Importance of Jummah | Mufti Minhajuddin | Jum'uah Khutba - August 12th, 2016

Importance of Jumu'ah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَىٰ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَىٰ آلِ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ مُبَارَكًا وَسَلِّمْ

Allah said in the book of His revelation, after I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan:

"O you who have believed, when the call is made for prayer on the day of Jumu'ah, then hasten to the remembrance of Allah and leave the selling. That is better for you if you only knew."

My dear respected brothers and sisters, السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

The Wisdom Behind Congregational Worship

Allah, amongst His injunctions that He has commanded us, is the commandment of the Salatul Jumu'ah, the weekly congregational prayer. It is the wisdom of Allah that there are different commands that He has given. Some are those that are fulfilled at an individual level and others are those that are performed in congregation.

The Nafl prayer, the Sunnah prayer, even the Sunnah Mu'akkadah prayer — it is more rewarding that a person perform that in the confines of his home, in the privacy of his home, between him and Allah. Keep the Nafl prayer between oneself and Allah.

But when it comes to the Fardh prayers daily, then those are to be performed in congregation — to create unity within each community as they gather together five times a day and create the bonds between them, a brotherhood. And then, at a larger level, there is a weekly gathering of Jumu'ah.

The nature of the Jumu'ah is such that it cannot even be performed individually even if a person would wish to. The daily prayers — it is highly recommended they are performed in congregation, but technically it is permissible for a person to perform them by themselves. But Jumu'ah is such an Ibadah which a person cannot perform by themselves.

If a person misses the Jumu'ah on Friday — for whatever reason, he is caught up in the hospital or in traffic, or some emergency comes and they miss the Jumu'ah and try to catch a later Jumu'ah but miss that too — they cannot perform the Jumu'ah prayer on their own. The word Jumu'ah itself comes from Jama'ah, to gather, to congregate. And Jumu'ah cannot be performed by an individual.

The Minimum Requirement for Jumu'ah

It has to be a Jama'ah. There are differences among the various Madhabs and scholars of Fiqh regarding what is the minimum requirement. Sufficient to say, it has to be a Jama'ah. According to Imam Shafi'i, it has to be 40 men. And Imam Abu Hanifa is much easier — it is just 3 besides the Imam. If there are 3 men besides the Imam, then that is the minimum level of the Jama'ah.

And then at a yearly level we have the Eid prayers, where the entire city is supposed to come together and congregate twice a year for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. And once in a lifetime we have the Hajj — which is coming up insha'Allah — where the Muslims of the entire Ummah gather together. So this Jumu'ah that we perform is an Ibadah of Ijtima' al-Naas — of people gathering together.

The Virtues of Coming Early to Jumu'ah

And there are so many virtues of this. Rasulullah ﷺ has said: whoever comes early for the Jumu'ah prayer, he will receive the reward as if he has sacrificed for the sake of Allah a camel — a badana, a whole camel for the sake of Allah. Whoever comes in the second group towards the Salatul Jumu'ah, he will receive the reward of sacrificing a cow for the sake of Allah. Whoever comes in the third group to perform the Jumu'ah prayer will receive the reward of sacrificing a horned goat for the sake of Allah. Whoever comes in the fourth group to perform the Salatul Jumu'ah will receive the reward of sacrificing a chicken for the sake of Allah. Whoever comes in the fifth group to perform the Salatul Jumu'ah will receive the reward of giving an egg for the sake of Allah.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 929; Sahih Muslim, Book 7, Hadith 1964)

But then when the Imam comes out to start the khutbah, the angels that are recording who is coming and how much thawab they will receive will close their books — the register will be closed. They themselves come to listen to the khutbah and they close the book. So whoever comes after the khutbah starts will not receive any extra thawab.

One is husul al-fadila and one is isqat al-farida. One is to receive the extra rewards, and one is the upliftment of the obligation from one's shoulder. Meaning, if a person comes early, they will receive the rewards. And if a person comes late, they will lose the extra thawab they potentially could have received, but at the same time they will get the minimum level of isqat al-farida — meaning the obligation is uplifted. They will not have to perform Dhuhr salah as well, nor will they have to make qadha prayer. Their Jumu'ah will be considered valid as long as they join the Jumu'ah before the salam. But if the salam is made, then they have missed the Jumu'ah altogether — they will have to perform their own Dhuhr salah or try to catch another Jumu'ah if possible.

