Allah, The Most Exalted, says in His Glorious Book: O, you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and do not invalidate your deeds.  Allah, The Most Exalted, speaks the truth.

In this Ayat, Allah, the Most Exalted, calls on Muslims to obey Allah and the Messenger(p.) by performing the good deeds and the religious duties, but He warned us from losing all the rewards of our work  by committing sins or wronging people, and then we will not find them when we need them on the Day of Judgment. And this is what the Messenger(p.) warned from when he said: One who says, ‘Glory be to Allah, the Most Exalted,’ Allah would Plant for him a tree in the Paradise; and one who says, ‘The Praise is for Allah’, Allah would Plant for him a tree in the Paradise and one who says, ‘There is no god except Allah’, Allah would Plant a tree for him in the Paradise ; and one who says ‘Allah is the Greatest’, Allah, the Most Exalted, would Plant a tree for him in the Paradise’.

A man from Quraysh said, ‘O Messenger :There would be a lot of trees for us in the Paradise!’ He said: ‘Yes, but beware of sending fires upon these that would incinerate them, and that is because Allah says: O you those who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger(p.)  and do not invalidate your deeds.

 The Hadiths have indicated some of the acts that cause the loss of the good deeds the rewards that Allah, the Most Exalted, has promised us with. The Messenger(p.) says: know that some people from my Ummah [ nation] will come on the Day of Judgment with good deeds like the white mountains of Tihama, but Allah will make them scattered dust.” Thawban said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, describe them to us, so that we may not be one of them without knowing it!’ He said, “They will be your brothers, and from your people, and they will perform the  night prayers  as you do, but they are a people who, when they are alone, they would  violate the prohibitions of Allah. They would venture to commit them when nobody sees them, but not when they are in front of others.   The Hadith also says :do not   make God easier to look at you.

Another Hadith says: One day the Prophet asked his companions whether they knew who the  poor was. They answered that the poor

 was one who has no dirham or dinar (money)’bBut  He explained to them that :“In my Ummah, the poor is that man who would appear on the Day of the Judgment before Allah; he had offered prayers; he had paid Zakat ; he had observed fast; but

 he would have abused somebody, he would have falsely accused someone; he would have unauthorisedly taken someone else’s property; he would have murdered someone; would have hit some body. Then  all his virtues would

 be given to his victims. If his virtues are finished before his wicked deeds are finished, then the errors and sins of the victims would be given to him and he would be thrown into the Hell.

The Prophet  also (p.) said: “A person shall be made to halt in front of the Glorious and Exalted Lord on the Day of Resurrection and handed over his book. On not seeing his good deeds therein he will say, ‘My God, this is not my book, for I don’t see my virtues in it.’ He will be told, ‘Verily, your Lord neither errs nor forgets. Your deeds are gone for your backbiting of the people.’ Then another person shall be brought and handed over his book. He will see in it many deeds of obedience (ta’at) and he will say: ‘My God, this is not my book, for I have not performed these deeds of obedience.’ He shall be told: ‘So and so committed your ghibah ( backbiting)and so his good deeds have been awarded to you. 

Dear loved ones: the most severe calamity is when one strives all his life, performing all worshiping duties and all good deeds, but when the Day of Judgment comes – The day he expects to get his rewards and be saved from hellfire and enters paradise at a time there is no chance of compensating – he will be told that all your efforts are futile unless God has mercy on you.

He will be like the merchant who made a lot of money after years of hard work, but he lost and spent it and did not find it at a time of his need, or like the woman, as the Quran says: who unravels her yarn, disintegrating it into pieces after she has spun it strongly.

Therefore, dear loved ones, we should  monitor,  blame and hold ourselves accountable , to make sure that what we say , hear and do  does not disobey Allah, the Most Exalted, or harm anyone , so as we would not become like those whom Allah, the Most Exalted, described , when He said    :Say, [O Muhammad], “Shall we [believers] inform you of the greatest losers as to [their] deeds?

