In the Name
of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Friday Prayers
By
Irshad Mahmood - Director, Siraat-al-Mustaqeem Dawah Centre
If
you MISS the Friday Speech then You LOSE Benefits of Friday Prayers.
Major Differences between Friday Prayers and Regular Five Time Prayers
is the Friday Speech. Best time for Friday Prayer is Dhuhr time, BUT
can be offered after sunrise and before Asr time, if there is any
reasonable issue with space etc. and cannot accommodate all at one
time. Friday Prayer is Weekly Eid Prayer, which has Friday Speech like
in Eid Prayer. Friday Prayer is Obligatory as per Quraan
BUT not the Eid Pryaers and it must be performed even if you have
offered Eid Prayers.
Men
MUST give permission to their WOMEN to go for Friday Prayers:
When women ask permission for
going to the masjid, do not prevent them, (Sahi
Muslim_Book-4_Hadith-0884, 0885, 0887).
The
best rows for men are the first rows, and the worst ones the last ones,
and the best rows for women are the last ones and the worst ones for
them are the first ones, (Ref: Sahi Muslim_Book-4_Hadith-0881).
Confusion
of Women Praying in Masjid:
Generally
women get confuse from the following Hadeeth, which is actually for
Regular Five Time Prayers. Friday Prayers is DIFFERENT from the Regular
Prayers and there is special Surah for it, Surah AL-JUMUA (THE
CONGREGATION, FRIDAY), Chapter 62. Remember the Six Major Authentic
Hadith collections, are:
Sahih Bukhari by Imam Bukhari (d. 870) 7275 hadiths
Sahih Muslim by Muslim
b. al-Hajjaj (d. 875) included 9200
Sunan Abi Da'ud by Abu
Da'ud (d. 888)
Sunan al-Tirmidhi by
al-Tirmidhi (d. 892)
Sunan al-Sughra by
al-Nasa'i (d. 915)
Sunan Ibn Maja by Ibn
Maja (d. 886)
The original ahadith
referring to "it is best that women pray Five Times Regular Prayers
(NOT
Friday Prayers) at home" is found in Musnad Ahmed (collection of
ahadith), # 25331. The translation of the 'Arabic text is
found
below:
"The best mosque for women is the bottom (meaning the inner-most part)
of their homes."
Think!
is perfume or other attractive wearings are more important than Friday
Prayer?
It is better for women
to pray in their houses than to attend congregational prayers
(NOT
Friday Prayers) . However, they may go to the masjid and attend the
congregational prayer if they avoid wearing or using any attractive or
tempting adornment or perfume, (Fiqh-us-Sunnah,
Volume-2, Book-26,
Congregational Prayer, Fiqh-2.050).
Keep
in mind that Women in the West go everywhere. They are in the markets,
in malls, in restaurants, and in offices. It is ironic that some men
allow them to go to all the places of temptation, but they want to stop
them from coming to the places where they can pray to their Lord and
learn about their faith.
And
when they see business or sport (fun, entertainment) they rush for it,
and leave you standing. Say: What is with Allah is better than sport
(fun, entertainment) and (better) than business, and Allah is the best
of Sustainers (Provider), (Al_Quraan_062.011).
Below
is the website for more reference on Women Praying in Masjid:
http://islam-qa.com/index.php?ref=983&ln=eng&txt=woman%20praying%20at%20home
Friday
Prayers are for both Men as well as Women:
O you (Men and Women)
who believe! when the call is made for prayer on Friday (the Day of
Assembly), then hasten to the remembrance of Allah and leave off
trading (business); that is better for you (Men and Women), if
you (Men and Women)
know. But when the prayer is ended then disperse in the land and seek
of Allah's grace/bounty, and remember Allah much, that you (Men and Women) may
be successful, (Al_Quraan_062.009-010).
(There is No such thing like
Weekly Holiday in Islaam. So Work, Work and Work)
Al-Tirmidhi
Hadeeth 1398 Narrated byUbayd ibn as-Sabbaq ; Abdullah ibn Abbas Ubayd
told in mursal form that Allah`s Messenger (peace be upon him) said one
Friday, "Company of Muslims, this is a day which Allah has appointed as
a festival, so bathe, and if anyone has perfume it does him no harm to
apply some of it; and you should use the tooth-stick." Malik
transmitted it. Ibn Majah transmitted it from him, and it is fully
connected form Ibn Abbas.
How
to Offer Friday Salaat:
There
is NO Duhr Salaat if you are offering Friday Salaat, so skip Duhr
Salaat. Offer two Rakaat Sunnah, upon arrival at Masjid, BUT if the
Friday Speech (Khutba) has already started then SKIP the Sunnah Prayer,
which you may make up later. Then Listen to Friday Speech (Khutba) with
Full Attention, since it is fard to listen to it with full attention
and is part of Friday Prayers. Then offer two Rakaat Fard behind the
Imaam (Sheikh) and finally offer two Rakaat Sunnah at the end.
Friday Khutba (Speech)
is a very essential part in which we have a “Repeating and Reminding Sessions”,
which is a key to the success of Effective Communication. Think, how
many of Men explains the Friday Khutba (Speech) to their women after
going to their home, may be less than 2% and out of which
how many of them explains 100%
of the Friday Khutba (Speech) 0%.
