The Blessing of Shade

First Khutbah All praise is due to Allah, who created shade by His power and extended it by His mercy. We bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, alone without partner. And we bear witness that our Prophet, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), is His servant and Messenger. May Allah's peace, blessings, and mercy be upon him, his family, his companions, and all who follow his guidance until the Day of Judgment. As for what follows: I advise you, servants of Allah and myself to have taqwa of Allah, for it is the path to winning Paradise, its delights, bliss, and shade. Allah, the Exalted, says: ﴿إِنَّ الْمُتَّقِينَ فِي ظِلَالٍ وَعُيُونٍ﴾. Indeed, the righteous will be among shades and springs O believers! There is a blessing without which life cannot be sustained, and all living beings are in need of it. It is the blessing of shade, that divine mercy which Allah has subjected (made useful) to His creation. He has even linked it to some acts of worship, and made it a sign of His generosity and kindness. Allah the Most High says: ﴿أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى رَبِّكَ كَيْفَ مَدَّ الظِّلَّ وَلَوْ شَاءَ لَجَعَلَهُ سَاكِنًا ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَا الشَّمْسَ عَلَيْهِ دَلِيلًا * ثُمَّ قَبَضْنَاهُ إِلَيْنَا قَبْضًا يَسِيرًا﴾. Have you not considered your Lord, how He extends the shade? And if He willed, He could have made it still; then We made the sun its guide. Then We withdraw it to Us gradually. So let us reflect on how our Lord gently spreads the shade before the rising of the sun and then withdraws it during the day by the intensity of its heat. How magnificent is His power, how wondrous is His wisdom! How vast is His bounty, and how expansive His mercy is! Let us ask ourselves: Without this blessing, what would life be like? How would we perform our work? How would we continue our studies? Where would we find rest? so, the presence of this blessing is not equal to its absence. As Allah says in Surah Fatir:   ولا الظِّلُّ وَلَا الْحَرُورُ  “The shade and the heat are not equal.” Glory be to the One who -out of His mercy- has made for us that which protects us from heat and burning, and who has provided us with shelter to shade ourselves: from well-built homes, huge buildings, and lush trees. Listen to the words of Allah, the Exalted: ﴿وَاللَّهُ جَعَلَ لَكُمْ مِمَّا خَلَقَ ظِلَالًا﴾ “And Allah has made for you from that which He created, shade.” Shade is a comfort that all creatures seek, and from which no one can do without. The Prophet Moses after helping the two women at the well    ﴿ثُمَّ تَوَلَّى إِلَى الظِّلِّ﴾ “Then he turned toward the shade...”  Our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, during travel, used to seek shelter in the shade of a tree, with his companions, to protect themselves from the heat. O Servants of Allah, part of our duty toward the blessing of shade is that we do not corrupt or misuse it. The Prophet ﷺ warned us clearly about transgressing in this regard. He said: «اتَّقُوا الْمَلَاعِنَ الثَّلَاثَةَ» “Beware of the three things that bring curses ...” and among them, He mentioned corrupting the shade. He ﷺ also forbade cutting down beneficial trees without necessity, and warned that those who do so will face severe punishment from Allah in the Hereafter. Likewise, part of our duty toward this blessing is to increase its means and contribute to its availability, by planting a tree, or providing a shade structure in a mosque. This is among the acts of ongoing charity (ṣadaqah jāriyah) and recognized endowments (awqāf), from which the believer will continue to receive reward. I conclude with these words of Allah Almighty: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ﴾ “O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you.” I say this, and I ask Allah to forgive me and you. Second Khutbah All praise is due to Allah , praise that befits His majesty, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and all who follow his guidance until the Day of Judgment. O believers: The shade in this world is a blessing and