Allah (SWT) said:
"O you who believe! When the call is proclaimed for the prayer on the day
of Friday come to the remembrance of Allah and leave off business
that is better for you if you did but know!"
(Jumuah 62:9)
With Salatul Jumuah (the Friday prayer) representing a major component of
worship in Islam, it becomes absolutely vital for the Muslim to set about
learning the various dimensions of Jumuah in order to correctly establish
this obligatory worship and also to ensure its acceptance from Allah. As
with other issues in Islam, there are a wide range of opinions concerning
the various facets of this ibadaat. The objective of this khutbah, and
indeed of all the khutbahs, is to aid the Muslim in navigating through the
texts and to negotiate whatever confusion or questions may emerge, by
providing lucid clarification and insightful explication, thus serving to
facilitate one’s heightened practice and establishment of this deen,
insha’Allah. It is with this objective in mind that, in this khutbah, we
shall tackle certain salient aspects of Salatul Jumuah.
THE TIME OF THE JUMUAH PRAYER
There is a difference of opinion among the scholars concerning the proper
and acceptable time for the Friday prayer. There are essentially two
opinions on this issue. The first opinion states that the time for salatul
Jumuah is exactly the same as the time for the dhuhr prayer, or noon prayer.
These people state that if the prayer is performed before such time, it is
invalid. The second opinion states that the time for the Friday prayer is
not exactly the same as that of the dhuhr prayer and it is permissible to
perform the Friday prayer before the time of dhuhr.
Those who subscribe to the first opinion, cite the following narrations as
their proof. Narrated Salama ibn al-Akwa , "We would perform the Friday
prayer with the Messenger of Allah (saw) when the sun would pass the
meridian and then we would come back (from the prayer) and seek some shade,"
(Sahih Bukhari & Muslim, Ahmad). Also, Anas narrated that the Prophet (saw)
would pray Jumuah when the sun had passed its meridian, (Sahih Bukhari, Abu
Dawud, Tirmidhi). And, Said al-Qurdh narrated that he would make the call to
prayer for the Friday prayer during the time of the Messenger of Allah (saw)
right when the shadows began to appear (i.e. after the sun passed the
meridian), (Ibn Majah, al-Hakim).
However, those who subscribe to the latter opinion note that some hadith
state that the prayer itself was performed by the Prophet (saw) just as the
sun passed its zenith or right after "high noon". This means that both the
adhan (call to prayer) and the khutbah must have been before that time, as
is made clear in the following hadith. Narrated Jabir, "The Messenger of
Allah (saw) would pray the Friday prayer and then we would go to our camels
and rest while the sun was passing its zenith," (Sahih Muslim, an-Nasai,
Ahmad).
Moreover, there are hadith which explicitly state that it was the practice
of the Companions of the Prophet (saw) to perform the Friday prayer before
the time of noon. More specifically, it was something practiced by the
khulafa rashidun (the rightly guided khalifahs). Certainly, this had to have
been something which they had learned from the Prophet (saw), otherwise it
would not be practiced.
Narrated Abdullah ibn Saidan al-Salami, "I performed the Friday prayer with
Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq, and his khutbah and his prayer was before midday. Then
I performed the Friday prayer with Umar (i.e. after the death of Abu Bakr),
and his khutbah and his prayer would be until one would say, ‘Midday has
come.’ Then I performed the prayer with Uthman, and his khutbah and prayer
were until the time that one would say, ‘Midday has passed.’ I did not see
anyone objecting to it or rejecting any of their practices (in this
regard)," (Ahmad, Ibn Abi Shaiba, al-Daraqutni). Also, Imam Ahmad notes,
"And (something) similar has been related from Ibn Mas’ud, Jabir, Sa’id and
Mu’awiyyah. They all prayed before the sun passed the meridian and no one
objected to what they did, and that was the consensus." Furthermore, it has
also been explicitly recorded that Ali, Ammar and Mu’awiyyah, each used to
perform the Friday prayer before noon time or before the sun passed its
zenith (all recorded in Ibn Abi Shaiba’s al-Musannaf).
Consequently, while many scholars may tend to abide by the first opinion,
the second opinion of being able to pray Salatul Jumuah before noon accounts
for a fuller scope of the evidence in the Shariah. One should keep in mind
that Salatul Jumuah is distinct from salatul dhuhr, in terms of having its
own rulings and timing. Hence, there are a significant number of scholars,
especially those from the Hanbali madhhab, who look upon the timing for
Salatul Jumuah as being anytime from the time of the Eid salat (essentially
after sunrise) until the time of salatul asr. So, if there are a group of
people who are unable to pray Jumuah from 1:00-2:00, due to some conflict
with work, there would be no harm for them to form their own congregation
earlier than that, at say 12:00, or 11:00. When the parameters of the
Shariah allow for such flexibility, there is nothing wrong with indulging in
such practice.
THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE REQUIRED FOR JUMUAH
There is an ‘ijma (consensus) of the scholars that, of the conditions of
obligation and validity of the Jumu‘ah salat, a necessary shart (condition)
for it is the congregation (jamâ‘a). This is based on the hadith of Tariq
ibn Shihab who narrated that the Prophet (saw) said, "The Friday prayer in a
congregation is an obligatory duty upon every Muslim..." (Abu Dawud,
al-Hakim). However, the scholars differed about the minimum number required
in order to constitute a jamâ‘a. While there are several different opinions
(e.g. Imam Ibn Hajar lists 15 opinions in Fath al-Bari), there is very
little proof to support them. Scholars, such as Abdul-Haqq and as-Suyuti,
have noted that there are no authentic hadith whatsoever, which explicitly
prescribe a minimum number for Salatul Jumuah.
