Friday Sermon, April 17, 2026: 'Say: All praise belongs to Allah'

First Sermon (Khutbah One)

All praise is for Allah, and again all praise is for Allah. O Allah, to You belongs all praise as befits the majesty of Your Face and the majesty of Your dominion. Glory be to You—we cannot enumerate praise of You; You are as You have praised Yourself. We bear witness that there is nothing worthy of worship but God alone, without partner, and we bear witness that our master and Prophet Muḥammad is His servant and Messenger. O Allah, send Your prayers, peace, and blessings upon him, upon his family and companions, and upon all who follow his guidance thereafter.

To proceed: I enjoin upon you, servants of Allah, and upon myself, mindfulness of Allah (taqwā) and abundant praise of Him for all His blessings. Indeed, praise (ḥamd) is the path of the faithful and the provision of the God-conscious. The Lord of the heavens and the earth says: 

“So be mindful of Allah, that you may give thanks”  (Qurʾān 3:123).

O believers: Among the Most Beautiful Names of Allah and His Exalted Attributes is al-Ḥamīd (the Praiseworthy). He is praised in His Essence, praised in His Attributes, praised in His Actions; praised in what He gives and what He withholds, and in what He decrees and ordains. Praise is a word Allah loves for Himself, is pleased with for His Essence, and loves that it be spoken. It is reported from al-Aswad ibn Sarīʿ (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: “O Messenger of Allah, I have praised my Lord with praises,” and he replied: 

 “Indeed, your Lord loves praise” (Adab al-Mufrad).

The meaning of praise is to mention the beautiful qualities of the One praised, with love, reverence, and exaltation. And our Lord—glorified be He—is most deserving of praise by those who praise, and of exaltation by those who give thanks. He alone is worthy of praise in its fullness, and uniquely possesses its causes in majesty and beauty, in bounty and grace. The Prophet (PBUH) said:  “There is none more beloved to Him than praise, and for that reason He has praised Himself” (Al-Mu’jam al-Kabir).

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Indeed, our Lord has praised Himself in many forms throughout His Book, in more than twenty places, and He opened five surahs with praise. He praised Himself at the beginning of Sūrat al-Fātiḥah for His all-encompassing Lordship and perfect care:

 “All praise is for Allah, Lord of the worlds” (Qurʾān 1:2).

He praised Himself at the opening of Sūrat al-Anʿām for His majesty of creation and the abundance of His blessings:

 “All praise is for Allah who created the heavens and the earth and made darkness and light” (Qurʾān 6:1).

He praised Himself at the beginning of Sūrat al-Kahf for the guidance of revelation and the light of the Qurʾān:

 “All praise is for Allah who sent down upon His servant the Book and placed no crookedness in it” (Qurʾān 18:1).

He praised Himself at the opening of Sūrat Sabaʾ for the perfection of His dominion, the vastness of His knowledge, and the precision of His wisdom: 

“All praise is for Allah, to Whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And praise be to Him in the Hereafter. He is the All-Wise, All-Aware.” (Qurʾān 34:1).

And He praised Himself at the opening of Sūrat Fāṭir for the origination of creation and the majesty of His power:  All praise is for Allah, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, Who made angels ˹as His˺ messengers with wings—two, three, or four. He increases in creation whatever He wills. Surely Allah is Most Capable of everything. (Qurʾān 35:1).

Glory be to Him, glory be to Him:  “The seven heavens and the earth and all within them glorify Him, and there is nothing except that it glorifies Him with praise” (Qurʾān 17:44).

We repeat His praise in the greatest of our acts of worship, the prayer, reciting at its opening no less than seventeen times each day:  All praises are due to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds

And we praise Him when we rise from bowing, mindful that He hears our praise, saying:

 “Allah hears the one who praises Him; our Lord, to You belongs all praise, abundant, pure, and blessed” (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī).

So, reflect upon this daily dialogue between the servant and his Lord. It is a dialogue that opens the heart, refines the soul, and reminds the human being that he lives amidst blessings beyond enumeration. Let us carry this praise throughout all our lives: when we see what pleases us, we say:  “All praise is for Allah by whose blessings righteous deeds are completed”.

And when we see what we dislike, we say:  “All praise is for Allah in every state,” as our Prophet (PBUH) taught us (reported in Sunan Ibn Mājah and others).

