when we become what they have become.
Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith, and do not place in our hearts any malice towards those who have believed. Our Lord, You are indeed Ever-Kind, Most Merciful.
Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of might, from what they describe. And peace be upon the messengers. And praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
