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. _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.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 To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~