Being dutiful to parents and earning their approval is a path to being spared from worldly hardships and to having one’s life blessed, today’s Friday sermon said.

Delivered on the theme “Reforming Society is Everyone’s Responsibility,” the sermon expressed concern over the spreading habit of neglecting elderly parents and being disobedient to them. Noting that Allah has repeatedly commanded kindness to parents in the Qur’an, the sermon described this as one of the surest paths to entering Paradise.

The sermon also reminded worshippers that gathering outside the mosque after prayer to gossip, slander others, and argue nullifies the spiritual benefit gained from prayer.

Pointing out that honesty in business dealings is itself a form of worship, the sermon stated that acquiring wealth through deceit and fraud, and hoarding wealth without paying zakat, drain away blessings. Warning those who spend haram (unlawful) earnings on their wives and children, it recalled the Prophet’s ﷺ hadith that bodies nourished on such earnings are deserving of the Hellfire.

In closing, the sermon called on everyone to be grateful for the blessings Allah has bestowed and to keep away from immoral acts.