For the believer praises Allah in times of ease out of gratitude, and in times of hardship out of surrender and contentment, so that his heart remains ever connected to his Lord, never cut off—even for a moment—from His praise.  “O you who believe, obey Allah, obey the Messenger, and those in authority among you” (Qurʾān 4:59).

I say these words of mine, and I seek Allah’s forgiveness for myself and for you, so seek His forgiveness—for He is the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.

Second Sermon (Khutbah Two)

All praise is for Allah in the number of what He has created; all praise is for Allah filling what He has created; all praise is for Allah in the number of what is in the heavens and the earth; and all praise is for Allah filling what is in the heavens and the earth. And prayers and peace be upon our master Muḥammad, the best of those who praise, and upon his family, his companions, and those who follow them.

To proceed: O you who praise Allah, among the most noble qualities we instil in our children is that the praise of Allah be present in their lives, so that they praise Him in their mornings and evenings, and at their food and drink. For the Prophet (PBUH) said: “Indeed, Allah is pleased with a servant who eats a meal and praises Him for it, or drinks a drink and praises Him for it” (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim).

And we teach them to praise their Lord for what He has made available to them of the means of knowledge and the paths of understanding, following the way of the Prophets (peace and blessings be upon them all) as Allah says:  “And We certainly gave David and Solomon knowledge, and they said: ‘All praise is for Allah who has favoured us over many of His believing servants’” (Qurʾān 27:15).

So, when our children succeed, let us teach them to say: al-ḥamdu lillāh; and when understanding or knowledge is opened for them, let us teach them that blessings belong to Allah alone. So, praise Allah, O servants of Allah, for the blessing of faith; praise Him for the blessing of Islam; praise Him for the blessing of the Qurʾān; and praise Him for the security and well-being in which you live, and for unity of hearts. Let the praise of Allah be present in your homes, your gatherings, and in all your states.

O Allah, to You belongs all praise: You created us and provided for us, and You granted us success in acts of obedience. “All praise is for Allah who guided us to this; we would never have been guided had Allah not guided us” (Qurʾān 7:43).

And to You belongs all praise for granting us: “from our spouses and offspring comfort and delight of our eyes” (Qurʾān 25:74).

And we praise You, our Lord, for sending down upon us the rains of blessings mindful of Your saying:  “He is the One who sends down the rain after they have despaired and spreads His mercy; and He is the Protector, the Praiseworthy” (Qurʾān 42:28).

And to You belongs all praise for a land that is secure, and a society that is at peace, wherein mercy prevails and cohesion is manifest. And to You belongs all praise for wise leadership through whose hands You have brought about the causes of goodness and prosperity, by which You have established the pillars of security and stability, and through which You have repelled the plots of evildoers. So, we say:  “All praise is for Allah who has removed from us sorrow; indeed, our Lord is Forgiving, Appreciative” (Qurʾān 35:34).

And to You belongs all praise for the courage of our soldiers, by whom You have secured our safety and realized our victory over aggressive enemies and transgressing oppressors:  “All praise is for Allah who saved us from the wrongdoing people” (Qurʾān 23:28)

And:  “So, the people that committed wrong were eliminated. And praise to Allah , Lord of the worlds.” (Qurʾān 6:45).

This, and send prayers, O Allah, and peace and blessings upon our master and Prophet Muḥammad, and upon his family, his pure wives—the Mothers of the Believers—and his noble companions. O Allah, be pleased with Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, and ʿAlī, and with all the honoured companions.

O Allah, make us believers in You, devoted in worship to You, constant in praising Your blessings, and dutiful to our parents; and have mercy upon them as they raised us when we were small, O Most Merciful of the merciful. O Allah, preserve Sheikh Muḥammad bin Zāyed, the President of the State, with Your protection; be for him a helper and support, a guide and one rightly directing; and bless his life and his deeds. O Allah, grant him success, along with his deputies and his brothers, the rulers of the Emirates, and his trustworthy Crown Prince, in that which You love and are pleased with.

O Allah, have mercy upon Sheikh Zāyed, Sheikh Rāshid, and the leaders of the Emirates who have passed on to Your mercy; admit them by Your grace into the vastness of Your Gardens, and encompass the martyrs of the nation with Your mercy and forgiveness. O Allah, have mercy upon the believing men and women, the living among them and the dead. O Allah, make what You have sent down of Your rain a watering of mercy and blessing, by which You increase blessings and bring forth goodness.

Servants of Allah: remember Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and He will remember you; and give thanks to Him for His blessings, and He will increase you. And establish the prayer.