Question:
Which day of the week do you consider most holy and your sabboth?

Answer:

Praise be to Allaah.

It should be noted that the entire life of a Muslim is worship of Allaah;
there is no special day for worship, for the Muslim is worshipping Allaah
all the time. But there is a day which Allaah has made special for this
ummah (nation), the nation of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him), and which Allaah has favoured above all the other days of the
week. That day is Friday. There are a number of hadeeths which speak of the
virtue of this day, including the following:

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “We (Muslims) are the last (of the
nations) but (we will be) the foremost on the Day of Resurrection,although
the former nations were given their scriptures before us and we were given
our after them. And this (Friday) is the day concerning which they disputed.
So Allaah guided us (to it), tomorrow (i.e., Saturday) is for the Jews and
the day after (i.e., Sunday) is for the Christians.” (Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, al-Jumu’ah, 847).

It was also narrated (by al-Bukhaari) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The best day on which the sun
rises is Friday. On this day Adam was created, on this day he entered
Paradise and on this day he was expelled from it.” (Narrated by Muslim,
al-Jumu’ah, 1410)

It was narrated that Taariq ibn Shihaab said: “A Jewish man said to ‘Umar,
‘O Commander of the faithful, if this aayah – ‘This day, I have perfected
your religion for you, completed My Favour upon you, and have chosen for you
Islam as your religion’ [al-Maa'idah 5:3 – interpretation of the meaning] –
had been revealed to us, we would have taken that day as an ‘Eid
(festival).” ‘Umar said, “I know on which day this aayah was revealed; it
was revealed on the Day of ‘Arafaah, which was a Friday.” (Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, Al-I’tisaam bi’l-Kitaab wa’l-Sunnah, 6726).

Among the hadeeth which explain the reward for this day is that which was
narrated by Abu Hurayrah, which says that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Each of the five daily prayers and
from one Jumu’ah prayer to the next is an expiation for the time in
between,so long as one does not commit any major sin.”  (al-Tahaarah, 342).

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘When Friday comes, at each door of
the mosque there are angels who write down the first ones to come to the
mosque. Then when the imaam sits down they close their books and come to
listen to the sermon. The one who comes early (for Friday prayer) is like
who sacrificed a camel,then those who come after him (in order of their
coming) are like one who sacrificed a cow, then one who sacrificed a horned
ram, then one who sacrificed a chicken, then like one who offered an egg.”
(narrated by al-Bukhaari, al-Jumu’ah, 1416).

It was also narrated in a hadeeth that the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him)said: “One of the best of your days is Friday. On it Adam
was created and on it he died. On it the Trumpet will be blown and on it all
creatures will perish (prior to the Resurrection on the Last Day).So send
many blessings upon me on that day, for your blessings will be shown to me.”
They said, “How will our blessings be shown to you when your body will have
become dust?” He said, “Allaah has forbidden the earth to consume our
[Prophets’] bodies.” (Narrated by Abu Dawood and al-Nasaa’i; classed as
saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Targheeb wa’l-Tarheeb, no. 695).

It was narrated in a hadeeth that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) said: “Whoever makes his wife do ghusl and does ghusl himself
[i.e., After intercourse] on Friday and goes out early, walking not riding,
and comes close to the imaam and listens [to the sermon] without
interrupting, will have for each step he takes a reward equal to that of
fasting and praying at night for one year.”

(Narrated by Ahmad and al-Tirmidhi; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in
Saheeh al-Targheeb wa’l-Tarheeb, no. 687)

It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) mentioned Friday and said: “On this day
there is an hour when no Muslim slave stands and prays and asks Allaah for
something, but Allaah will give it to him,” and he gestured with his hand to
indicate that whatever he asks for, is as nothing to Allaah. (Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, al-Jumu’ah, 883)

It was narrated from Anas ibn Maalik that the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said: “Seek the hour in which there is hope that
prayers will be answered, on Friday after ‘Asr (mid-afternoon) prayer, until
the sun goes down.” (Narrated by al-Tirmidhi; classed as saheeh by
al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Targheeb wa’l-Tarheeb, no. 700).

And Allaah knows best.


Question:
When I go to the mosque on Friday the adhaan is pronounced, then everyone
prays 2 or 4 rakaat.Then the adhaan is again pronounced and immediately
after it iqamah .Having prayed 2 Jum'ah rakaat people pray again 2 or 4
rakaat.Besides,the imaam when supplicating raises hands then wipes his face
and everyone follows him .
Is it bid'ah? If so,what should I do(just look at others?)

