62. Surah Al-Jumu'a

16 "This does not mean that after the Friday is over, it is obligatory to go in search of livelihood. but it only implies permission. As it was ordered to stop aII worldly business as soon as the call was made for the Prayer, so it is allowed that after the Prayer is over, the people may dispose and resume or pursue whatever occupation or business they may like. It is just like the prohibition of hunting in the state of ihram, but after ihram is put off, one is told to hunt. (AI-Ma'idah: 2) . That does not mean that one must hunt, but that one may hunt if one so likes. Or, for instance. in Surah An-Nisa', permission to marry more than one wife has been given, saying: "Marry two or three or four women whom you 'choose. " Here, although the verb is in the imperative mood, no one has taken it in the meaning of a command This gives the principle that the imperative form of the verb does not always imply an obligation or command it sometimes implies the permission and sometimes exercise of choice or preference. The context determines where it implies the command, where the permission and where Allah's approval of the act, and not that the act is obligatory. Immediately after this very sentence itself, it has been said: "And remember Allah much. " Here also the verb is in the imperative mood, but obviously it implies exercise of one's choice and not that it is a duty or compulsion. Here, another thing worthy of mention is that although in the Qur'an Friday has not been declared a public holiday like the Jewish Sabbath and the Christian Sunday, yet no one can deny that Friday is a symbol of the Muslim community precisely in the carne way as Saturday is a Jewish and Sunday a Christian symbol. And if declaring a day in the week a public holiday be a cultural necessity, then just as the lews naturally select Saturday for it and the Christians Sunday, so a Muslim (if he has any Islamic feeling) will necessarily select only Friday for this purpose. The Christians did not even hesitate to impose their Sunday on some other countries where Christian population was negligible. When the Jews established their state in Palestine, the first thing they did was to announce Saturday as the weekly holiday instead of Sunday. In prepartitioned India one conspicuous distinction between British India and the Muslim states was that in one part of the country Sunday was observed as a closed holiday and in the other Friday. However, where the Muslims lack Islamic values, they hold w Sunday even after attaining to sovereign power as we see in Pakistan. In case of excessive westernization Friday is replaced by Sunday as the weekly holiday as was done by Mustafa Kamal in Turkey. 17 "Remember Allah much": "Do not forget Allah even when you arc otherwise occupied; but remember Him under alI circumstances and remain conscious of Him at ail times." (For explanation, see E.N. 63 of Surah Al-Ahzab) 18 At several places in the Qur'an, after giving an-instruction or an admonition, or a command words to the effect: perhaps, you achieve success" or 'perhaps you may be shown mercy" have been used. The use of 'perhaps" on such occasions dces not mean that AIIah, God forbid, is entertaining a doubt, but it is in fact a royal style of address. It is just like a kindly master's giving out hope to his servants to continue doing their best so that they may achieve and win the desired goal and reward, It contains a subtle promise which fills the servant with hope and he carries out his duties and obligations with enthusiasm.' As the Commands pertaining to the Friday congergational prayer come to an end here, it would be useful to give a resume of the injunctions that the four schools of juristic thought have derived from the Qur'an, the Hadih, traditions of the Companions of the Holy Prophet and the general principles of Islam. According to the Hanafi school of thought, the time for the Friday Prayer is the same as for Zuhr Prayer. The Friday Prayer can neither be held before it nor after it. Business and trade become forbidden with the first call to the Prayer and not with the second call which is made after the Imam has taken his place on the pulpit, for the words of the Qur'an in this regard are explicit and definite. Therefore, whichever call is made for the Friday Prayer after the declining of the sun when the Prayer time begins, the people should stop conducting business on hearing it. However, if a person has made a bargain at that time, it will not be void, but will only be a sin. The Friday Prayer cannot be held in every settlement but only in the misr Jami which has been defined as a large town or city, where there arc market places, adequate security arrangements, and which has large enough population so that if alI the people upon whom attendance at the Friday Prayer is obligatory, gather together, they should be too many for the principal mosque to hold. The people who live outside the city will have to