Social Interaction
Praise be to Allah, who has created the people and urged
them to maintain family bonds and ties. I bear witness that there
is no God but Allah, the only God Who has no partner. He, the
Almighty has invited his servants to increase their Iman (faith)
through visiting the sick and the neighbors. People can attain
happiness through Iman and success through the pleasure of
Allah, glory be to Him, and certainly Allah's forgiveness and mercy
is far better than any worldly gains. I also bear witness that our
master Muhammad is the servant of Allah and his Messenger. May
the peace and 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.
I call upon myself first and all of you to be God-fearing and
obey Him, Exalted be He, who says: "O humankind! Be ever
God-fearing, conscious of your Lord who created all of you
from a single soul and from it created its mate, and from
them both spread abroad many men and women. So fear
God, in whose name you ask consideration of one another.
And, therefore, be dutiful to kindred. For, indeed, ever is
God vigilant over all of you."(4:1).
O believers!
Allah, Exalted be He, has created man by his nature on the
love of having social relations; he lives with the people, meets
them, keeps in touch with them, lives cordially with them, learns
from their experiences and trials. Allah, the Almighty says:
"Indeed, We have created all of you from a single male and
female. Moreover, We have made you peoples and tribes,
so that you may come to know one another." The best
aspect among the many aspects of social interaction is to maintain
family ties. They increase one's livelihood, prolong the life and
maintain the bonds of love between the people. The Prophet
(pbuh) said: "the swiftest way of obtaining good deeds is
the (act of) maintaining the ties of kinship to the extent
that it is possible that a family can be wicked, but their
money and their numbers will increase if they observe the
ties of kinship."
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Friday prayers and congregational prayers are among the
best examples of the religious and social interaction. People are
gathered in Allah's mosques for the sake of obeying Him as well as
listening to the remembrances of Allah, the Almighty. Therefore,
they become more affectionate, their hearts find solace in the
worship of Allah, befriend one another and increase their ties. The
Prophet (pbuh) used to ask about his companions and those who
are missed for three days. If one of them travels, he would invoke
Allah for him and if he is in his home or falls sick, he would visit
him.
O Muslims!
Social gatherings are good chances for fostering ties
between families, kinship, friends, neighbors, and all members of
society. They are like schools in which the young people learn
from the experiences of the fathers and grandfathers. Therefore,
we should maintain these social gatherings which achieve the
main objective behind social communication and interaction.
Visiting one another purely for the sake of Allah is among the best
righteous deeds that help the servant attain the love of Allah,
Exalted be He. Abu Hurairah narrated that the Prophet (pbuh)
said: "A man visited a brother of his in another village and
Allah positioned an angel to wait for him on his way. When
he came upon the angel, he asked him, ‘Where are you
going? He answered: ‘I am going to visit a brother of mine
in this village.’ The angel asked further: ‘Is there any favor
that you want to get from him? The man said, ‘No, it is
only that I love him for Allah’s sake.’ The angel then said:
‘I am a messenger of Allah to you (to tell you) that, Allah
loves you as you love your brother for His sake."
A man may not be able to visit whom he loved due to being
busy or being overloaded with many responsibilities. Therefore, he
should maintain his ties and relationship with his family, neighbors
and friends and to ask about them via modern means of
communication.
Islam has offered chances of increasing one's good deeds
and rewards through observing good relationship with the
neighbors in order to foster the bonds of love and Iman with
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them. The Prophet (pbuh) said: "the best friends in Allah's
sight are those who are most beneficial to their friends,
and the best neighbors in Allah's sight are those who are
most beneficial to their neighbors." It was reported that a
sheep was slaughtered for 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr. He asked his slave,
'Have you given any to our Jewish neighbor? I heard the
Messenger of Allah (pbuh) saying: "Jibril kept on
recommending that I treat my neighbors well until I
thought that he would order me to treat them as my
heirs."
Visiting the sick manifests the real meaning behind observing
good ties with the people. It may help the patients forget their
pain, boost their morale and strengthen their resolve. Moreover, it
is a door for entering paradise. Ali (r.a.a) narrated that the
Messenger of Allah (s.a.a.w) said: "When a Muslim visits a sick
Muslim in the evening, seventy thousand angels keep on
asking Allah's forgiveness for him till morning. If he visits
him in the evening, seventy thousand angels keep on
asking Allah's forgiveness for him till dusk; and he will
have a garden in Paradise.''
O believers!
Islam has invited the believers to observe good relations
with non Muslims. Asma bint Abu Bakr said: ‘My mother came to
me and she is a Mushrikah (Non-Muslim) at the time of the
Messenger of Allah (pbuh), so I asked the Messenger of Allah
(pbuh) about this and I said to him: ‘My mother has come to me,
and she is asking for me to be good to her, should I keep good
relations with my mother? The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
‘Keep good relations with her."
Doing goodness, giving gifts, saying good words, drawing a
smile on one's face, satisfying peoples’ needs are among the ways
that can greatly contribute towards establishing coherent relations
between members of the society as well as establishing a stable
and secure society. Consequently, we should be keen to maintain
good ties with one another in order to achieve the goodness for
ourselves and our society as well as attaining the pleasure of Allah,
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the Almighty. May Allah help us obey Him and those He has
ordained us to obey. Allah, Exalted be He, says: "O you who
believe! Obey God, and obey the Messenger, and those
(Muslims) charged with authority."(4:59).
Second Sermon
Statistics has proven that world annually spends 300 billion
dollars on drugs. If this great sum of money is saved to be spent
on the poor and the needy, it will suffice them and satisfy their
needs. Islam has prohibited drugs due to their dangerous effects
on the individual and the society. Om Salama (may Allah be
pleased with her) said: the Prophet (pbuh) has prohibited every
intoxicant and Mufattir (anything which excites and irritates the
mind, body and heart).
Drugs have a dangerous impact on minds and bodies. They
weaken the mind and the memory, lead to depression and stress,
create social problems, negative attitudes, lead to committing the
unlawful, weaken one's religion and morals and hinder maintaining
good ties with the people.
In International Anti-drug Day, we should exert our utmost
efforts to educate our children the dangerous effects of drugs, to
protect them against becoming drug-addicts, and to treat the
addicts and help them integrate into the society since we are
ordered in Islam to help them and take their hands to the way of
salvation.
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