God has made it easy for people to do good deeds, the sermon will tell worshippers on Friday.
Abu Dharr Al Ghifari, one of the first people to convert to Islam, once asked Prophet Mohammed what action a slave could perform to escape from hellfire.
He said the first action would be to have faith in God. Secondly, man should strive to do good.
Allah has linked faith and good deeds in many verses and promised believers that those who do good will have their sins forgiven.
Prophet Mohammed told Abu Dharr to spend from what God has granted him, to combine faith and charity, and help the needy, widows and the poor.
One of the righteous said, ‘These funds are a trust deposits, and we are their the agents, and if the poor come to us and we enriched him, then we have performed faithfulness to Allah.’
Abu Dharr asked the Prophet, "what if he has nothing to give?" The Prophet replied, "let him say kind words. A good word is charity."
So, if a person does not have anything to give, they can say a good word that brings love, grows affection and increases familiarity.
Abu Dharr then asked, "what if they cannot speak?"
The Prophet replied, "Let them help someone who is helpless.”
Those who have power and prestige can help the weak and the oppressed, until their rights are fulfilled, their anguish is gone, and pleasure enters into their hearts.
If one is incapable of doing anything good, "let them at least not hurt people.”
Helping the needy, the weak and the helpless are forms of solidarity, worshippers will hear in the second sermon.
This fosters affection between people, and strengthen relationships and establishes a spirit of cohesion and union among them.
As we approach the anniversary of the foundation of the UAE, worshippers will pray for the federation to be preserved.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950