offer the Prayer in the city only in case the call to the Prayer reaches them, or if they live within six miles of the city. The Prayer may not necessarily be held in the mosque; it may also be held in the open field and also on a ground which is outside the city but a part of it. The Friday Prayer can be validly held only in a place where any and every person may come to attend it without any hindrance. It will not be valid if it is held in a restricted place where every person is not allowed to join in no matter how many people may gather together. For the Prayer to be valid there should at least be three men (according to Imam Abu Hanifah beside the Imam, or two men including the Imam (according to Imams Abu Yusuf and Mohammed) , upon whom it is obligatory to attend the Friday Prayer. A person will be exempt from the Prayer if he is on a journey, or is so ill that he cannot walk to attend it, or is disabled of both the legs, or is blind (but according to Imam Abu Yusuf and Imam Muhammad, a blind person will be exempt from the Prayer duty only in case he dces not find a man who can take him along for the Prayer) , or he apprehends a danger to he life and honour, or an unbearable financial loss from a tyrant, or It is raining heavily and there is slush and rainwater on the way, or he is a. prisoner, For the prisoner and the disabled, it is undesirable that they should perform the Zuhr Prayer on Friday In congregation. For those also who have missed the Friday Prayer it is undesirable to perform the Zuhr Prayer collectively, The sermon is one of the pre-requisites of the Friday Prayer to be valid, for the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) never performed the Friday Prayer without the Sermon; the Sermon must necessarily precede the prayer, and there should be two Sermons. From the time the Imam steps towards the pulpit for the sermon, every kind of speech becomes forbidden till he brings it to an end; no prayer may be performed during it, whether one can hear the Imam at the place where one is sitting or not. (Hedayah, Al-Fath ul-Qadir; al-Jassas: Ahkam al-Qur'an; AI-Fiqh alai-Madhahib al-Arb'ah; 'Umdat al-Qari) . According to the Shafe'is the time of the Friday Prayer is the same as of the Zuhr Prayer. Trade and business become forbidden and hastening to the remembrance of Allah becomes obligatory from the time the second call is sounded, i.e. the call which is sounded after the Imam has taken his place on the pulpit. However, if A person carries out a transaction at this time, it does not become void. The Friday Prayer can be held in every such settlement among the permanent residents of which there are 40 such men upon whom it is incumbent to perform the Prayer. Attendance at the Friday Prayer is obligatory for, those people of the suburbs whom the call may reach The Friday service must be held within the bounds of the settlement, but it may not necessarily be held in the mosque. Thus, it is not obligatory for nomadic peoples who live in tents, in the desert. For the Prayer to be valid there should at least be 40 such men including the Imam in the congregation upon whom the Prayer is incumbent. A person would be exempt from the Prayer if he is on a journey, or intends to stay at a place for four or less than four days provided that the journey is lawful, or he is old or sick and cannot go to attend the Prayer even by a conveyance, or is blind and does not find a man . who can take him along for the Prayer, or apprehends danger to lift or property or honour, or is a prisoner provided that this imprisonment has not been caused by his own crime. There should be two sermons before the Prayer. Although it is according to the Sunnah to sit quiet during the sermon, yet speech is not forbidden. For the person who is sitting close to the Imam so that he can hear the sermon, speech is disapproved, but he can respond to a greeting, and can recite prayer on the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) aloud when he hears his name being mentioned. (Mughni al-Muhtaj Al-Fiqh alal-Madhahib al-Arb'ah) . According to the Malikis, 'the Friday Prayer time begins from the declining of the sun and lasts till such time in the evening that the Sermon and the Prayer can be concluded before sunset. Business transactions become forbidden and hastening becomes obligatory with the second call. If a transaction takes place after it, it would be void and sinful. The Friday Prayer can be held in the settlements, residents of which live in permanent houses and do not migrate in the summer or the winter, and whose needs and requirements are met in the same settlements, and who can defend themselves on the basis of their strength. In temporary dwelling places the Friday 'Prayer cannot be established even though many people may be staying there and staying for long periods. Attendance at the Prayer is obligatory for the people who live within- three miles of the settlement where the Prayer is