a source of comfort, and in the Hereafter, it will be a sign of Allah’s pleasure and honor. For the greatest shade a person can ever seek is the shade of the Throne of the Most Merciful. The Prophet ﷺ said: «سَبْعَةٌ يُظِلُّهُمُ اللَّهُ فِي ظِلِّهِ، يَوْمَ لَا ظِلَّ إِلَّا ظِلُّهُ:   There are seven whom Allah will shade in His shade on the Day when there is no shade but His shade: 1. A just ruler, إِمَامٌ عَادِلٌ  2. A youth who grew up in the worship of Allah, شَابٌّ نَشَأَ فِي عِبَادَةِ اللَّهِ  3. A man whose heart is attached to the mosques, وَرَجُلٌ قَلْبُهُ مُعَلَّقٌ بِالْمَسَاجِدِ  4. Two men who love each other for the sake of Allah, meeting for His sake and parting for His sake,  وَرَجُلَانِ تَحَابَّا فِي اللَّهِ، اجْتَمَعَا عَلَيْهِ وَتَفَرَّقَا عَلَيْهِ  5. A man who is called by a woman of status and beauty, but he says: ‘Indeed, I fear Allah’,   وَرَجُلٌ دَعَتْهُ امْرَأَةٌ ذَاتُ مَنْصِبٍ وَجَمَالٍ فَقَالَ: إِنِّي أَخَافُ اللَّهَ 6. And a man who remembers Allah in solitude and his eyes overflow with tears. وَرَجُلٌ ذَكَرَ اللَّهَ خَالِيًا فَفَاضَتْ عَيْنَاهُ  7. A man who gives in charity and conceals it so that his left hand does not know what his right hand has given, وَرَجُلٌ تَصَدَّقَ بِصَدَقَةٍ فَأَخْفَاهَا؛ حَتَّى لَا تَعْلَمَ شِمَالُهُ مَا صَنَعَتْ يَمِينُهُ That charity will come forth as a witness for its giver, stretching its shade over him, in confirmation of the words of the Prophet ﷺ: «كُلُّ امْرِئٍ ‌فِي ‌ظِلِّ ‌صَدَقَتِهِ، حَتَّى يُفْصَلَ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ» Each person will be in the shade of his charity until judgment is passed among the people. And when the people of Paradise enter Paradise, they will enjoy the extended shade of its trees, those trees described by the Prophet ﷺ when he said: «إِنَّ فِي الْجَنَّةِ لَشَجَرَةً، يَسِيرُ الرَّاكِبُ فِي ظِلِّهَا مِائَةَ عَامٍ، لَا يَقْطَعُهَا»، وَاقْرَؤُوا إِنْ شِئْتُمْ: ﴿وَظِلٍّ مَمْدُودٍ﴾. Indeed, in Paradise there is a tree in whose shade a rider could travel for a hundred years and not pass out of it. Then the Prophet ﷺ said: Recite, if you wish, the verse: 'And [there will be] extended shade '  O Allah, shade us with Your shade on the Day when there is no shade but Yours. Send Your peace and blessings upon our master Muhammad, Your Messenger and the Seal of Your Prophets, and upon his family, companions, and all the righteous followers. Be pleased, O Allah, with Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali, and with all the noble Companions. O Allah, make us believers in You, devoted in worship to You, penitent towards You, appreciative of the blessing of shade, dutiful to our parents, and have mercy on them as they raised us when we were young, O Most Merciful of the merciful. O Allah, forgive everyone who donated an endowment (waqf) for Your sake, seeking Your pleasure and longing for Your Paradise. Accept their charity and compensate them generously for what they spent. O Allah, help us to provide shade for Your creation, such as planting trees on the earth and building sunshades for the worshippers who come to the mosques. and accept from us our righteous deeds, by Your grace and generosity. O Allah, continue to bless the UAE with stability, progress, and prosperity. Perfect well-being upon us, and bless us in our provisions, our spouses, and our offspring. O Allah, guide the President of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, his deputies, his brothers, the rulers of the Emirates, and his loyal Crown Prince, to what You love and are pleased with. O Allah, have mercy on Sheikh Zayed, Sheikh Rashid, and the founding leaders. Admit them, by Your bounty, into the vastness of Your Gardens, and encompass the martyrs of our nation with Your mercy and forgiveness. O Allah, have mercy on the Muslim men and women, the believing men and women, the living and the deceased. “Our Lord, grant us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.”  O servants of Allah: Remember Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and He will remember you. Be grateful to Him for His blessings, and He will increase you. Establish the prayer.