Friday Prayer

Q) Conditions and methods of Friday prayer and Friday sermon. (10)

Friday is a day of special importance for Muslims and it is declared as Sayed-ul-Ayyam that
means the best day of the week. Great reward has been promised for offering the Friday prayer
and there is a moment in Friday prayer where supplications are accepted immediately. The
following verses of the Holy Quran relate to congregational prayers on Friday “O ye who
believe! When the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday (The Day Of Assembly) hasten
earnestly to the remembrance of Allah, and leave off business (and traffic) that is best for you if
ye but knew! And when the prayer is finished, then may ye disperse through the land and seek of
the bounty of Allah,……”

Friday prayer is an obligation on all Muslim adult males of sound mind who are healthy and
residents. Those exempted from attending the mosque for Friday prayer are minors, slaves, the
sick, travelers and women. These people are to offer Zohar prayer in their homes. All normal
work is allowed on Friday. The Muslims can carry on with their usual duties and activities
provided they come to the congregational service on time. After first Azan Muslims close their
sales transactions according to the order of Allah. After the service is over they may return to
their business and other worldly activities. Incidentally Friday prayer cannot be offered at home,
it has to be offered with congregation and it is better to join a long congregation instead of
praying in a local small mosque. Although it will be valid if there are 2 or more people as
Prophet Muhammad has said “two or more people constitute a congregation.”

Friday prayer takes the place of Zohar prayer on that day and may not be offered as Qaza and
therefore whenever someone misses it he cannot make up for it instead he has to offer the Zohar
prayer. The time of the Jummah prayer is the same as the time of Zohar prayer that is when the
sun begins to decline and the shadows of things cease to decrease. It ends when the shadow of
everything becomes equal to the size of its shadow at noon or mid-day. No prayer is to be said
nor should the Quran be recited at the time of the decline of the sun. Because of its importance
Hazrat Usman through Ijma made it a law that there will be two Azans for Friday prayer so that
if anyone misses the first Azan he could make up for it by listening to the second Azan. It is
highly desirable that the worshippers cut their nails, clean their teeth with miswak, take a
purification bath and put their best clothes on Friday and apply perfumes.

Muslims are required to leave their business and go to the masjid as soon as they hear the Azan
for Friday prayers. On reaching the mosque they should offer tahayyat-ul masjid prayers and
then the 4 pre farz sunnahs. The 2nd Azan is called before the sermon and after the Azan the
imam stands up and facing the audience delivers the sermon. Khutba is an essential part of the
Friday service. The Khutba is farz and listening to it is wajib. While the Khutba is being
delivered no conversation is allowed. Even prayer, recitation of Quran or recitation of duwa is
forbidden. Everyone should be seated and should listen to Khutba quietly till the end. The
 Friday Prayer
sermon consists of 2 parts, each of which begins with the praising of Allah and asking blessings
for the Holy

Prophet. In the first part, some Quranic passages are recited and explained and after this the
imam sits down for a short rest and then stands up again to deliver the second part of the
sermon. In this part especially the imam prays for the welfare of the Muslims and also discusses
the local community problems and their solutions.

After the Khutba, Iqamat is called and people arrange themselves in rows. The imam will
instruct them to fill the gap between the worshippers. Two obligatory rakat are offered under the
leadership of the imam who recites the Sana, Tawuz and Tasmian. In the first rakat in a low
voice. Then the imam recites the Surah Fatihah and some other passages from the Holy Quran in
a loud voice in both rakat. The muqtadees should listen to the imam’s recitation and say amen in
a low voice. When this is done the prayer is complete. The muqtadees may now offer individually
four sunnas followed by 2 more sunnas and 2 nawafil.