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Good neighbourliness All praise is due to Allah The Almighty, The Ever Forgiving. He wraps the night over the day and wraps the day over the night. He orders us to be good to our neighbours and promises us abundant rewards on a par with the most righteous of His servants. I testify there is no deity, except Allah. He has no Associate. He blesses those who do good to their neighbours with generous favours and provisions. I also bear witness that our Master Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and His Servant. Oh Allah, send Your abundant peace and blessings upon Your Servant and Prophet Muhammad, his family, his companions, and whoever follows his guidance until the last day. O Servants of Allah, I urge you and myself to be ever God-conscious and to construct our lives in the shadow of Divine obedience, for Allah, the Almighty, says, “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.” (Luqman:33) Dear Believers, Islam has called upon us to engage in healthy relations and keep good rapport, the aim being to build a strong and cohesive community where individuals can live in mutual affection and understanding. One of the prerequisites for building a harmonious society is treating the neighbour kindly. Allah, The Most Gracious is He, says, “worship Allah and associate nothing with Him, and to parents do good, and to relatives, orphans, the needy, the near neighbour, the neighbour farther away, the companion at your side.” (Al Nisaa:36). This verse came to stress the importance of being benevolent to neighbours and the necessity to fulfill their rights and protect their integrity as evidenced in the order by which they are mentioned: “the near neighbour,” that is, the closest in distance and acquaintance, and “the neighbour farther away,” who is a stranger or a non-Muslim. They both come right after parents and kin in importance. Also in this Quranic verse no distinction is made between the Muslim and the non-Muslim. Our Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) referred to the same when he said, “He who believes in Allah and the Last Day should do good to his neighbour.” Our Master Muhammad (pbuh) was not discriminatory to none as He did not favour one neighbour over the other. He rather pointed to the high merit of preserving the neighbours’ rights and benevolent treatment towards them. Our Master (pbuh) said in this regard, “The best neighbour to Allah is the best in behaviour to his neighbours.” Thus,

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the relation with one’s neighbour would exemplify whether someone has done right or bad. It was narrated that a man said to the Prophet (pbuh), “how would I know when I do well or bad?” The Prophet (pbuh) said, “If you heard your neighbours say you did well, then you did well. And if you heard them say you did badly, then you did badly.” Our Guide (pbuh) informed us that the good treatment of neighbours is a reason for receiving intercession, for Allah The Almighty accepts the testimony of neighbours to one another and confers upon them the favour of His forgiveness. On this account, our Prophet (pbuh) said, “for any Muslim who dies and four of his close neighbours testify that they have known him to be good, Allah, The Most High, will say, “ I have accepted your testimony and have forgiven him for what you do not know about.” Islam has also linked one’s sincere faith with kindness to the neighbour. On the authority of Abu Hurayra that Muhammad (pbuh) said, “By Allah, he does not believe. By Allah, he does not believe. By Allah he does not believe.” It was said, “O Messenger of Allah who is he?” He said, “it is he whose neighbour does not feel safe from his Bawaaiq.” They asked: “what is his Bawaaiq?” He said, “his evil.” O Believers of Allah, Your neighbour has rights upon you, which you must observe. I shall mention but some: when you meet him, you should greet him with due respect and smile and ask about him. You should protect his integrity and not run into his privacy. Beware of the prohibitions. You should also congratulate him for his good fortune and console him if he is in grief. When he fells sick, you should visit him. When he dies, you should attend his funeral and look after his children after his death by kindly guiding them to goodness. So anyone who ignores these rights, he will be questioned on the Day of Resurrection about his failure in fulfilling his obligations with regards to his neighbour. Our Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, “On the Day of Resurrection many neighbours would grab their neighbours and say, ‘O Lord, this person has shut the door before me and deprived me of his provisions’.” When doing good to your neighbour it is not a requirement to provide something substantial, for, Allah, The Ever Providing, will grant it His rewards even if it is little. Our Master Muhammad (pbuh) said, "Certainly, a woman should not belittle what her neighbour gives her, even if it is a sheep's intestines."

