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. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------