Consequently, the scholars tried their best to determine, and arrive at, the
best opinion on this issue, based on whatever was available to them.
The problem with almost all of the various opinions on this issue is that
the evidence used is either irrelevant, or not explicitly exact, or if there
is a hadith specifically related to the question, then it is either weak or
rejected. An example to demonstrate this problem is the hadith related by
Jabir who reported that Allah’s Messenger(saw) was delivering the khutba on
Friday in a standing posture when a caravan from Syria arrived. The people
flocked towards it till no one was left(with the Prophet-saw) except twelve
men (Sahih Muslim). This hadith can not be used to prove that at least 12
people form the jamâ‘a for Jumu‘ah, as there is nothing in it that
explicitly states that those left with the Prophet (saw) constituted the
minimum number necessary, though it may be used to refute those who say that
more than 12 are necessary. Another example is the hadith of Jabir who
related: It pertains to the Sunnah that the Friday prayer holds when forty
praying persons or more attend it (ad-Daraqutni, through a weak isnad).
Here, the problem is that a weak hadith is being used to establish the
issue.
For some scholars, deciding on the minimum number was done through qiyas
(analogy), basing it on the number considered to be a jamâ‘a in the normal
salat. With regards to this ash-Shaukani states, "The other prayers are
considered to be made in congregation if there are two people present. The
same applies to Jumu‘ah salat, unless there is a reason for it to be
different. There is no evidence to show that (for the purpose of
congregation) its number should be larger than that of the other prayers,"
(see Fiqh us-Sunnah, vol.2, p.134). This is also the conclusion of other
scholars, such as Imam al-Tabari, Dawud, Ibrahim an-Nakha’i, Ibn Hazm,
as-Sanani, and Muqbil ibn Hadi, that the jamâ‘a for Jumu‘ah, is the same as
it is for normal salat, which is 2 people, the imam and another. They
support their view with the hadith, "When the time for prayer comes, one of
you should make the call to prayer and the older of you should be the imam."
Indeed, Sheikh Sayyid Sabiq in his book of comparative fiqh, Fiqh us-Sunnah,
notes that, "the strongest opinion is that Salatul Jumuah is valid if there
are two or more people present," (vol.2, p.133, Eng. Transl.).
Hence, if there are some people, due to some obstacle, who wish to establish
their own congregation for Jumuah, as long as there are at least two people
(one to serve as imam and the other to call adhan and listen) it would be
entirely acceptable within the Shariah. However, one should keep in mind
that this does not mean that if one is not far off from a masjid, or a
location where Jumuah is being held, that one should not attend. Certainly,
if one is able to attend such a congregation, then one should do so. Making
use of the flexibility within the Shariah, here, is geared toward providing
recourse for a situation which due to whatever circumstance makes attending
such congregation extremely difficult or impossible. Under such
circumstances, you may establish your own congregation as long as there are
at least two people.
ILLEGITIMATE CONDITIONS FOR JUMUAH
Many of the fuqaha (scholars of fiqh) have discussed a number of conditions
which they deem as essential to the establishment of Jumuah. However, while
there exists an abundance of opinions contained within the body of fiqh
literature, surrounding the presumed conditions for Jumuah, most or many of
these "conditions" have no foundation in the Shariah. That is, such spurious
opinions are without evidence in either the Qur’an, or the Sunnah. Hence,
such formulated juristic stipulations are considered within the Shariah as
invalid, and unacceptable. Concerning this subject, it would prove
worthwhile to refer to Sideeq al-Bukhari, who offers some concise thoughts:
"[The Friday prayer] is like the rest of the prayers and there is nothing in
it that differs from them, unless there is some evidence to the contrary.
This statement refutes those who stipulate, as necessary conditions for
Friday prayer, the presence of a well-established Imam and a congregational
mosque in the area as well as a certain number of people attending the
congregational prayer. There is no evidence whatsoever that those conditions
are even preferred – not to speak of being obligatory or, for that matter,
being a necessary condition for the Friday prayer… As to various statements
and pseudo-juristic opinions concerning this noble worship, the Friday
prayer, which Allah has prescribed once a week as one of the signs of Islam,
a little consideration should suffice to show their superfluity and error.
One of these is the amazing statement that the khutbah is equivalent to two
rakat of prayer and if one misses it, then his Friday prayer is not valid.
They seem to be quite ignorant of what has been related from the Prophet
(saw) through a number of chains which support each other that ‘If a person
misses one rakah, then he is to perform another rakah and his prayer would
be completed.’… Some hold that many people have to be present without
specifying a particular number, while others state that the Friday prayer
may only be performed in a city in which there is a "congregational mosque."
Some are convinced that there have to be so many thousand people living in
the area. Some hold that there has to be a congregational mosque and a
public restroom. Yet others propose that the prayer is not obligatory unless
there is a well-known and established imam; If such an imam cannot be found
or his credibility is doubtful, then the Friday prayer is neither obligatory
nor legitimate… None of these statements can be found [in the Book of Allah
or in the hadith] to support what they claim to be the conditions or
prerequisites of the Friday prayer…" (ar-Raudat an-Nadiyah, vol.1,
pp.134-135).
Despite whatever fallacious opinions, concerning the conditions for Jumuah,
may exist, one should not ignore the fact that there are indeed certain
genuine conditions for Jumuah. The aforementioned discussion of two of the
more important conditions (the time for Salatul Jumuah and the number of
people which constitute a congregation for its performance) is a
demonstration of this fact.
May Allah protect and preserve us in Islam. May Allah guide us always and
help us to strengthen both our understanding and practice of Islam. O Allah,
grant us that which is good in this life and that which is good in the
Hereafter, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.AMIN.
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