Commentary

یا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا نُودِيَ لِلصَّلَاةِ مِن يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ فَاسْعَوْا إِلَىٰ ذِكْرِ‌ اللَّـهِ وَذَرُ‌وا الْبَيْعَ

O you who believe, when the call for salah (prayer) is proclaimed on Friday, hasten for the remembrance of Allah, and leave off business…[ 62:9]

The Arabic word for Friday is ‘Yaum-ul-Jumu’ ah1 and is so called because it is the day of congregation for Muslims. Allah created the heavens, the earth and the entire universe in six days, and Friday was the last day when the creation was completed. Prophet ‘Adam (علیہ السلام) was created on that day; he was admitted into Paradise on that day; he was sent down to the earth on that day; the Last Hour or the Day of Resurrection will occur on that day; and one the same day there is moment when supplications are readily accepted. All this is established on the authority of authentic Traditions. [ Ibn Kathir ]

Allah had appointed Friday as the day of congregation and festivity for the people, but the previous nations were not fortunate enough to appoint it as their sacred day. The Jews regarded Saturday as their day of congregation. The Christians made Sunday their day of congregation. Allah gave this Ummah the ability to elect Friday as their day of congregation. [ as transmitted by Bukhari and Muslim on the authority Abu Hurairah ؓ as quoted by Ibn Kathir ]

During the Days of Ignorance, Friday was known as ‘Yaum-ul-‘Arubah’. The first Arab to change the name of this day to ‘Yaum-ul-Jumu’ ah’ was Ka’ b Ibn Lu’ ayy. The Quraish used to gather or congregate on this day, and Ka’ b ibn Lu’ ayy used to deliver his sermon. This happened 560 years before the advent of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . Ka’ b ibn Lu’ ayy was among the Holy Prophet’ s ﷺ forefathers. Even during the Days of Ignorance, Allah had kept him away from idol worship and granted him the ability to believe in the Oneness of Allah. He has also given people the glad tidings of the advent of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . His greatness among Quraish may be judged from the fact that the year of his death, which occurred 560 years before the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، was marked as the new calendar era for computation of dates. In Arabia, at first the calendar era was established when Ka’ bah was built and dates were computed accordingly. Then Ka’ b ibn Lu’ ayy’ s death marked another era, and the date were computed on that basis. When the Event of the Elephant occurred in the year of the birth of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، that set in a new era of Arab calendar, and the dates were computed accordingly. In sum, the importance of ‘Yaum-ul-Jumu’ ah’ had been that set in a new era of Arab calendar, and the dates were computed accordingly. In sum, the importance of ‘Yaum-ul-Jumu’ ah’ had been recognized in Arabia before Islam in the time of Ka’ b ibn Lu’ ayy, to whom is ascribed the naming of the day as ‘Yaum-ul-Jumu’ ah’. [ Mazhari ] According to some narrations, the Ansar of Madinah used to gather and pray, before migration, on Friday before Jumu’ ah prayer became obligatory, and they organized this on the basis of their own Ijtihad (assessment). [ as transmitted by Abd-ur-Razzaq with an authentic chain of narrators on the authority of Muhammad Ibn Sirin, as quoted by Mazhari’

إِذَا نُودِيَ لِلصَّلَاةِ مِن يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ (…when the call for salah (prayer) is proclaimed on Friday, hasten for the remembrance of Allah, and leave off business…62:9). The word nida’ refers to adhan or call for prayer. In the sentence فَاسْعَوْا إِلَىٰ ذِكْرِ‌ اللَّـهِ (…hasten to Allah’ s remembrance…) the word sa’ y means to ‘run or rush’ as well as to ‘take care of a task consciously’. In this context, the word is used in the latter sense, because the Holy Prophet ﷺ has prohibited to go to prayer running or walking quickly. He said when anyone hears the iqamah, he should proceed to offer the prayer with calmness and dignity. The verse implies that when believers are called ot prayer on the Day of Jumu’ ah, they should proceed to the remembrance of Allah, that is, they should carefully go to the mosque for Jumu’ ah prayer and its Sermon. Just as a person running towards something does not pay heed to anything else, a Muslim should not pay attention, after the call, to anything besides adhan and khutbah.[ ibn Kathir ]. The phrase ذِکرِ اللہِ (…Allah’ s remembrance…) could refer to Jumu’ ah prayer as well as of Jumu’ ah Sermon, which is one of the conditions of the validity of Jumu’ ah prayer. Therefore, the phrase may most appropriately be interpreted as referring to the package of Jumu’ ah prayer and Jumu’ ah Sermon. [ Mazhari and others ]

وَذَرُ‌وا الْبَيْعَ (…and leave off business…) The literal meaning of the word ‘bai’ is ‘sale’. Although the intent is to ban all activities of buying and selling, the verse has mentioned ‘sale’ only, because when one aspect of trading is abandoned, the other aspect would automatically come to an end. If there is no one to sell, there will be no one to buy, because trade is a bilateral transaction.