The Quranic Obligation of Jumu'ah

The obligation of Jumu'ah is mentioned in the Quran in Surah al-Jumu'ah. Allah revealed the entire surah regarding this obligation in the 20th juz. It is known as Surah al-Jumu'ah.

"O those who believe, when the adhan is called out on the day of Jumu'ah, then hasten to the dhikr and remembrance of Allah and leave all transactions. This is better for you if you but knew." In this ayah, Allah is addressing the believers.

The History of the Two Adhans

When the adhan is called out — the adhan in the time of Rasulullah ﷺ for Jumu'ah was what we call the second adhan, the one called right in front of the khatib, right before the khutbah starts. That was the adhan in the time of Rasulullah ﷺ. This was the adhan in the time of Abu Bakr Siddiq. This was the same adhan in the time of Umar Farooq.

In the time of Uthman, the city of Medina expanded — the suburbs expanded, the bazaar expanded, everything expanded — and people were more engaged in business and transactions. The sound of the adhan that was called in front of the minbar of Rasulullah ﷺ was not reaching the people. People could not hear the adhan that was being called. And this is an obligation in the Quran — that when the adhan is called, you must hasten to the dhikr of Allah, and you must leave buying and selling.

So Uthman رضي الله عنه made mashura with the Sahabah رضي الله عنهم, and he institutionalized a first adhan. This was called out in the marketplace, near where people were, loudly, so that everyone would be aware that the time for the salah is near — the time to proceed towards Jumu'ah salah. The purpose of the first adhan is for the people outside to become aware that they need to start preparing for Jumu'ah, close their businesses, and proceed. The purpose of the second adhan is for those who are already in the masjid but may be engaged in their nafl ibadah, tilawat, dhikr, or dua' — that they pay attention and stop all of that and focus towards the khutbah. And the purpose of the iqama, the third one, is to bring the attention of the people that the time for the salah itself is now going to commence.

And this was with the ijma' and consensus of the Muhajireen and Ansar, and all the fuqaha who came afterwards agreed as well — that the prohibition of buying and selling starts from the first adhan, the adhan that was called in the marketplace in the time of Uthman رضي الله عنه.

And Rasulullah ﷺ himself had commanded us:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 4607; Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 42)

"Hold on firmly to my Sunnah, and to the Sunnah of my Khulafa' ur-Rashideen. Hold on to it firmly with your molars, with your back teeth." This is how a person holds on to something firmly — with his back teeth — and this is a phrase used by Rasulullah ﷺ. He did not even use a different verb for the Khulafa' ur-Rashideen. He bracketed them, added them with a conjunction under the same verb: follow my Sunnah, and the Sunnah of my Khulafa' ur-Rashideen.

What is the Sunnah of the Khulafa' ur-Rashideen? The Sunnah of the Khulafa' ur-Rashideen — Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali رضي الله عنهم — is that while they were a khalifa, with the consensus of the shura and the Ansar and Muhajireen, if they came to a decision and enforced it, and there was no objection from any quarter, that is known as the Sunnah of the Khulafa' ur-Rashideen. It does not necessarily mean any individual opinion they might have had regarding a fatwa, a fiqh issue, a tafsir of an ayah, or an interpretation of a hadith. But what is binding upon the entire Ummah is if they made a decision as the standing khalifa — while they were the khalifa — and this decision was passed, enforced, and applied on the entire Ummah, then that will be applicable and remain applicable till the end of time.

So this is very clear: the prohibition starts from the first adhan.

The Meaning of "Hasten" in the Ayah

Scholars of tafsir mention here that we have other hadith where Rasulullah ﷺ has explained: do not come to the salah running. Do not come in a haphazard manner running towards the salah. Come in a calm and dignified manner. So how do we interpret this ayah where Allah uses the word fas'aw, which normally means to run? Does it mean we should physically run to the Jama'ah?

The scholars say no. In light of all the other hadith and the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ, the meaning of this ayah is that you focus towards salah, leave everything else, and just like a person who is running is focused only towards the object where he is running and not busy with something else — likewise, you should abandon every other task you might be involved in and, with complete focus and attention, come towards the Jama'ah salah.

The dhikrillah is referring either to the khutbah or to the salah, or both. The khutbah is the dhikr of Allah, the remembrance of Allah. The salah is the remembrance of Allah. So both can be meant here.