held. The Prayer can be held only in the mosque, which is inside the settlement or adjoining it, and the building of which is not inferior to the houses of the common residents of the place. Some Malikis have also imposed the condition that the mosque should be roofed, and arrangements for offering collective Prayer five times daily should also exist in it However, the better known view of the Malikis is that for the Prayer to be valid the mosque's being roofed is no pre-requisite. The Friday Prayer can also be held in a mosque which has been built only for the Friday Prayer and no arrangements exist in it for the five daily Prayers. For the Prayer to be valid there must at least be 12 other men, apart from the Imam, in the congregation upon whom the Friday Prayer is incumbent. A person would be exempt from it if he is on a journey, or intends to stay for Less than four days at a place during the journey, or is so ill that he cannot come to the mosque, or has an ailing mother or father, or wife, or child, or he is nursing a stranger who has nobody else to nurs him, or has a close relative who is seriously ill, or at the point of death, or apprehends an unbearable loss to property, or a danE to his life or honor, or is hiding from fear of imprisonment, or punishment, provided that he is a wronged and oppressed person, or it is raining heavily and there is slush and rainwater on the way, or the weather is oppressive due to excessive heat or cold. The Prayer has to be preceded by two Sermons; so much so that if the Sermon is given after the Prayer, the Prayer has to be repeated, and the Sermons must necessarily be delivered inside the mosque. It is forbidden to offer a voluntary Prayer after the Imam has stepped towards the pulpit, land to talk when the Sermon has begun, even if one is not hearing it, However, if the Imam indulges in meaningless and absurd things in the Sermon, or uses abusive language for a person who does not deserve it, or starts praising a, person for whom praise is unlawful, or starts reciting something irrelevant to the Sermon, the people have the right to protest. Furthermore, it is reprehensible that a prayer be made in the Sermon for the temporal ruler, unless the Imam apprehends danger to his life. The Imam must necessarily be the same person who leads the Prayer; if another person than the one who gave the Sermon led the Prayer it would be void. (Hashiyah ad-Dusuqi ila-sh-Sharh al-Kabir,' Ibn 'Arabi, .4hkam al-Qur an; Al-Fiqh alal-Madhahib al-'Arb ah) . According to the Hanbalis, the Friday Prayer time begins when the sun has risen about a spear's length high and lasts till the beginning of the 'Asr Prayer time in the afternoon, but performing the Prayer before the declining of the sun is just permissible but after it obligatory and meritorious. Business transactions become forbidden and hastening to the Prayer becomes obligatory with the second call, A transaction contracted after it has no effect in the law. The Prayer can be held only at a place where 40 men on whom the Friday Prayer is incumbent have permanently settled in houses (and not in tents) and are not nomadic tribesmen. For this purpose, it will not make any difference if the houses of the settlement or its different parts are scattered or compact; if their combination is called by ane name, it will be one settlement even if its different parts are miles apart. Attendance at the Prayer will be obligatory for the people who live within three miles of the settlement. The congregation should consist of 40 men including the Imam. The Prayer may not necessarily be performed in the mosque; it may be performed in the open as well. A person will be exempt from it if he is on a journey and intend to stay in the settlement for four or less than four days, or is so iII that he cannot come to the mosque even by a conveyance, or is blind unless he can grope his way to the mosque; (it is not obligatory for the blind man to come for the Prayer with another man's help) , or he is prevented by extreme weather or heavy rain or slush and rainwater, or he is hiding to escape persecution or apprehends danger to life or honour, or fears an unbearable financial loss, The Prayer should be preceded by two Sermons. The person who is sitting so close to the Imam that he can hear him, is forbidden speech; however, the one sitting far away, who cannot hear the Sermon, can speak. The people have to sit quiet during the Sermon whether the person delivering the Sermon is a just man or an unjust man. If 'Id falls on a Friday, the people who have performed the `Id Prayer will be exempt from the Friday Prayer. In this matter, the viewpoint of the Hanbalis is different from that of the other three Imams. (Ghayat al-Muntaha; AI-Fiqh alal-Madhahib al-Arb ah) , All jurists are agreed that if the person upon whom the Friday Prayer is not incumbent, joins in the Prayer, his Prayer would be valid, and he would be absolved from the Zuhr Prayer.

