Friday Prayers

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

 رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِي صَدْرِي ; وَيَسِّرْ لِي أَمْرِي ; وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِنْ لِسَانِي ; يَفْقَهُوا قَوْلِي

Friday is an important day for Muslims. Almost all of us will say that we know about the special Friday prayers that are offered at noon and the importance of these prayers. We shall, in this discussion, Insha’Allah try to see how much we know about Friday Prayers. In order to have distinct understanding of the subject, I have tried to make sub-topics and discuss about these sub-topics in brief one after another, which in turn sum up to give detailed explanation of the subject. May Allah make understanding of the subject easy for us!

1. Merits of Friday

Friday is a special day for Muslims. Many of us say that all days are equal as all are being created by Allah. True, but still, Friday is special, it has its own merits. Refer to following hadith:

Abu Hurairah (RA) narrated that Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) said, “The best day on which the sun rises is Friday; on it Adam (AS) was created; and on it, he descended on earth; and on it, his repentance was accepted; and on it, he died; and on it, the Hour will be established…..”

(Hadith No. 1046, Book of Salat, Sunan Abu Dawud, Vol.1).

It is to be understood that the concept of Friday is not a new thing for the Ummah of Muhammad (PBUH); rather this day was declared special by Allah for the nations who existed before. Let us say it as a weekend, although it is not same as weekend of modern world. Nevertheless, this one day in a week (Friday) was appointed by Allah as a holy day (it seems ‘holiday’ has been derived from this) and celebration of Friday (i.e. the Salat of Friday) was made compulsory on the races that existed before Muhammad, PBUH. Following hadith explains this very clearly:

Narrated Abu Hurairah (RA): I heard Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) saying: “We are the last but the foremost on the Day of Resurrection, though the former nations were given the Scripture before us. And this was their day (Friday) the celebration of which (i.e. Friday prayer etc.) was made compulsory for them, but they differed about it. So, Allah gave us the guidance for it (Friday) and all the other people are behind us in this respect: the Jews’ (holy day is) the following day (i.e. Saturday) and the Christians’ (is) the day after the following day (i.e. Sunday).”

(Hadith No. 876, Book of Al-Juma’a, Sahih Bukhari, Vol.2).

See how beneficial it is to read. While trying to know about virtues of Friday, we got lovely information about the concept of weekend too. So, another thing to learn here is that for a Muslim the concept of weekend on Saturdays and Sundays is wrong, Friday is actually the special day of the week that a Muslim should concentrate on.

The importance of Friday can be understood by the fact that there is a whole chapter dedicated to Friday (Surah Al-Juma’a, Chapter No. 62) in Holy Qur’an. There is a direct instruction for all believers about Friday prayers.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا نُودِي لِلصَّلاةِ مِنْ يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ فَاسْعَوْا إِلَى ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَذَرُوا الْبَيْعَ ذَلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ إِنْ كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ

“O you who believe! When the call is proclaimed for the Salat on Friday, come to the remembrance of Allah & leave off business. That is better for you if you did but know!”

(Aayah No. 9, Surah Al-Juma’a, Chapter No. 62, Holy Qur’an).

Also, there is a response hour on Friday, during which every supplication from a Muslim is accepted by Allah. Two different times have been reported for this. Refer to ahadith below:

Jabir bin Abdullah (RA) reported that Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) said, “Friday has twelve – meaning hours – to it. There is no Muslim who asks Allah for anything (during it) except that Allah gives it to him, so seek it during the last hour after Asr.”

(Hadith No. 1048, Book of Salat, Sunan Abu Dawud, Vol. 1).

and,

Abu Burdah bin Abi Musa Al-Ash’ari said: Abdullah bin Umar (RA) asked me, “Have you heard your father narrating from Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) regarding Friday – meaning the Hour (of response)?” I said, “Yes, I heard him say: I heard Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) say: It is between the time that the Imam sits down until prayer is finished.”

(Hadith No. 1049, Book of Salat, Sunan Abu Dawud, Vol. 1).

Maybe the blessed moment of Divine Grace when supplications are answered on Friday alternates between times. And Allah knows best.

It is also reported (ref. Hadith No. 1050, Book of Salat, Sunan Abu Dawud, Vol. 1) that whoever performs Wudu well, then attends Friday prayer, and listens quietly the sermon, then he will be forgiven (the sins that occurred) between the two Fridays. The narrator for this hadith is Abu Hurairah (RA).