Leaving All Transactions

Then Allah says, leave transactions. So bay' literally means to sell; shira' means to buy. Allah used only half the term — selling. Why did He only say leave selling? One reason is that if selling is stopped, then buying will naturally stop, because trade by its very nature is a bilateral transaction. It requires both parties — if one party stops, the other will automatically stop. Moreover, the people who are buying are many in number — uncountable people are standing in line to purchase. But if the sellers stop selling and close their shops, then automatically the transactions will cease and people will proceed towards the Jama'ah salah.

But it is not limited to buying and selling. Any other worldly occupation is also included. This has categorically been declared as haram during the time of the khutbah and during the time of Jama'ah salah. It includes all kinds of works of life, any type of service a person might be involved in — except for those areas where Jumu'ah is not obligatory.

Because just as there is a condition about the number of people required for the prayer to be valid, likewise Jumu'ah is only for where there is a city, a town, a habitation, a court, a marketplace. If a person is living in a desert area or an agricultural area far away from the city, then there is no Jumu'ah prescribed there. Jumu'ah is prescribed only in cities. So those who are involved in agricultural work, if they continue their farming while the time of Jumu'ah is going on, that may be permitted if there is no Jumu'ah performed there — in fact, they will perform the Salatul Dhuhr.

Allah says, "This is better for you, if you but knew."

After the Salah: Seeking Livelihood with Barakah

After the salah is finished, Allah says:

"When the salah is over, then you may spread out in the earth, and you may seek the bounty of Allah." So this is the difference between ourselves and the Jews. The Jews in the past — Allah had made all kinds of transactions and businesses haram for them for the entire day of Saturday. But for us, Allah has limited the prohibition only to the time of the Salatul Jumu'ah. Immediately after the salah, the permission is granted to go out and earn your livelihood.

In fact, if you are conscious of this permission granted by Allah and make dua' to Allah — "O Allah, You have said in Your book: hasten to the dhikr of Allah, leave transactions. And I came and I fulfilled this obligation of Jumu'ah. And then You Yourself have said: go out and seek livelihood. And I am availing of this permission You have granted. And with this intention, I am going out" — Allah can put great barakah.

In the books of tafsir, it is mentioned how the pious predecessors used to recite this ayah and make dua' to Allah that: "O Allah, after performing the Jumu'ah salah and fulfilling the obligation, we are now going out to seek our livelihood. O Allah, put barakah." And there are many testimonials of how great barakah and blessing they found in earning after the Jumu'ah salah on the day of Friday itself.

Allah says, ذَٰلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ — "This is better for you, if you but knew." Then Allah says, وَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا لَّعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ — continue to remember Allah abundantly so that you may be successful. Meaning, do not become so engaged in your business that you lose sight of Allah, you forget about Allah. Continue to remember Allah even when you go back to work.

The Obligation of Listening to the Khutbah

Then Allah narrates a story of what happened in the time of Rasulullah ﷺ.

Initially, Rasulullah ﷺ used to give the khutbah after the salah — just like we continue to do so in Eid. So the salah was performed, the Salatul Jumu'ah was performed. After the Salatul Jumu'ah, Rasulullah ﷺ was giving the khutbah. And this was a time of drought and famine and great need and want in Medina. People were in a difficult time.

Number one, it was a difficult time. Number two, they were not yet aware that listening to the khutbah is an obligation — that it is as fardh to sit in the khutbah as it is fardh to perform the rakat of salah. Just like every day we have four rakat of Dhuhr, on the day of Friday we have two rakat of Jumu'ah and two khutbah. The two khutbah are replacing the two rakat of Dhuhr. It is as obligatory to remain silent in the Jumu'ah khutbah as it is to remain silent during the prayer.

Just like in salah — قُومُوا لِلَّهِ قَانِتِينَ — we have to stand completely silent. We cannot talk in salah. We cannot walk in salah. We cannot eat in salah. We cannot drink in salah. We say Allahu Akbar — this is called the takbir al-tahreema. It makes all of this haram. Tahreema means that which makes haram — it makes walking haram, talking haram, eating haram, drinking haram. All these actions become haram when we say Allahu Akbar. Likewise in the khutbah, talking, walking, and eating are all strictly prohibited.

