All praise be to Allah and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad, and upon his family, his Companions and those who follow his guidance.

I thank Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) for granting us this meeting with brothers in Islam and noble sons to cooperate with one another in Birr (righteousness) and Taqwa (piety), exhort one another to Al­Haqq (the Truth), and to exchange advice for the Sake of Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He). I would like to also thank the Islamic University of Imam Muhammad ibn Sa'ud for inviting me to participate in this lecture and the noble brother, Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abdul­Razzaq Al­Darwish, for inviting me to attend this meeting. I ask Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) to bless all these efforts, make it a blessed meeting, benefit us all through it, and help us with it in obeying Him, adhering to His Din (religion of Islam), and advising His Servants for His Sake! He is the best One to be asked for help.

The title of the talk I am going to give you today is: "Cooperation in Birr and Taqwa," and it is really an inclusive title that includes all goodness. All praise be to Allah that you are concerned with and working towards achieving this goal. Allah (may He be Praised and Exalted) enjoins upon His Servants to cooperate in Birr and Taqwa and forbids them to cooperate in sin and aggression. He (may He be Praised and Exalted) says in Surah Al­Ma'idah:

Every Muslim all over the world should uphold this duty and

pay a lot of attention to it, as it is due to this that, with the Will of Allah, the integrity of society will grow, and there will be cooperation in goodness, avoidance of evil, awareness of responsibility, and abstention from exceeding the limits that should not be exceeded. There are many Nas (Islamic texts from the Qur'an or the Sunnah) to that effect, including the Saying of Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He):

This great short Surah embraces many great meanings, one of them is advising one another to follow Al­Haqq, which means cooperating in Birr and Taqwa. The happy blessed ones in all times and places are those who achieve the four characteristics that are mentioned in the Surah. They will be secured from all types of loss. Every Muslim should achieve these characteristics, abide by them, and call to them; they are: having true Iman (Faith) in Allah and His Messenger in a way that embraces sincere devotion to Allah in 'Ibadah (worship), believing what He (may He be Praised) tells us, testifying to His Oneness and that He sent His Messenger (peace be upon him) with His Message, and believing what the Prophet (peace be upon him) told us. Also it embraces doing good deeds, as iman is words and deeds; it increases by obedience and decreases by sin, according to the understanding of Ahl­ul­Sunnah wal­Jama'ah (those adhering to the Sunnah and the Muslim main body). True Iman is spoken by the heart, and on the lips, and expressed by the action of the heart and body; the action of the heart is through love, devotion, fear, hope, and longing for Allah. It also includes loving good for Muslims, such as supplicating to Allah for them, and doing good deeds. It is words and deeds that increase through obedience and decrease through sinning as mentioned above.

It also includes a third matter, which is exhorting one another to Al­Haqq, and this is part of the good deeds and Iman. Allah stresses this by mentioning it by itself to show its significance. Exhorting one another plays a paramount role; it signifies cooperation in Birr and Taqwa, advising one another for the Sake of Allah, guiding people to what benefits them, and forbidding them from what harms them. It also includes a fourth matter, which is exhorting one another to patience.

Therefore, this great Surah embraces all types of good, its principles, and the means to obtain happiness. So cooperation in Birr and Taqwa means cooperating to achieve Iman through words, deeds, and beliefs. When Birr is accompanied by Taqwa, they denote fulfilling the Faridah (obligatory acts) and abstaining from prohibitions. Birr means fulfilling the Faridah, attaining good, and hastening to and achieving it. taqwa means to abstain from what has been declared as Haram (prohibited) and renouncing the evil. When referring to just one of these two words without mentioning the other, it encompasses the whole Din; therefore, absolute Birr refers to the whole religion and absolute Taqwa also refers to the whole religion. This is according to the Saying of Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He):

Cooperation in Birr and Taqwa means cooperating to achieve what Allah and His Messenger have ordered to be done, whether in the form of words, deeds, or beliefs, and to give up all that Allah and His Messenger have declared as Haram, whether in words, deeds, or beliefs. Every person, man or woman, is in need to this cooperation, to attain happiness and salvation in this life and the Hereafter and safety from all kinds of ruin and corruption. Their share of this will be equal to the degree of their sincerity and devotion and their loss equal to that of their negligence. Adherence to these four matters will bring the full reward, while adherence to some of them will bring just a partial reward. Those who fail to adhere to these four matters in word and deed will miss out on all good and will be afflicted with total loss. And those who miss any of them will be afflicted with loss to the same degree as what they failed to realize of these four matters.

There is no doubt that scholars are the people who should perform these matters the most and cooperate in Birr and Taqwa with Iman, sincerity, devotion, patience, and perseverance. This is because the laypeople cannot do so due to their limited understanding and knowledge of their Din, so they can only perform a small amount of

it, according to their knowledge. But the scholars have the ability to do so more than others; the more knowledge increases about Allah, His Messenger, and His Din, the more the duties and responsibilities increase.

Being supporters and protectors of one other entails advising one another, cooperating in Birr and Taqwa, exhorting one another to Al­Haqq and having patience with it, and being aware of all that contradicts this alliance or weakens it. A believing man is the ally of believing men and women for Allah's Sake, and a believing woman is the ally of believing women and men for Allah's Sake. This is obligatory upon all. Every believer has to guide their brother or sister to good, advise them, and warn them against all kinds of evil. So realize your alliance to your brothers and sisters by cooperating with them in Birr and Taqwa, advising them in everything good you know about, hating for them any bad you know about, helping them to do good and forsake evil, feeling happy for them attaining good, and feeling sad for them if they should fall into evil. This is because they are your brothers and sisters.