[They are] those whose effort is lost in worldly life, while they think that they are doing well in work.  Those who wasted their good deeds…

This is what we should keep in our minds in every time and place and after every act of worship, obedience, jihad and sacrifice, so that we would preserve them and receive their rewards…

And let our prayer be : Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate after You have guided us and grant us from Yourself mercy. Indeed, You are the Bestower.

The second sermon

Worshippers of Allah, The Most Exalted: I advise you and myself with what Allah, the Most Exalted, has advised us when He said: O mankind, fear your Lord and fear a Day when no father will avail his son, nor will a son avail his father at all. Indeed, the promise of Allah is truth, so let not the worldly life delude you and be not deceived about Allah by the Deceiver.

This is a call from Allah, the Most Exalted, to His servants that they ought to fear of that day, which will certainly come  … The day in which everyone will be preoccupied with himself and when no father/father will avail their son/daughter, nor will a son/daughter avail their father/mother. What can avail you in this day is piety and obedience to Allah, the Most Exalted, in this life and not being deceived by its pleasures or the promises of Shaitan.

We are in a dire need to listen to this advice, to protect ourselves from the hellfire which Allah, the Most Exalted, has warned us from and become more conscious and responsible in this life and more able of confronting challenges.

                                 We begin by the coronavirus whose numbers among both the residents and the newly arrived are increasing.  Thus, we should be reminded yet again of the need to abide by the safety measures and consider it as a religious and humanistic duty.

We call on the government that decided to continue to receive the Lebanese who are abroad and to begin to restore normal life to be strict in applying the said measures, both on the residents and the expats.

In this respect, we would like to appreciate the worshipers’ abidance in this mosque and the other ones by the protection measures to ensure their safety and that of their families and those whom they come in contact with.

In addition to facing the pandemic and all its repercussions, there is a dire need to tackle the living problem and not be satisfied by sedatives, since the prices of the dollar and the basic commodities, including the prices of bread and fuel, in addition to the rates of unemployment and poverty, are still on the rise, and the Lebanese  no longer  attain their daily bread and their  social security is endangered.  

Therefore, we, once more, call on all the departments of the state to study all the means that could relief the Lebanese from these tragic economic and social conditions, and adopt a different methodology to solve the crisis that is based on a true support for the agricultural and industrial sectors, as well as the institutions and corporations that were affected, and invest in all the available resources that could contribute in securing a decent living for the Lebanese.

Moreover, as we continue to call all the political parties, whether inside the government or outside it, to facilitate the government’s efforts in accomplishing the task that it came for, we also call on the government to activate its role, persist on its declared objective, and not fall in the trap of sharing the spoils that led to the fall of the previous governments and made the country reach the current situation. It should be aware that what gives it the legitimacy and the power  it needs is to continue to confront corruption and get on with the serious reforms, in addition of the support of all those who wish to get Lebanon out of this dark tunnel.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese wait anxiously for the developments of the June 6 demonstrations. In this respect, we warn from getting these demonstrations out of their peacefulness and their rightful demands and involve them in the internal political struggle or in serving the foreign pressures that wish to violate the country’s freedom and sovereignty.

In these days, we also commemorate the anniversary of the 1967 Naksa. The most important lesson we learn from the Naksa is that we should always be vigilant and never trust this enemy, which is treacherous in its very nature. It is waiting for a chance to realize its projects in the region and continue its aggressions, such as yesterday’s bombing of

Syria from the Lebanese skies .That is why we have to confront this enemy through our resistance and unity.

Lastly, we commemorate these days the anniversary of the passing away of Imam Khomeini, the jurisprudent renewer who restored to Islam its glory and spirituality. He   presented a pioneer experiment in adopting the grievances of the downtrodden and especially the cause of Palestine, Islamic unity and all causes of freedom in the world.

On this occasion, we feel the weight of the burden on all Islamists in preserving these values   of Islam including justice, freedom and solidarity with all the downtrodden in the world.