So what education we are giving to our Women, almost Nothing. So what
will happen to our generations? We
must have enough space at the Masjid to accommodate our Women.
Women are not slave; they are an essential part of the community on
which our future generation is fully dependent.
Dark
Side of NOT Offering Friday Salaat:
Let
us see the dark side of not offering Friday Prayer. Our Future
Generation are totally depend upon our women. On Friday there is a
SPEECH before prayer, which is also COMPULSORY. Also Friday speech,
which includes explanation of the Quraan, is a LESSON, Religious STUDY
time for both MEN and WOMEN. BUT alas Shaitaan managed to enter some of
the false Hadeeth by making fool to Ummah, so that WOMEN have stopped
going to Masjid for Friday Prayers and so slowly they forgot and gone
away from religious study, and so our Future Generation is. As you can
see how badly our Ummah is away from the Quraan, and we are getting
Disasters one after another including Cruel Rulers.
Don’t apply exceptional
rules over general rules like for patients, pregnant women who are
unable to go, etc. Specially, Working Women have NO
choice other than do break for Friday Prayers.
Those women who can manage to go for Friday Prayers without Great
Difficulty, must go for it. They must also know when they are not
allowed to offer prayers as well.
Allah
has allowed Women to work as well:
And
in no wise covet those things in which Allah hath bestowed his gifts
more freely on some of you than on others: to men is allotted what they
earn and to women what they earn: but ask Allah of His bounty: for
Allah hath full knowledge of all things, (Al_Quraan_004.032).
How
Enemy of Islaam succeeded on diverting Ummah from Quraan?
In
the struggle for power and domination Quraan had been the biggest
challenge to the Enemy of Islaam. Although, they could not stop Muslims
from obedience of the Quraan BUT they succeeded in giving them very
wrong concepts about it. That was a great conspiracy which took them
three centuries to establish false beliefs and practices among the
Muslims. Some of these false beliefs and practices are intelegently
entered into Hadeeth to divert the Ummah.
REMEMBER:
Rasool Allah (Peace-Be-Upon-Him) never performed any single act against
the Quraan. Actually Rasool Allah (Peace-Be-Upon-Him) was
walking/talking Quraan.
During
the life time of the Prophet (Peace-Be-Upon-Him) and his companion, it
was impossible to say anything against Quraan but after them there was
no check. The Enemy of Islaam has flooded the Muslims' world with LIES
and fabrications against the Quraan. If anyone questioned that such and
such belief or practice is against the Quraan the reply had always
been, like today, that this is Sunnah of the Prophet
(Peace-Be-Upon-Him). This way the enemies of Islam took away the Quraan
from Muslims and succeeded in inflicting upon them an ignominious life.
Now,
what happens they read lot of Quraan but for Thawab only and
not
for guidance. They establish prayers but to worship God and
not
to combat Fohsha wal Munkarat. They pay regular charity but to purify
the wealth and not for its circulation among all classes in the
society. And, when you ask them why they are doing this?
Everyone
will reply this is Sunnah of the Prophet (Peace-Be-Upon-Him). And if
asked who told this is Sunnah? They will name anyone from among the
Companions who lived during the first century - for example, Omer (ra)
or Aisha (ra) reported this and that. When asked who told this? They
will name anyone from Taabe'heen or Tabb'a Taabe'heen who lived during
the second century. When asked further they will ultimately confess
that all this stuff came to us through Bukhari and other Mohaditheen
who lived during the third century.
In other words, the Muslims are trapped
in a great conspiracy.
They are deceived to follow the path which is not found in Quraan. They
think they are treading into the footsteps of the Prophet
(Peace-Be-Upon-Him) but, in fact, they are treading into the footsteps
of Shaitaan. The interesting aspect of this conspiracy is that no one
feels guilty. In spite of, all the sufferings and humiliations they are
proud of what they are doing in the name of the Prophet
(Peace-Be-Upon-Him) and Islaam. No one likes to come out of this
darkness. And, if any blessed soul endeavors to show them the right
path they consider him an agent of the Enemy of Islaam. One wonders,
what else the Enemy of Islaam want to do with Muslims? They had already
sent them to the bottom of hell.
The
truth is that the real source of Muslims' unity and honor was Quraan.
The Prophet (Peace-Be-Upon-Him) and his great companions followed
nothing except the Quraan. They never looked for guidance to any other
historical or ideological source. They were solely inspired and
motivated by the Quraan. When the Prophet (Peace-Be-Upon-Him) was alive
and his life was the perfect embodiment of Quraanic Values. After his
(Peace-Be-Upon-Him) death, Muslims kept treading in his footsteps and
followed the Quraan with more zeal and devotion. Quraan elevated them
to the highest level of morality and wisdom. They achieved great
success and honor in the contemporary world and remained dominant as
long as they followed the Quraan.
Non-Practicing
Muslims are like ASS / Donkey carrying books, (Ref:
Al_Quraan_062.005).
None argue concerning
the revelations (Ayaat) of Allah but those who disbelieve
…, (Ref: Al_Quraan_040.004).