The hope of the Islamic Ummah of ever changing its present state into the better, and of surpassing its enemies is derived from the Exalted Allah's speech:
Allah has promised, to those among you who believe and work righteous deeds, that He will, of a surety, grant them in the land, inheritance (of power), as He granted it to those before them; that He will establish in authority their religion, the one which He has chosen for them; and that He will change (their state), after the fear in which they (lived), to one of security and peace: `They will worship Me (alone) and not associate aught with Me.' If any do reject Faith after this, they are rebellious and wicked (Al Nur, v. 55).
This verse, in Surat Al Nur that means 'light', seems to be like light and rescue sent to a person in a dark night looking for hope to save him from his despair, his disappointment, his grief and his dejection.
The Exalted Allah directs our attention to the source of the light that makes our pessimism vanish, uproots our despair, and opens the way for us to take us out of darkness and lead us to light. Consequently, this verse deals with two subjects that constitute one integrated matter:
- chastity, presented with its discipline and supporters (the Talk of Ifq (falsehood) directed to the Mother of the Believers, Aisha, (GBH) is an example).
- the Exalted Allah and His signs, mentioned after talking about chastity by saying: "Allah is the Light of heavens and the earth" (Al Nur, v. 35), after which, the Exalted Allah mentions His signs that lead to His glorification. In addition, He presents some of the wonders of His creation and the delicacies of His deeds.
In the context of the Exalted Allah's signs and deeds, and as He presents the example of chastity in the Talk of Ifq, He presents a practical example so that juxtaposition becomes complete when He talks about the hypocrites who miss the blessing of having belief in the Exalted Allah and His signs present in their hearts.
This is the Surah, the summary of whose core is: "Allah has promised, to those among you who believe and work righteous deeds". The Exalted Allah explains to us the preludes of renaissance and emphasizes these two elements: faith and good deeds. In this Surah, the Exalted Allah draws our attention to the fact that good deeds cannot be built but on the basis of chastity and belief in the Exalted Allah and His glorification. In addition, this Surah enlarges the servant's knowledge of his Lord to make him glorify Him more.
The relationship between chastity and belief is never separated, because the great supporter of chastity is belief in the Exalted Allah. This idea is manifest in Surat Yusuf when the wife of Aziz (the great) said: "Now come, thou (dear one)!" he said: "Allah forbid! truly (thy husband) is my lord! he made my sojourn agreeable!"
In this Friday sermon, I am not going to talk about the texts that deal with the Exalted Allah and His deeds, but I am going to mention also some of the texts that present important issues related to chastity.
Today, when chastity weakens in the souls of the youth, in their hearts, in their reality, in their schools and universities, in their markets and dealings, urgent need exists for such an issue to be dealt with. Chastity has become weak, and souls have become inclined to depravity and adultery has become lovable to them. We feel as if we were going down a slope towards an abyss.
This is not our country we were used to, specifically when we are on the line of confrontation, when we are exposed to attack especially when nowadays, we are the haven of freedom fighters of Palestine and Iraq.
When I say the haven of freedom fighters of Palestine and Iraq, I do not mean we export harm to anybody, but we are against occupation that is carried out by Zionism and its ally on the land of Palestine and Iraq.
Accordingly, chastity should be an emblem to us. It should have an effective presence among our youth, otherwise, we would be living in a state of indifference and dullness.
The youth that goes astray and is given up to depravity and finds it easy to follow, would lose his identity and personality. He would live in a state of dullness and would not be aware of what is going on around him. He is only attracted by the dirty materialism of the West, a materialism that is superior in technology, but it is mean in morality. It is inclined to profligacy to a degree that the western materialism has never witnessed before. It has reached a stage when one of the leaders of this materialism brags about his adultery with his sweetheart.
This is the level in which that Western world is living now. It is a world that has become void of principles and ethics, while our youth try to have a strong connection with them unaware of what is going around them and what intrigues are planned for them.
Didn't you walk in the streets of Aleppo yesterday, and saw the aspects of joy in celebration of what is called "the day of Valentine"?
Valentine was a priest whom the church ostracized and killed because he disagreed with its principles as he had sexual aberration that contradicted the principles of the church at that time (the 13th c). Thus the church killed him, but the public pressure that is in harmony with the moral dissipation considered the deed of the church wrong.
In order to rehabilitate that man called "Valentine", it was decided to immortalize the memory of his name and his adultery, and a day is assigned for the celebration of this occasion. The church was obliged to agree on that procedure, and a day was chosen for that occasion that is the 14th of March. The 14th of March was the day on which the heathens celebrated the memory of the god of love. Thus this same day of the heathens is chosen and is related to the memory of Valentine.
