Yawmul Jumuah
One of the greatest virtues of yawmul Jumuah is that it contains the hour (time period) of accepted supplication, during which if a Muslim slave invokes Allah fro anything, then Allah will grant it to him or her. The wisdom behind this virtue is to encourage and motivate the believers to increase in their worship of Allah (swt). Abu Hurayrah reported that the messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) mentioned Friday and then said,
“There is an hour (time period) in Jumuah, if a Muslim slave reaches it while standing in prayer and begging Allah for anything, then Allah will give it to him”[1]
Then the messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) made a gesture with his hand to indicate how short that hour is. This gesture; and Allah knows best, indicates that the time of the accepted Dua is less than an hour.
In another narration Abu Hurayrah said: Abu’l-Qaasim (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) said:
“On Friday there is an hour (time period) when, if a Muslims happens to pray at that time and ask Allaah for something good, He will give it to him.”
In this hadith there is a clear indication that one should not transgress in asking for what is known to be haraam or harmful as it will not be accepted even in the hour of accepted Dua. This is explicitly stated in the hadith reported on the authority of Abu Lubabah ibn Abdul Munthir (may Allah be pleased with him) from the prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassalam), who said,
“During Friday there is an hour (time period) that if a slave invokes Allah during it for anything, Allah will grant it to him, as long as one does not ask for something impermissible”
Ibn Hajar discussed many interesting points with regards to this ‘hour’ of accepted Dua. He asked a number of probing questions such as,
1) Is this time period a fixed period or does it move around from one Friday to the next i.e. is it at zawal time (fixed) or after zhur prayer (relative to the time the people pray, hence moving around).
2) Is it a virtue exclusively for the time of the prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) i.e. are all the evidences pertaining to the ‘hour’ abrogated [as is the opinion of ibn Abdul Barr] or does the virtue extend to all the Ummah of Muhummed (sallallahu alayhi wassalam).
3) Does it fall on a particular Friday or does it fall regularly on every Friday.
Ibn Hajar also noted more than 40 opinions about the precise time of the ‘hour’. Some of them state that the ‘hour’ of accepted prayer falls before fajr, after sunrise, before noon, after noon, between the time when the imam arrives and leaves from Jumuah, between Asr and Magrib, or immediately after Asr.
Ibn Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The most correct of these views are two which are mentioned in proven ahaadeeth, and one of them is more likely than the other.
The first is that it is from the time when the imam sits on the minbar until the end of the prayer. The evidence for this opinion is the report which was narrated by Muslim in his Saheeh (853) from Abu Burdah ibn Abi Moosa al-Ash’ari who said: ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umar said to me: Did you hear your father narrating from the Messenger of Allaah (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) concerning the (special) hour on Friday? I said: Yes, I heard him say: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) say: “It is between the time when the imam sits down, until the prayer is over.”
Al-Tirmidhi (490) and Ibn Maajah (1138) narrated from Katheer ibn ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr ibn ‘Awf al-Muzani from his father from his grandfather that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) said: “On Friday there is an hour of the day during which no person asks Allaah for something but He will give it to him.” It was said, When is that time? He said, “When the iqaamah for prayer is given, until the prayer ends.” [Shaykh al-Albaani said: It is da’eef jiddan (very weak)].
The second view is that it is after ‘Asr and this is the more correct of the two views. This is the view of ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Salaam, Abu Hurayrah, Imam Ahmad and others.
The evidence for this view is the report narrated by Ahmad in his Musnad (7631) from Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri and Abu Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “On Friday there is an hour when no Muslim happens to ask Allaah for good at that time but He will give it to him, and it is after ‘Asr.” [In Tahqeeq al-Musnad its says: The hadeeth is saheeh because of corroborating evidence, but this isnaad is da’eef (weak)].
Abu Dawood (1048) and al-Nasaa’i (1389) narrated from Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allaah that the Messenger of Allaah (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) said: “Friday is twelve hours in which there is an hour were no Muslim asks Allaah for something but He will give it to him, so seek the last hour after ‘Asr.” [Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani].
Sa’eed ibn Mansoor narrated in his Sunan from Abu Salamah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmaan that some of the companions of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) gathered and spoke of the (special) hour on Friday, then they parted and did not disagree that it is the last hour on Friday. [al-Haafiz classed its isnaad as saheeh in al-Fath, 2/489].