19 This is the incident because of which the commandments pertaining to the Friday congregational Prayer have been enjoined in the preceding verses. Its narrative as related in the collections of Hadith, on the authority of Hadrat Jabir bin 'Abdullah, Hadrat 'Abdullah bin `Abbas, Hadrat Abu Hurairah, Hadrat Abu Malik, and Hasan Basri, lbn Zaid, Qatadah and Muqatil bin Hayyan is as follows: A trade caravan from Syria arrived in Madinah right at the time of the Friday Prayer and its people started playing their drums to announce their arrival. The Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) at that time was delivering the Sermon, Hearing the drum the people in the congregation became impatient and rushed out towards Baqi where the caravan had halted, except for 12 men. The most authentic tradition in this narrative is of Hadrat Jabir bin 'Abdullah, which has been related by Imam Ahmad, Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu 'Uwanah, 'Abd bin Humaid, Abu Ya'la and others through reliable channels. The only diversity is that in some traditions it is stated that the incident took place when the Prayer was in progress; in others that it happened when the Holy Prophet was delivering the Sermon. However, what appears to be correct when the tradition of Hadrat Jabir and those of others are read together is that it happened during the Sermon. Where Hadrat Jabir says that it happened during the Friday Prayer, he in fact has used the word Friday Prayer for the combination of the Sermon and the Prayer. According to the tradition of Hadrat 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas, seven women had remained behind with 12 men. (Ibn Marduyah) . Qatadah says that one woman remained with 12 men, (lbn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim) . According to the tradition of Daraqutni 40 individuals remmained, of `Abd bin Humaid 7 individuals and of Farra 8 individuals. But all these are weak traditions. The tradition of Qatadah that sack a thing happened thrice is also weak. (Ibn Jarir) The authentic tradition in this regard is of Hadrat Jabir, according to which the number of those who remained behind is stated to be 12. Apart from one tradition of Qatadah, all traditions of the other Companions and their followers agree that this happened only once. When read together different traditions about those who remained behind show that they included Hadrat Abu Bakr, Hadrat 'Umar, Hadrat 'Uthman, Hadrat 'AIi, Hadrat 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud, Hadrat 'Ammar bin Yasir, Hadrat Salim (slave of Hudhaifah) and Hadrat Jabir bin 'Abdullah. The tradition related by Hafiz Abu Ya`la from Hadrat Jabir bin 'Abdullah says that when the people rushed out like that and only 12 Companions were left behind, the Holy Prophet addressed them, saying: "By Him in Whose hand is my life, if aII of you had left, and none had remained behind, this valley would have overflowed with fire. " A theme resembling this has been cited by Ibn Marduyah from Hadrat 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas and by Ibn Jarir from Qatadah. The Shiite scholars have used this incident also for taunting and finding fault with the Companions. They say that abandoning the Sermon and the Prayer by such a large number of the Companions for the sake of worldly gain and amusement is a proof that they preferred the world to the Hereafter. But this is a misplaced objection that can be raised only if one keeps ones eyes closed to realities. As a matter of fact, this incident took place just after the migration. At that time, on the one hand, the collective training of the Companions was in the initial stages, and on the other, the disbelievers of Makkah had subjected the people of Madinah to a strict economic blockade because of which necessities of lift had become scarce in the city. Hadrat Hasan Basri says that the people at time were starving and the prices had risen abnormally high. (Ibn Jarir) . Under such conditions when a trade caravan arrived, the people rushed out to buy things of daily need lest these were sold out before the Prayer was concluded. This was a weakness and error which became suddenly manifest due to insufficient training and severity of the conditions. But whoever sees the sacrifices made by the Companions for the cause of Islam afterwards and sees what piety and righteousness they displayed in the matter of worship and dedication and dealings can never dare bring against them the allegation that they preferred the world to the Hereafter unless he himself bears malice against the Companions. However, just as this incident dces not support the critics of the Canpanions of the Holy Prophet, so it also dces not support the ideas of those people who cherish exaggerated notions about them and claim that they never committed any error, or if they committed some, it should not be mentioned, for making mention of their error and' calling it an error is derogatory and it reduces one's reverence and respect for them, and its mention goes against the verses of the Qur'an and the Hadith, which state that the Companions arc Allah's favourite people and have already been forgiven all their errors and mistakes. AlI this is exaggeration for which there is no basis in the Qur'an and he ,Hadith. Here, everyone can see for himself that AIlah Himself has mentioned the error that happened to have been committed by a large number of the Companions, in the Book that will be read by the entire Ummah till Resurrection, and in the same Book which speaks of their having been forgiven and being chosen people of AIIah. Then in the books of the Hadith and Commentary also details of this error have been described by aII scholars, from the Companions to the major scholars among the followers of the Sunnah. Does it mean that AIIah has made this mention in order to destroy the reverence for the same Companions whose reverence and