Recently, that is thirty years ago, the church realized that the aspects of joy in celebration of this occasion means establishing this aberration, so it withdrew its consent.
This is the story of Valentine, and we are celebrating the memory of Valentine in our Islamic countries...! All this is veiled with a radiant false word called "the Anniversary of Love", a word that has no origin of truth.
Where is love?
The love that makes man is in contradiction with aberration and refuses giving up virtue…!
When real love exists in man, it refines him…!
When real love exists in man, it sublimates him…!
Love is the most precious value in the world…!
We are living in a state of ignoble abominable scum. The Messenger of Allah  said the truth when he said:
"You are going to follow the deeds of the previous nations span by span, and cubit by cubit. Even if one of them enters a wrecked lizard burrow you will do the same."
It is the blind imitation… . It is the loss of Islamic culture… It is the loss of awareness of the present reality… .
This is not our country we used to know…!
I am going to choose the following elements from this Surah:
1- Precaution of the enlarging the circle of depravity in this Ummah.
The Exalted Allah said:
Those who love (to see) scandal published broadcast among the Believers, will have a grievous Penalty in this life and in the Hereafter: Allah knows, and ye know not (Al Nur, v. 19).
That is, you do not know that when depravity spreads, it means the end of this Ummah, and that the Ummah is going down the abyss, but when depravity is non-existent, it means the promotion of this Ummah to refinement.
The Westerners have lost their moral principles, and we do not imitate their technology, nor do we imitate their research centers; we rather imitate their profligacy and dissipation. We imitate what is called "fashion" that is imported from their countries to ours.
Were it not for the grace and mercy of Allah on you, and that Allah is full of kindness and mercy, {ye would be ruined indeed} (Al Nur, 20).
In this verse, there is a predestined answer, i.e., whenever you try to fall in the pit of any kind of depravity, you will suffer hasty torture.
2- Precaution of the preludes of depravity:
In the next verse, the Exalted Allah said:

O ye who believe! follow not Satan's footsteps: if any will follow the footsteps of Satan, he will (but) command what is shameful and wrong (Al Nur, v.21)
Aren't we walking step by step towards depravity through its preludes?
Clothes of men and women have greatly changed and got away from modesty, and our information media have also changed to the worst.
Space channels with all their symbols and equipments have entered our homes without permission so that aspects of depravity have become usual phenomena.
Veneration and esteem is usually presented to the one who is nearer to depravity.
Turkey, our neighbor, is walking upward, while we are going downward. They restored the woman's veil realizing the will of the nation, while we are distancing our formal areas from a similar procedure.
They do not impose the veil on anybody. The seculars lie when they say that what the Turks are doing is nothing but an introduction to imposing the veil.
They lie because Islam never enforces anybody to do what one does not like.
They certainly lie and invent a lie against the Exalted Allah… . The veil is in harmony with man's instinctive nature.
Islam does not call for coercion, neither in belief nor in behavior: "Let there be no compulsion in religion" (Al Baqarah, v. 256).

and were it not for the grace and mercy of Allah on you, not one of you would ever have been purified: but Allah doth purify whom He pleases: and Allah is One Who hears and knows {all things} (Al Nur, v. 21).
That is, were it not for the favor of the Exalted Allah, no one would be guided to the straightway, but by faith and trust in the Exalted Allah and by glorifying Him, the believer will be purified.
3- Encouraging financial expenditure to help in avoiding depravity:
Encouraging financial expenditure to help in avoiding depravity even if the one who harms you financially and morally will benefit from this expenditure, because priority should be over personal feelings. It should be given to common moral interest. This is supported by the Exalted Allah's speech:
Let not those among you who are endued with grace and amplitude of means (i.e., who have wealth), resolve by oath against helping their kinsmen, those in want, and those who have left their homes in Allah's cause; let them forgive and overlook (their spending money should not be based on personal feelings. It should rather be based on the common moral benefit), do you not wish that Allah should forgive you? For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful (Al Nur. V. 22).
In dealing with this subject, the value of expenditure is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an as one of the supporters of chastity.
We should not understand this verse as specific to a certain circumstance, i.e., what happened between Abu Bakr and Mistah (GBTH), for the peculiarity of the reason does not prevent the generality of the statement as is known among the religious scholars.
The mentioned text emphasizes the supporting financial value, such as the institutions that support chastity and promote the Islamic Ummah concerning chastity.
I said to many officials: make use of the educational and cultural institutions, for radicalism is nothing but an individual reaction, and it cannot be dealt with by force. Using force applied in all countries in such cases is an unsuccessful experience. Violence and the force of arms do not cancel radicalism. Instead, educational institutions that care for the youth, their behavior, their thoughts and their education, can be more influential than force. Such institutions will open the field of educational clubs and teach refined social relationships.