Answer:

Praise be to Allaah.

The Messenger of Allaah  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to
come out of his house on the day of Jumu’ah (Friday) and climb up on his
minbar. Then the muezzin would give the Adhaan, and when he finished, the
Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would start his
khutbah. If there were any Sunnah prayer to be done before Jumu’ah, he
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would have told them about it
and directed them to do it after the Adhaan, and he would have done it
himself. At the time of the Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) there was nothing apart from the Adhaan just before the khutbah.

Hence the majority of the imaams agreed that there is no sunnah to be done
at a specific time before Jumu’ah with a specific number of rak’ahs, because
that would have been reported from the words or actions of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and nothing of that nature has
been reported from him. This is the madhhab of Imam Maalik, al-Shaafa’i and
most of his companions, and is the well known view in the madhhab of Ahmad.

Al-‘Iraaqi said:

“I have not seen anything to indicate that the three imaams recommended
praying Sunnah before it [Jumu’ah].”

The muhaddith al-Albaani commented:

For that reason this so-called Sunnah is not mentioned in Kitaab al-Umm by
Imaam al-Shaafa’i, or in al-Masaa’il by Imaam Ahmad, or by any of the other
early imaams, as far as I know.

Hence I say:
Those who pray this Sunnah are not following the Messenger or imitating any
of the imaams; on the contrary, they are imitating the later scholars who
are like them in that they are also imitators [of earlier scholars] rather
than mujtahideen [scholars who investigate and form their own rulings]. I am
amazed to see an imitator imitating another imitator.

(See al-Qawl al-Mubeen, 60, 374).

Moreover, between the first call of Jumu’ah prayer and the second call,
there should be sufficient time for people to get ready to pray, not just
the time it takes to pray two rak’ahs or thereabouts, as is done in some
countries and some mosques.

With regard to making du’aa’ together in one voice behind the imaam after
the prayer,Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen answered this question in al-Fataawaa, p.
368,where he said:

“This is one of the bid’ahs which was not reported from the Prophet or from
his companions. What is prescribed in Islam is for people to remember Allaah
Alone after the prayer, in accordance with the teachings of the Messenger of
Allaah, and this should be done aloud, as reported in Saheeh al-Bukhaari
from Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with them both), who said: “People
used to raise their voices in Dhikr [remembrance of Allaah] after finishing
the prescribed prayer at the time of the Prophet  (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him).”

With regard to the prayer after Jumu’ah, Ibn al-Qayyim said in al-Zaad
(1/440):
When the Prophet(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had prayed
Jumu’ah, he would enter his house and pray two Rak’ahs of Sunnah, and he
commanded those who had prayed it to pray four rak’ahs afterwards. Our
shaykh, Abu’l-‘Abbaas Ibn Taymiyah said: if he prayed in the mosque, he
would pray four, and if he prayed at home, he would pray two. I say: this is
what is indicated by many ahaadeeth. Abu Dawood reported in his Sunan (1130)
from Ibn ‘Umar that when he prayed in the mosque, he prayed four and when he
prayed at home, he prayed two.

With regard to wiping the face after making du’aa’, this is not reported in
any saheeh hadeeth; indeed,some of the scholars stated that it is bid’ah.
See Mu’jam al-Bida’ (p. 227).

Do not do that which is bid’ah and do not take part in it; advise and enjoin
people to follow the Sunnah; remind them and tell them about the Islamic
ruling. We ask Allaah to guide us all to the Straight Path; may Allaah bless
our Prophet Muhammad.



With the very best of good wishes,
Musa Amadu Pembo
Glasgow,
Scotland
UK.
[log in to unmask]
Da’wah is to convey the message with wisdom and with good words. We should
give the noble and positive message of Islam. We should try to emphasize
more commonalities and explain the difference without getting into
theological arguments and without claiming the superiority of one position
over the other. There is a great interest among the people to know about
Islam and we should do our best to give the right message.
May Allah,Subhana Wa Ta'Ala,guide us all to His Sirat Al-Mustaqim (Righteous
Path).May He protect us from the evils of this life and the hereafter.May
Allah,Subhana Wa Ta'Ala,grant us entrance to paradise .
We ask Allaah the Most High, the All-Powerful, to teach us that which will
benefit us, and to benefit us by that which we learn. May Allaah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala grant blessings and peace to our Prophet Muhammad and his family
and
companions..Amen.




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