esteem He wants to instil in alI our hearts? And dces it mean that the Companions and their followers and the traditionists and commentators have mentioned these details of this incident because they were unaware of the religious aspect of the matter which these zealots show and describe? And have the people who read Surah AI-Jumu 'ah and study its commentary really lost reverence and esteem for the Canpanions from their hearts? If the answer to each of these questions is in the negative, and it is surely in the negative, then all those exaggerated ideas and notions, which some people express and show in regard to the reverence of the Holy Prophet's Companions, arc erroneous. The truth is that the Companions of the Holy Prophet were not supernormal beings: they were only human born in this very world. Whatever they attained, they attained through the persistent training imparted by the Holy Prophet `upon whom be Allah's peace) over many years. The method of this training as ve learn from the Qur'an and the Hadith was; Whenever a weakness appeared in them, Allah and His Messenger turned immediate attention to it, and a programme of education and training was established to overcome and eradicate it. In the matter of this very Friday Prayer we see that when the incident of the trade caravan occurred, Allah sent down this section of the verses of Surah AI-Jumu'ah to administer warning and teach the etiquette of the Friday Service. Along with this the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) impressed on the people the importance of the obligatory nature of the Service continuously in his Sermons as explained in E.N. 15 above. All these instructions are found in the Hadith in clear words. Hadrat Abu Sa'id Khudri says that the Holy Prophet said: "Every Muslim must have full bath on Friday, should clean his teeth, put on the best available clothes, and use perfume if possible." (Musnad Ahmad Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Da'ud, Nasa'i) . Hadrat Salman Farsi says that the Holy Prophet said: "The Muslim who has bath on Friday, cleans and purifies himself as far as possible, applies oil to his hair, or uses perfume if available, and comes to the mosque and takes his place without disturbing others, then offers the (voluntary) Prayer that Allah has destined for him, then listens quietly when the Imam speaks, he will have his sins and errors committed since the previous Friday forgiven. " (Bukhari, Musnad Ahmad) . Traditions containing almost the same theme have been reported by Hadrat Abu Ayub An'ati, Hadrat Abu Hurairah and Hadrat Nubaishat alHudhali also from the Holy Prophet. (Musnad Ahmad, Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Da'ud, Tirmidhi Tabarani) . Hadrat 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas says that the Holy Prophet said: "The person who speaks when the Imam is delivering the sermon, is like the donkey loaded with books, and the person who tells him to keep quiet has also rendered his own Prayer void. " (Musnad Ahmad Hadrat Abu Huraira'. says that the Holy Prophet said: "If on Friday during the sermon you said to a person, 'keep quiet,' you too behaved wrong." (Bukhari, Muslim, Nasa'i, Tirmidhi, Abu Da'ud) . Traditions closely resembling this have been related by Imam Ahmad Abu Da'ud and Tabarani from Hadrat `Ali and Hadrat Abu ad-Darda'. To the person delivering the sermon also the Holy Prophet instructed that he should not deliver a lengthy sermon to try the people's patience. His own practice on Friday was that he gave brief Sermons and Ied short Prayers. Hadrat Jabir bin Samurah says that the Holy Prophet would never give a lengthy Sermon: he was always very brief." (Abu Da'ud) . Hadrat 'Abdullah bin Abi Aufa says: "The Holy Prophet's sermon used to be shorter than the Prayer, and the Prayer a little longer than the sermon." (Nasa'i) , According to Hadrat Ammar bin Yasir, the Holy Prophet said: "The prolongation of the Prayer and the brevity of the sermon are a sign that the Imam has deep insight in religion" (Musnad Ahmad, Muslim Almost the same theme has Bazzar related from Hadrat 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud. AII this shows how the Holy Prophet taught the people the etiquette of the Friday congregational Service till it began w be performed in the unique manner unknown in the congregational worstup of any other people in the world. 20 This sentence by itself shows what was the nature of the error committed by the Companions. God forbid, if it had been duc to any weakness of the faith, or duc to giving the world preference over the Hereafter, Allah's wrath and displeasure and reprimand would have been much severer. But since there was no such weakness, and whatever happened was only due to insufficient training, AIIah first taught the people the coquette of the Friday Service, then, after pointing out the error, promised them that the reward they would get with _ AIIah for listening to the Sermon and performing the Prayer would be much greater than worldly gains and amusements. 21 That is, "Allah is by far the best of aII those providers who become a means of providing sustenance in the world, though only metaphorically." Sentences such as this have occurred at several places in the Qur'an, At some places AIIah has been called "the best of Creators," at others "the best of Forgivers", "the best of Rulers", "the best of those who show mercy", or "the best of Helpers". At aII these places the reference of providing, creating, forgiving, showing mercy and offering help to the creatures is metaphorical, and to AIIah real. It means that Allah is the best Provider, Creator, Forgiver, Helper and Bestower of Mercy of all those who appear to be giving you wages and means of sustenance, or who appear to be making things by their skill and workmanship, or who seem to be pardoning the errors of others, or showing mercy and helping other in this world.