Once this procedure is applied, radicalism will vanish.
In such a case, there is need for expenditure to encourage virtue, science, literature and education…. It is better to do that than spending money on singers and encouraging art and artists. When we use money for the benefit of youth we become closer to chastity.
But to spend much money on silly matters without asking the permission of the other side is something unacceptable.
Thus, the element of expenditure is missing. There should be a public fund called "Chastity Fund". This is other than the project of helping youth to marry, for this is something different.
Chastity is valuable and it should be taken care of to exist.
I frequently said: Islam is away from radicalism… Islam is moderation…Islam is equilibrium… Islam does not produce violence. If you read the Holy Qur'an, you find it moderate and call for moderation in all its instructions.
The Exalted Allah said:
Make not thy hand tied (like a niggard's) to thy neck, nor stretch it forth to its utmost reach, so that thou become blameworthy and destitute (Al Isra', v. 29).
He also said:
Those who, when they spend, are not extravagant and not niggardly, but hold a just {balance} between those {extremes} (Al Furqan. V. 67).
Describing the radical, the Messenger of Allah  said that the radical's fasting and prayer are not accepted, because he  makes over strictness equal to extravagance.
Consequently, our religion calls for moderation that produces virtue.
When financial support exists and is adopted by the public, and governments do not object to it, chastity will be supported.
The existence of chastity and the fund that supports it is a great issue. In such a case, literature, art, education, books, plays and novels, all support chastity. There will be practical social supporting reality if we really want chastity, but if we do not desire it, we will be afraid even of its shadow.
Chastity leads to development and improvement.
4- Precaution of slandering virtuous women believers:
This practice is, intentionally or unintentionally, widely spread. Whenever the veil is mentioned in a meeting, you find some directly say: "how many the veiled who hide behind their veil depravity are!".
I have met many types of people, in our country and abroad who, when the veil is mentioned, would throw arrows of impeachment, and cannons and bombers at the veiled, and some would say: "The veiled woman is ignorant… and only the unveiled is educated for she possesses the elements of progress man needs".
Concerning this subject, the Exalted Allah said:
Those who slander chaste women, indiscreet but believing, are cursed in this life and in the Hereafter (Al Nur, v. 23).
Notice how the One Who curses them is the Exalted Allah.
In Egypt, it was said to me:
What is this queer phenomenon? A great actress that used to gain millions, but billions, gives up her previous work…! Where would she earn her living? Certainly, there are great institutions that support this phenomenon and supply every veiled with much money.

I heard this said by a quarter that is not so simple. It is said by people who belong to a high level in society.
It is an accusation implying a belief that there are terrorist institutions (as they said) that support every woman who changes her appearance from the unveiled into the veiled.
This is what they adopt, and they are convinced of it.
It is falsehood and belief in this falsehood.
On the Day when their tongues, their hands, and their feet will bear witness against them as to their actions.
(i.e., the Exalted Allah will call them to account and they will receive the just penalty they deserve).
On that Day Allah will pay them back (all) their just dues, and they will realize that Allah is the (very) Truth, that makes all things manifest (Al Nur, vs. 24-25).
Novels are employed, books are spread, and insulting caricatures are used, all to offend the veiled. Moreover, the Western materialism reveals its deterioration and filth in its publishing caricatures that offend the Excellency of the Master of all mankind, Muhammad . It is not one newspaper that published such a great offence, but they were seventeen newspapers that did the same on prior disciplined intentional agreement within Denmark, and this phenomenon will spread like fire that spreads in straw all through European newspapers, and do wait to see …
They are trifling with you, with your culture, with your religion and your Prophet.
Can remedy be effected by burning their flags?
By Allah, this is not the solution. The solution is rather in your relinquishing their adultery, and in announcing a revolution of chastity and virtue against their deeds….
What is the use of burning the flag of Denmark or the flags of other countries?
What is the value of that?
This practice is nothing but a worthless outlet.
Oh youth, your initiative and your seeking victory should be for nothing but for the Messenger of Allah . This could be achieved through your adhering to his Sunnah and through following him . It could be achieved through a behavior that reveals your affiliation and pride that you are the followers of Muhammad .
This is the type of the revolution of virtue… the revolution of chastity… and the revolution of faith…
The revolution of faith is not mere shouting nor demonstrations.