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Being benevolent to neighbours is one of the causes of happiness for the good neighbours will live in peace of mind next to each other. Our Prophet (pbuh) said, “four things are from happiness: a good wife, a spacious residence, a good neighbour and a comfortable vehicle. And four are from misery: a bad neighbour, a bad wife, a bad vehicle, and a small (stifling) residence.” That is why Arabs in the past chose the neighbour before the house and they priced it accordingly. It was reported that a neighbour to Abu Hamza Al Sukari would like to sell his house, for which he asked 2,000 dinars. Abu Hamza learnt about it and offered him 4,000 and told him: “take this and don’t sell your house.” O Allah help us to obey Him and those He has ordained upon us to obey, in compliance with His words: "O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you." (An-Nisa:59). May Allah bless you and me with the ability to implement the Holy Quran and the Sunna of His Messenger Muhammad (pbuh). I say this and pray to Allah, the Almighty, to grant us forgiveness. Supplicate to Allah for forgiveness for He is the Most Forgiving and the Most Merciful. Second sermon Praise be to Allah. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah, the only God who has no partner, and I bear witness that our Master Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger. May the peace and the blessings of Allah be upon our Master Muhammad, his family, his companions and all those who will follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgment. Dear Muslims, Treating neighbours nicely is one of the virtuous acts that have good impact on the individual in his life. It causes households to prosper and makes one live longer. Our Guide said, “He who desires ample provision and that his life be prolonged should maintain good ties with his blood relations, have good manners and treat well his neighbours.” O Believers of Allah, Allah has commanded you an order to which He and His angels are both committed, when He says, "Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet: O ye that believe! Send ye blessings on him, and salute him with all respect." (Al-Ahzab:56). The Prophet (pbuh) said, "for everyone who invokes a blessing on me will receive ten blessings from Allah." May the peace and the blessings of Allah be upon our Master Muhammad (pbuh), his family and all his companions. May Allah be pleased with the

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Rightly Guided Caliphs and all those who will follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgment. May Allah grant us good neighbours and help us fulfill their rights. O Allah, we turn to You in repentance, put our hope and trust in You to guide us to do the righteous actions and accept our supplications to You. We also beseech You to confer on us safety from every sin, and booty of all righteousness, and to win paradise and deliverance from the Fire. O Allah, we implore You at this instant not to let a sin unforgiven, a distress unrelieved, an illness unhealed or a handicapped without relief, a dead without mercy or a debt unsettled. Our Lord! Grant us good in this world and good in the life to come and keep us safe from the torment of the Hellfire. May Allah grant our leader HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his Deputy, HH Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, success and provide strength and support to his brothers, Their Highness the Rulers of the Emirates, and his trustworthy Crown Prince HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. O Allah, forgive all of the Muslims, men and women, living and dead, and make blessings follow us and them. May Allah have mercy on Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Maktoum and all their brothers, the late UAE Sheikhs. O Lord, forgive and show mercy, You are the Ever Merciful and there is no strength nor power save with Allah, the High, the Great. O Allah, send upon us helpful, wholesome and healthy rain. O Allah, give us rain and do not make us among the despondent. O Allah, relieve us, O Allah, relieve us, O Allah, relieve us. Give us from the blessings of the sky and grow for us from the blessings of the earth, You are the Ever Providing. We pray to Allah, the Most Gracious, to continue blessing the UAE and all Muslim countries with safety and security. O Servants of Allah ،Remember Allah and He will Remember You. Be grateful for His benevolence He will increase His blessings to you. Allah, the Most High ،says ،" and establish regular Prayer: for Prayer restrains from shameful and unjust deeds; and remembrance of Allah is the greatest) thing in life) without doubt. And Allah knows the (deeds) that ye do.” (Al Ankaboot:45).