These three Hadith, and other Hadith with the same meaning, are great bases that make it obligatory upon you to love for your brothers and sisters every good, hate for them every evil, advise them wherever they might be, as they are your supporters and you are their supporter. As Allah (may He be Praised) says:

In this great Hadith, the Prophet (peace be upon him) tells us that the entire Din lies in sincerity, which includes everything, without cheating or deception.

For a Muslim, due to the importance of their alliances with and love of their brothers and sisters, they should sincerely advise them and guide them to all that benefits them. It must be pure of any taint or deception. The Arabs are used to say: "pure gold", which means free from any adulteration. They also describe honey and wax with the word "pure" and this means that they are free from adulteration. In the same context also, it is narrated by Al­Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of Jarir ibn 'Abdullah Al­Bajaly (may Allah be pleased with him), who said, "I pledged allegiance to the Prophet (peace be upon him) based on the establishment of the Salah (Prayer), the payment of Zakah (obligatory charity), and sincerity to every Muslim."

It is a duty upon the scholars and the seekers of knowledge to understand the meaning of this and act upon it more than others. This is due to their knowledge, merit, and their being successors of the Messengers whose role is to clarify Al­Haqq, call people to it, and give advice sincerely for the Sake of Allah and His Servants. Those who have knowledge are not equal to those who do not. As Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) says:

The most sincere in giving advice to people were the Messengers (peace be upon them), the Prophets, and after them the scholars, because they are the heirs of the Prophets and their successors in goodness, sincerity, Da'wah (calling) to Allah, and patient endurance of harm.

Giving advice includes enjoining the good and forbidding the evil. Therefore, Allah (Glorified and Exalted be

He)

Certainly, part and parcel of this is Da'wah to the good and guiding to it, teaching the ignorant and guiding the astray to the right way, as Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) says:

There is no one better than those who call to Allah and do righteous deeds. Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) says:

Allah (may He be Praised) makes it clear in another Ayah that Islamic knowledge is indispensable, because a Da'y (caller to Allah/Islam) must have knowledge so they do not misguide themselves or other people. Allah (may He be Praised and Exalted) says:

It is obligatory for those who perform Da'wah to Allah and guide them to good to have insight into what they are calling to and forbidding. The Messenger (peace be upon him) made it clear that those who call people to Allah will have a reward equal to those they guided to Allah, which is a great good. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said,

This is a great good, as it means that this is better than the whole world. The Prophet (peace be upon him) likened it with red camels, because the Arabs honored red camels and saw them as their best property. Therefore, brothers and sons, you have a great need to be sincere in this matter. You need to be active and patient to act upon the Nas you have heard, and other teachings. You also need to be truthful, examine the good, offer assistance in the best way, and be modest. Realize that the Servants are at a great risk, so call people to Allah, spread good, give advice, and help others in Birr and Taqwa, preserve modesty, and do not be arrogant or self­conceited. Do not be concerned about your selves, except in regard to this great risk, so urge yourselves to do every good, and warn yourselves against doing evil. Do not be self­admiring of your work, nor be arrogant or boastful about it, nor remind people of your favors, or think yourselves better than other people. Rather, understand that this is a favor from Allah upon you to do so. Allah (may He be Praised and Exalted) says:

Cooperation with one another in Birr and Taqwa and mutual advice­giving entails Da'wah to the good and helping others to achieve it, but it also entails warning against evil and not cooperating with those who do evil. So do not help your Muslim brothers and sisters to do what earns them Allah's Wrath. Do not help them to sin, instead advise them to give it up and warn them against its evils. This is part of cooperation in Birr and Taqwa. But if you help them to sin and facilitate it for them, you will be cooperating with them in sin and wrongdoing, whether the sin is committed in words or deeds, such as by being negligent of performing Salah, paying Zakah, observing Sawm (Fasting), or performing Hajj, or by being disobedient to both or one parent, severing the ties of kinship, shaving the beard, Isbal (lengthening and trailing clothing below the ankles), lying, backbiting, slandering, swearing, and suchlike, and whether they are committed by words or deeds. This is according to Allah's (may He be Praised) Saying:

All disobediences to Allah are included in the word 'sin' here. As for transgression, this means going beyond the limits prescribed by Allah, and transgressing against people or against the duties enjoined by Allah, either by addition or deletion. Bid'ah (rejected innovation in religion) is an act of transgression, because it adds to what Allah prescribed. Therefore, those who practice Bid'ah are also called transgressors, as are those who oppress the Servants of Allah or those who neglect what Allah has revealed, as they are committing sins and transgressing the Commands of Allah. Transgressing and exceeding what Allah prescribed, and oppressing Allah's Servants are all forbidden transgressions and sins. Allah (Exalted be He) says:

Allah (may He be Praised and Exalted) ends this Ayah reminding us to have Taqwa and warning of the severity of His Punishment. He (Exalted be He) says:

This means that Allah is warning us of the consequences of cooperating in sin and transgression and of neglecting to cooperate in

Birr and Taqwa, and that the result of this will be a severe penalty for those who disobey His Commands, do what He forbids, and transgress against the limits He prescribes.

We ask Allah by His Most Sublime Names and Attributes to guide us and you and all the Muslims to cooperate with one another in Birr and Taqwa, and to be honest in that. And that we should start with ourselves, because those who call to Allah's Way are examples to be followed, as are the seekers of knowledge. They should hold themselves to account for everything and strive to do good and forsake what is evil, as this will be beneficial for their Da'wah and their advice­giving, and it will help people accept and benefit from their advice, Da'wah, and guidance, and their enjoining of good and forbidding evil.

May Allah grant us success! May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family and Companions, and those who followed them rightfully!