The verse under comment indicates that the bar on the activities of buying and selling after the adhan of Jumu’ ah needs to be implemented for particular purposes in such a way that the shops are closed at that particular time, so that all trading activities automatically come to a halt. The underlying wisdom is that there are uncountable number of customers and buyers, and it would not be possible to stop them all. The sellers and shopkeepers, however, are limited and they can be stopped. It they are stopped from selling, the buyers automatically will stop buying. Hence, the verse deemed it sufficient to impose the bar on ‘sale’.

Special Note

The purport of the verse is to forbid, after the adhan of Jumu’ ah, all activities that hamper preparation for Jumu’ ah prayer and sermon activities such as trading, agriculture, labour or anything else, - but the Qur’ an mentions only selling. This could imply that only people living in towns and cities are commanded to offer the Jumu’ ah prayer, and not the people residing in small villages, rural areas and jungles. Thus activities that are carried out by people in towns and cities, such as agricultural activities, are generally carried out in rural areas where Jumu’ ah prayer is not required. Therefore, such activities are not mentioned here. However, The jurists of the Ummah unanimously agree that the word ‘ba’ occurring in the verse does not refer only to ‘selling’ but to all such activities that can hinder preparing for and proceeding to the Jumu’ ah prayer. Thus eating, drinking, sleeping, talking, and even studying are forbidden after Jumu’ ah adhan. Only activities related to Jumu’ ah may be carried out.

Adhan of Jumu’ ah

In the beginning, there was only one adhan for Jumu’ ah, which was called at the time of the Khutbah in front of the Imam. This situation existed in the time of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، and this practice continued in the time of Sayyidna Abu Bakr and Umar ؓ . However, the Muslim population grew by leaps and bounds in the time of Sayyidna ‘Usman ؓ and spread in the outskirts of Madinah. The adhan that was given in front of the Imam at the time of khutbah could not be heard by the large Muslim population in the distance. He therefore initiated another adhan that was called in the trading area further from the mosque at his house in az-Zaura’, which could be heard throughout Madinah. None of the noble Companions objected to this. Thus this first adhan by consensus of the Companions became instituted. All trading and other activities that were forbidden after the Jumu’ ah adhan before the Imam are now forbidden after the Jumu’ ah adhan before the Imam are now forbidden after the first adhan introduced by Sayyidna ‘Usman ؓ ، taking into account the wordings of the Qur’ an نُودِيَ لِلصَّلَاةِ مِن يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ (when the call for salah (prayer) is proclaimed on Friday,). Details are available in the canonical collections of Traditions, commentaries and jurisprudence. There is no disagreement on the issue.

There is consensus of the entire Ummah that on Friday Salat-ul-Jumu’ ah shall be performed instead of Salat-uz-duhur and there is also consensus that is not like the five daily prayers. There are some additional pre-requisites attached to it. The five daily prayers can be performed in congregation with only two individuals. Salat-ul-Jumu’ ah, on the other hand, is not valid without congregation. There is disagreement among the jurists about the number of individuals that can constitute a congregation. The five daily prayers may validly be held anywhere, on the sea, ocean, and mountains or in the jungles. But Salat-ul-Jumu’ ah, on the other hand, is not valid in jungles or deserts according to any of the jurists. It is not obligatory on women, the sickly or the wayfarers. The latter should perform Duhur prayer instead of Jumu’ ah. There is disagreement among the jurists about the type of locality where Jumu’ ah prayer may be held. According to Imam shafi’ i, Salat-ul-Jumu’ ah is not valid in a habitation where forty free, sane and adult men reside. If there are less than forty such men, it is not valid. According to Imam Malik (رح) ، the habitation must be such as to have houses adjacent to one another, and it must also have a bazaar or a market-place. According to Imam Abu Hanifah (رح) ، for Salat-ul-Jumu’ ah to be held validly the following pre-requisites are necessary. The habitation must be a town, city or a very large village which has streets, market places, a Muslim ruler and a judge who can restore the rights of people and decide cases of dispute.

This is no occasion to go into details of the issue and proofs thereof. Venerable scholars have written separate books on the topic and clarified the position.

In brief, the generality of the command to attend Salat-ul-Jumu’ ah is restricted to a specific sector of the addressees. It is not obligatory on every member of the Muslim community, but for it to be compulsory, there are some conditions and pre-requisites. The disagreement exists only in identifying the pre-requisites. But where the pre-requisites apply and Salat-ul-Jumu’ ah becomes obligatory according to any school of thought, it is very important to observe it, and there is grave warnings for those who neglect it without any vaid reason in terms of Shari’ ah. On the other hand, there is a promise of great reward and blessings for those who offer in fulfilling all its conditions and pre-requisites.