In Sunan Ibn Maajah (1139) it is narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Salaam said: I said, when the Messenger of Allaah (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) was sitting, We find in the Book of Allaah that on Friday there is an hour when no believing slave happens to pray and ask Allaah for anything at that time, but Allaah will meet his need.
‘Abd-Allaah said: The Messenger of Allaah (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) pointed to me, saying, “Or some part of an hour.” I said, You are right, or some part of an hour. I said, What time is that? He said, “It is the last hours of the day.” I said, It is not the time of the prayer? He said, “Indeed, when a believing slave prays and then sits with nothing but the next prayer keeping him, he is still in a state of prayer.” [Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani]
In Sunan Abi Dawood (1046), al-Tirmidhi (491) and al-Nasaa’i (1430) it is narrated from Abu Salamah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmaan that Abu Hurayrah said: The Messenger of Allaah (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) said: “The best day on which the sun rises is Friday. On it Adam was created, on it he was sent down (to earth), on it his repentance was accepted, on it he died and on it the Hour will begin. There is no living being but it is in a state of apprehension on Friday from dawn until sunrise fearing the onset of the Hour, except jinn and mankind. On it there is an hour when no Muslim happens to pray and ask Allaah for what he needs, but He will give it to him. Ka’b said: Is that one day in every year? I said: No, it is every week. He said: Ka’b read the Tawraat (Torah) and said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) spoke the truth. Abu Hurayrah said: Then I met ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Salaam and told him of my meeting with Ka’b, and ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Salaam said: I know which time it is. Abu Hurayrah said: I said to him: Tell me about it. ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Salaam said: It is the last hour of Friday. I said: How can it be the last hour of Friday when the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “No Muslim happens to pray at that time,” but there is no prayer at that time. ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Salaam said: Didn’t the Messenger of Allaah (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) say: “Whoever sits waiting for the prayer is in a state of prayer until he prays”? I said: Then this is it.[2]
In conclusion the stronger of the two opinions seems to be that the period of time in which the Dua is accepted on Jumuah is the last portion of the day i.e. before Magrib [this is the opinion if Ahmed, Shafi’ee and Malik] and the length of the time period is less than an hour. However, the first opinion cannot be rejected due to the authenticity of its evidences. Hence we can say that the ‘hour’ is sometimes between the time the imam sits on the mimbar and leaves the prayer and at other times it may be the last portion of the day. So what is best is to invoke in both time periods in order to take advantage of this beautiful virtue.
With regards to making Dua in the first time period one should say ameen with the imam in the Khutbah as he invokes Allah, between the two Khutbah i.e. when the imam sits for a short while, and whilst making sujood in the Salah and also before making tasleem.
N.B! The evidences such as the above hadith of Abu Salamah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmaan indicate that the person should come early to the masjid for Magrib and make their Dua whilst waiting for the athan of Magrib to commence. Shiekh Ibn Baz (may Allah have mercy on him) said, “If we gather the ahadith on this issue we can conclude that the ‘hour’ is only available to those who are in the masaajid waiting for the Magrib prayer.”
It should also be highlighted that one is being deceived if he continually fails to take advantage of this opportunity.
The sunan of Jumuah
As for praying a certain number of Rak’ah before the Jumuah prayer, there are no authentic reports or even weak reports which state that the prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) would pray anything before he would enter the masjid or after he entered the masjid. It is well known that the prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) would go directly to the mimbar and the muezzin would call the athan. It is, however, reported that the companions would pray as much as they wished before the imam arrived to lead the prayer. The legitimacy of their actions can be found implicitly in the following hadith,
“Whosoever takes a bath on Friday, purifies himself as much as he can, then uses his hair oil or perfumes himself with the scent of his house, then proceeds (for the Jumuah prayer) and does not separate between two people sitting together (in the masjid i.e. by walking over them to get to the front), then prays as much as (Allah) been written for him and then remains silent while the imam is delivering the Khutbah, his sins between the present and the last Friday would be forgiven”[3]
This hadith clearly indicates that the prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) recommended that one pray as many Rak’ah as Allah allows him, until the imam comes to deliver the Khutbah. However, it should be noted that this does not mean that there is a set no. of Rak’ah like four or two to be prayed before the Jumuah prayer as Sunnah; rather one can pray as much as he has time for after he has prayed the two Rak’ah of tahiyyatul Masjid. There are reports that Ibn Mas’ood, Sufyaan al-Thauri and ibn al-Mubaarak prayed four Rak’ah before and after Jumuah prayer[4] but this action cannot necessarily be ascribed to the prophet and thus be called a Sunnah. This is why the majority of the early scholars, including Imam Malik, al-Shafi’ee and Ahmed, never stated there is any such thing as a specific Sunnah prayer before the Friday prayer.
