مقتطفات من خطبتي المسجد الحرام والمسجد النبوي

Excerpts from the Sermon of Al-Masjid Al-Haram

Title: Enduring Trials with Patience

Shaykh Dr. Bandar Balīlah

Date: 25/11/1446 AH

If anyone were to be spared from affliction, it would have been the chosen ones of Allah from His creation, the prophets and messengers of Allah (peace be upon them), the most honored, the most God-fearing, and the most beloved to Him.

Adam (peace be upon him) was tested and expelled from Paradise, Zakariyya with the deprivation of offspring, Ayyub with illness, Yunus with being swallowed by the whale, and our Prophet (May Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) with his people driving him out of his home and land and besieging him in the mountain pass of Abu Talib, until he and his companions were forced to eat the leaves of trees.

The primary purpose of affliction is the expiation of sins, the increase of good deeds, and the elevation of ranks. These are various forms that cannot be fully enumerated and are difficult to exhaustively detail. They include material forms such as financial hardship and bodily ailments, as well as immaterial forms such as sorrow, worry, and distress.

Allah, Glorified and Exalted, afflicts His servants to make them aware of their poverty and need for Him, and their inability to do without Him. Thus, they hasten to Him and seek His aid, and He hears their supplications and sees their humility. Consequently, the trial becomes a gift, and the affliction a blessing and favor.

Blessed is he who meets tribulation with good thoughts of his Lord, submits his affairs to Allah, is content and says, 'Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return,' and follows that with sincere supplication and earnest prayer, thus deserving mercy and praise from Allah. Woe and loss to those who respond with discontent and disobedience.

The summer approaches with its heat, blaze, and scorching intensity. Patience in it for acts of obedience and endurance in drawing near to Allah magnifies the reward with the Lord of the earth and the heavens, through congregational prayers and gatherings, and circumambulation of the House during the midday hours.

O servants of Allah, seek the reward for your deeds with your Lord during these ten days, for the reward is commensurate with the hardship when it occurs unexpectedly. Know that these are but a few days that will pass and end, while the reward remains with the One with whom not even an atom's weight is lost.

Excerpts from the Prophet's Mosque's Sermon

Sheikh Dr. ‘Abdullāh Al-Bu‘ayjān

Date: 25/11/1446 AH

Preparing for the rites of Hajj involves learning the related rulings, as knowledge precedes action. Allah is not worshiped based on whims, but rather with knowledge and insight.

Obedience to Allah is the best gain and profit, and His pleasure is the greatest reward and pursuit. Paradise is surrounded by hardships, and the Fire is surrounded by desires. You will be paid your reward in full on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever is spared from the Fire and admitted into Paradise has truly won, for the life of this world is nothing but an illusory pleasure.

Learning knowledge is a manifestation of fearing Allah; seeking it is an act of worship; searching for it is like Jihad; teaching it to those who do not know is charity; and imparting it to its rightful recipients is a form of drawing near to Allah. There is nothing more beloved to Allah for one to draw near to Him than knowledge through which a servant is guided in his worship.

Learning the rulings of Hajj is part of its performance; rather, it is a condition for its validity and completeness. Therefore, be keen to learn them correctly from reputable scholars and accredited sources, so that you perform your rituals in the prescribed manner.

The General Authority for the Care of the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque, in collaboration with the Ministry of Hajj, has launched a service for the Guests of the Most Merciful through their educational platforms. It includes all the services needed by the pilgrim and the visitor, from scholarly guidance based on the Qur'an and Sunnah, to security and health instructions, and supportive means.

O you whom Allah has honored with the visit to Madīnah, you have set foot on a blessed land and arrived in a place that is the most beloved to Allah after Makkah. So, feel the honor of the place, respect its sanctity, and conduct yourself with the Islamic etiquettes.

O visitor of the Prophet’s Mosque (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), seize the opportunity of being in this place and turn to Allah with earnestness, determination, and faith, for worship here is superior, and the reward for it is multiplied many times over. Do not waste your time in heedlessness and amusement, nor be preoccupied with worldly matters.