The revolution of faith is a behavioral reaction that the Messenger of Allah  likes. If they announce their degradation and going beyond the limits of ethics, the thing they call respect of the others, exportation of freedom, and man's right of man, the fact of which has become uncovered in its filth, in its expressing confused entities that are not restricted by any discipline.
Oh youth, your answer should be your adhering to Muhammad  and his Sunnah, his chastity, his honesty, his knowledge, as well as your promotion up the ladder of science and work.
This is the type of anti-revolution that would embody our Islamic reality if only we had an Islamic reality.
They will repeat the offense frequently and repeatedly. They will offend the veiled women, the Messenger of Allah , and every ritual of the Exalted Allah, and this is not astonishing. What is astonishing is our inability to understand the situation, and that we go on asking them to be the people of Islam, the soldiers and defenders of Islam.
As Britain includes a lot of Muslim, one of the great British Archbishops demanded that Islam be part of the British Law, but the insolent answer of the material secularism was: "No".
Is this their democracy?
An Archbishop, a representative of the church, claimed man's right of co-citizenship, who is part of the British nation, but they said: "No".
Enough lying…Enough slandering…
Oh youth, be committed to your religion and restore your identity. The other part does not treat you fairly, nor do they respect you. On the contrary, they despise you and wish to annihilate your existence. Your value exists only in your adhering to your culture.
You possess culture, high principles and ethics, so turn to the East.
Once I met the maker of new Malaysia. He said: "I advise you to turn to the East". Give little attention to the East, for looking at the West has blinded us from seeing the East. It has also blinded us from seeing our own state, our merit, and what we have. The sun rises from the east.
5- Clarification of homogeneity in qualities that relate one compared object with the other, and emphasizing it:
The Exalted Allah sets for us a behavioral moral comparison. If we understand it we could be promoted:
Women impure for men impure, and men impure for women impure and women of purity are for men of purity, and men of purity are for women of purity: these are not affected by what people say: for them there is forgiveness, and a provision honorable (Al Nur, v. 26).
Consequently, there should be accompaniment and agreement. No doubt, there should be agreement and harmony through which concordance between chastity and virtue usually exists, and by it man is promoted in his chastity and virtue.
6- Setting moral restraints that support chastity:
1- Respect of the privacy of houses.
The house is the kingdom of the woman. In her house, the woman is free in her adornment, her hobbies, her sports, and her abstract and concrete presence. This is clear in the following verses in the Holy Qur'an:
O ye who believe! enter not houses other than your own, until ye have asked permission and saluted those in them; that is best for you, in order that ye may heed (what is seemly).
If ye find none in the house, enter not until permission is given to you (Al Nur, vs. 27-28).
Thus the house is the fortress of chastity.
2- Respect of the circumstances of the house:
The house has its own privacy and circumstances, because it is the haven of chastity and virtue. It should be replete with joy and there should be privacy between the two spouses. i.e., the intimate relationship that nobody should be acquainted with. The house is sometimes full of joy because of the chastity and virtue that spread in it. The Exalted Allah said:
if ye are asked to go back, go back: that makes greater purity for yourselves; and Allah knows well all that ye do.
It is no fault on your part to enter houses not used for living in (but the inhibited houses should not be entered), which serve some (other) use for you: and Allah has knowledge of what ye reveal and what ye conceal (Al Nur, v. 28-29).
3- A call to chastity by means of training the youth to get away from the incentives of infatuation:
The Exalted Allah said:
Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: and Allah is well acquainted with all that they do.
And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof (Al Nur, vs. 30-31).
4- Legislation of the veil that supports chastity and is protection from infatuation:

that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O ye Believers! turn ye all together towards Allah, that ye may attain Bliss (Al Nur, 31).
Get away from infatuation and its incentives.
Thus the Exalted Allah presents four deterrents to support chastity. There remains two titles in Surat Al Nur concerning the subject of chastity:
7- Marriage of bachelors:
Marry those among you who are single, or the virtuous ones among your slaves, male or female: if they are in poverty, Allah will give them means out of His grace: for Allah encompasses all, and He knows all things (Al Nur, v. 32).
8- Bachelors who are unable to marry should wait for relief:
Let those who find not the wherewithal for marriage keep themselves chaste, until Allah gives them means out of His grace (Al Nur, v. 33).
This is an integrated subject that is dealt with in this Surah.
The Holy Qur'an presents everything connected with life. If you seek chastity, the eight titles mentioned above are the doors of Paradise.
Oh youth and men, do enter to the space of chastity through these doors. Chastity is the origin of our identity, and the connection of our good deeds with its origin is the fruits of faith and God-fearing.
Allahum…, guide us to You favorably, and make us from those who listen to wisdom and follow the best of it.
I say my words and ask Allah's forgiveness.