To the extent that Rasulullah ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 934; Sahih Muslim, Book 7, Hadith 1985)

The one who is talking, and then someone tells him, "Please be quiet" — so you're telling somebody to be quiet, you're doing nahy 'anil munkar, stopping someone who is engaged in a wrong act, forbidding the wrong — that itself is wrong. You cannot even say "be quiet." مَنْ قَالَ لِأَخِيهِ أَنْصِتْ — whoever said to his brother "be quiet" — فَقَدْ لَغَا — he has committed a sin. And whoever is playing with the hasa — with the pebbles — because the floor of Masjid an-Nabawi would be pebbles — he has committed a wrong act. Meaning, full attention has to be given to the khatib during the khutbah.

In the past they did not have speakers, and they had huge congregations — thousands of people would come for Jumu'ah. That is why in the books of fiqh it is mentioned: وَالنَّائِي فِيهِ كَالْقَرِيبِ — that the one who is far away has the same obligation of remaining silent as the one who is sitting right in front of the Imam. Meaning, the one who cannot even hear a single word, who is so far away he might just hear some muffled sounds — the obligation of remaining silent is upon him, just like the one who is sitting right in front of the Imam.

(Musnad Ahmad; al-Tabarani)

"When the Imam starts the khutbah, there should be no salah and no speech."

The Incident of Dihya al-Kalbi's Caravan

All of these rulings came later — the Sahabah did not yet know there was an obligation to sit in the khutbah. They thought that the Jumu'ah salah was over, and now there was just additional speech that was carrying on. And what happened? Dihya al-Kalbi — who had not yet accepted Islam at that point, but later became a Sahabi of Rasulullah ﷺ, رضي الله عنه — his caravan, fully loaded with goods and merchandise and food products from Syria, arrived into the city center in the marketplace, and they started beating the drums to announce that the caravan was here — first come, first serve. Whoever comes can buy his necessities of life; whoever misses it will miss out.

So this is what Allah says: وَإِذَا رَأَوْا تِجَارَةً أَوْ لَهْوًا انفَضُّوا إِلَيْهَا — "When they saw the merchandise, they ran towards it" — وَتَرَكُوكَ قَائِمًا — "and they left you standing there." Only around 12 or 13 Sahabah were left sitting with Rasulullah ﷺ. Everyone else got up and left, because they were afraid: "If we don't get there, our families will be left starving. We have to run to get the merchandise, the food products."

قُلْ مَا عِندَ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ مِّنَ اللَّهْوِ وَمِنَ التِّجَارَةِ ۚ وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ — "Tell them that what Allah has in store is better than the merchandise and the trade. And Allah is the best one who provides."

Allah revealed this ayah to emphasize the importance of the khutbah, and Rasulullah ﷺ conveyed this message to them. They made tawbah, they had regret, they were embarrassed by their action. Allah accepted their tawbah, Allah forgave them, Allah elevated their ranks, and said: رَّضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا عَنْهُ — Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Allah. There is no benefit for us in having evil thoughts regarding them. But the lesson for us is the importance of the khutbah.

After that, Rasulullah ﷺ changed the order from that day on. From the revelation of this ayah moving forward, Rasulullah ﷺ started giving the khutbah before the salah — so that everyone would know it is so important that a person would not leave before the prayer, and therefore would participate and listen to the khutbah.

The Warning for Missing Jumu'ah

May Allah give us an understanding of the importance of the khutbah, the importance of the Salatul Jumu'ah, and may we never miss the Salatul Jumu'ah. Just as there are great virtues for those who perform it, there are warnings for those who miss it. We conclude with a warning — Rasulullah ﷺ said:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 1052; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 500; Sunan al-Nasa'i, Hadith 1369)

"Whoever misses three Jumu'ahs — تَهَاوُنًا بِهَا — disregarding their importance, not considering them to be important, then the severest possible penalty has been mentioned." What is the punishment for missing three Jumu'ahs? طَبَعَ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ قَلْبِهِ — Allah will seal his heart. That means he will not be able to understand the truth. He will become صُمٌّ بُكْمٌ عُمْيٌ فَهُمْ لَا يَرْجِعُونَ — deaf, dumb, and blind. The hearts will be sealed — بَلْ طَبَعَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهَا — so they cannot understand the truth, they cannot appreciate the truth, and they will not be able to understand the Haqq.

May Allah protect us from such an outcome. May Allah give us istiqama and never let us miss a Jumu'ah in our lives.

وَآخِرُ دَعْوَانَا أَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