As for after the Jumuah prayer, Ibn Umar’s statement recorded by al-Bukhari in his saheeh indicates that the prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) would offer a Sunnah prayer after praying Jumuah. Ibn Umar said, “The messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) used to pray two Rak’ah before the Duhr prayer and two Rak’ah after it. He also used to pray two Rak’ah after the Magrib prayer in his house, and two Rak’ah after the Isha prayer. He never prayed after the Friday prayer until he departed (from the masjid) and he would pray two Rak’ah at home.”[5]
Yet there are other Ahadtih in which the prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) actually stated that one should pray four Rak’ah after the Friday prayer. For example, the prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) said,
“Whoever among you prays after Jumu’ah, let him pray four (rak’ahs)”[6]
We may reconcile the two reports by saying that one may pray two Rak’ah at home or four Rak’ah in the masjid, other scholars said that one should interchange from one Friday to another, while others said both four Rak’ah in the Masjid as well as two Rak’ah at home should be prayed and this seems to be the weakest opinion.
Is the Khutbah allowed to be in any language?
The Hanafis say that it is permissible to say the Khutbah in other than Arabic, regardless of whether the congregation is mostly Arab or not. The Hanbalis say that it must be in Arabic if possible. If not, then at least the verses must be in Arabic. The Shafi’ees say that the pillars must be in Arabic while the rest of the Khutbah may be in any language. An-Nawawi, a Shafi’ee scholar, wrote that a second opinion amongst the Madhab was that it is simply preferred that the language be Arabic as the purpose of the Khutbah is to act as an admonition which may be achieved in any language. The Malikis are the only ones who said the Khutbah must be in Arabic, yet strangely they also said the Khutbah must be an admonishment. But how can one exhort the people to do good and stay away from evil in a language they don’t even understand? That is if they are non-Arabs.
Thus it is clear that the Jamhoor (majority of scholars) said that the Khutbah can be given in other languages if needs be. The Malikis disagreed saying that it was not given in other than Arabic by the prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) nor is it reported that the sahabah gave their Khutab when they settled in other lands where people did not know Arabic. They also said, referring to the verse in surah al-Jumuah,
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That ‘Thikr’ in the ayah is refers to the Khutbah and thikr is known to be in Arabic (only) and this is why the prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) and the companions did not do the Khutbah in any other language. Thus some of them including contemporary Hanafi scholars, conclude by saying that the Khutbah is actually (primarily) an act of worship in and of itself and thus subject to the principle of Tawqeef i.e. has to be performed as stated in the Qur’an and Sunnah with no ijtihaad and it is not (primarily) a Mawi’tha (an admonition).
The majority of scholar replied to their stance by saying that the word thikr is firstly not limited to speech rather it includes any action that reminds you of Allah. This is why the
Rami (stoning the Shaytan) in Hajj was called a thikr of Allah by the prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassalam). Secondly if one was to agree that the Khutbah is thikr then it would not be possible for the Khutbah to ever be changed! As athkaar in the Sunnah are not to be changed but the Khutbah was changed continuously, hence those who postulate that the Khutbah is Ibadah must answer two questions.
1) If the Khutbah is an act of Ibadah and hence must be done exactly according to the Sunnah, how can you stand on the pulpit and deliver a sermon that the prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) never delivered.
2) If the Khutbah is an act of Ibadah and hence must be done according to the Sunnah, then surely the companions would have known this and they must have been present in over 500 Khutbah in the life of the beloved prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassalam). Yet why is it they never fully recorded the Khutbah of the prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) word for word so later generations would know how to imitate the ‘thikr’ in their respective Jumuahs? I.e. how to worship Allah by doing the Khutbah exactly as the prophet (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) did.
Instead we find that the companions would see no harm in missing out sections of the prophets (sallallahu alayhi wassalam) Khutbah when reporting them. For example they would say “He praised Allah then he said…” this shows that they simply thought of the words as a means to remind and not a purpose or end in and of themselves, otherwise it is unthinkable that they would have missed them out.
Lastly it is strange to find that the proponents of this view have in their traditional books of Fiqh statements which explicitly say that acts of worship like Salah can be given in other than Arabic!
Allah Knows Best
