7 Sunnahs of Jumu‘ah Every Muslim Should Practice- Shaykh Ammar AlShukry

7 Sunnah Practices of Jumu'ah Every Muslim Should Know

عِبَادَ اللَّهِ — Allah says in His noble Book, after seeking refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan:

Ammā ba'd.

After the praise of Allah and the invocation of salām upon the Prophet — peace and blessings be upon him — post-Ramadan, as we are welcoming so many people into our community, and masha'Allah it seems every year this community continues to grow exponentially, may Allah make it a beacon of tawheed and Sunnah and learning and community for the people of Clear Lake and beyond. Allahumma ameen.

That being said, it is important that we are always coming back to the basics. It is important that as we come to the masjid and people return to the masjid and are inspired to commit to the masjid — especially after Ramadan — I wanted to spend this khutbah just learning about some of the etiquettes of the Friday prayer itself. And it is always important that we are reminded of what we forget. Allah says:

Allah says: "Remind, because reminding benefits the believers." And so I wanted to share briefly seven etiquettes of the day of Jumu'ah — seven things that we should remember.

Sunnah #1 — Yawm al-Jumu'ah Is the Best Day of the Week

The first is that today is the best day of the week. It is a day of Eid — just like we celebrated the major Eid al-Fitr a number of days ago, we have a weekly Eid. It is a weekly celebration. The Prophet ﷺ says in the hadith of Abu Hurayrah:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 854)

"The best day that the sun rises over is Yawm al-Jumu'ah." He says: on Friday, Adam was created; on Friday, Adam was entered into Jannah; on Friday he was taken out of Jannah; and the Hour will not be established except on a Friday. So Friday is the best day of the week — a day that we should celebrate and be excited about.

Sunnah #2 — Dress Well and Beautify Yourself

After being happy about the day, a person should dress well on Friday. The Prophet ﷺ tells us in the hadith of Salman al-Farisi, reported by al-Bukhari:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 883)

A person bathes themselves, anoints themselves, combs their hair, and puts on perfume — cologne. And I don't want you to think of everything that I'm saying and ask yourself, "Do I know this already?" I want you to ask yourself: "Did I do this today?" That is the point. Did I put on good perfume today? Did I bathe?

He also says: and then comes to the salah and does not separate between two people. This is an etiquette — that you do not force yourself in between two people, especially if the masjid is full. The Prophet ﷺ is mentioning this specifically about sitting down, that you do not squeeze. Sometimes people come late but they still want to end up in the first row somehow, so they step over this person and squeeze in between that one. The Prophet ﷺ said: don't do that — sit wherever you find space. And also sometimes you notice this in the salah itself when people stand up to pray — one person sees an inch of space so he steps in between and now everyone is praying like this to fit that person in. No. If there is no space, do not force yourself in between two people.

Then the Prophet ﷺ says: ثُمَّ يُصَلِّي مَا كُتِبَ لَهُ — and then when they come, they pray whatever is written for them to pray. This is all under the assumption that the person is coming before the Jumu'ah has started — coming early, five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes early — and they come and they pray two rak'ahs, four rak'ahs, six rak'ahs, whatever Allah has written for them.

Then: ثُمَّ يُنْصِتُ إِذَا تَكَلَّمَ الْإِمَامُ — and then they are quiet when the Imam is speaking. So for those 15–20 minutes when the Imam is giving the khutbah, you are not allowed to engage in any conversation, you are not allowed to be distracted, you are not allowed to say salaam or wave at anybody. You are not allowed to do any of these things during the Jumu'ah khutbah.

إِلَّا غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ الْجُمُعَةِ الْأُخْرَى — whoever does all of these things will be forgiven what is between this Jumu'ah and the next Jumu'ah. So it is an opportunity of great reward.

SubhanAllah — there is a brother we were talking about this when we went to Madinah. We were walking in front of a masjid and one of the beautiful things about the masjid was the amount of incense burning and the beautiful fragrances as you walk in from the street — people in front of their stores burning all sorts of beautiful scents. And I was thinking to myself: imagine if we had a community where on Friday, everybody is not only dressing their best but everybody is smelling their best — what would that do for us?

I understand that we have a culture generally in America where work culture tells us to dress down on Fridays — it is very casual. But you know what? Allah says:

"Beautify yourself at every masjid." And so that is a challenge for everybody here. I hope that insha'Allah next Friday we will not be in T-shirts and jeans coming to the masjid, but insha'Allah we will be in the best clothes that we have. And Allah says:

When Allah blesses you, the Prophet ﷺ says that Allah loves to see His blessing on a person. So if my work culture tells me to dress down, but Allah tells me to dress up on Friday, that should take precedence. I have been to villages that are very poor where people only have two garments, but they will keep that nice garment for Jumu'ah and come wearing the best that they have on Friday. So let us reflect that blessing of Allah.

Sunnah #3 — Come Early

The third etiquette is simply to come early. The Prophet ﷺ says that whoever comes in the first hour gets the reward of someone who offered a camel — and a camel is worth thousands of dollars. Maybe today I do not have the opportunity to donate thousands of dollars in the path of Allah, but perhaps I am a student who is off on Friday, or I am between two jobs and have spare time, or I am on vacation — so this is an opportunity for me to come early to the salah and earn this reward.

Whoever comes in the second hour is like someone who offered a cow. Whoever comes in the third hour is like someone who offered a sheep — hundreds of dollars. Whoever comes in the fourth hour is like someone who offered a chicken. And whoever comes in the fifth hour is like someone who offered an egg. So the earlier a person comes, the more reward they receive.

The angels are outside writing the names of those who are entering the masjid. Then when the khutbah begins, they close the scrolls and come to benefit from the dhikr and the reward. So the way for a person to have their name placed in the scrolls of the angels for Salat al-Jumu'ah is to be there before the khutbah starts — not after the khutbah begins, and certainly not after the salah begins.

Let a person make it their habit. Allah says:

"When the call for Jumu'ah is established, then race to the remembrance of Allah." And you do not want to have the quality of the munafiqeen. Allah says:

The munafiqeen when they would come to the salah, they come lazily — they are dragging their feet. How does it work that every week I am late for Jumu'ah? Let me pull myself to come 20 minutes, 10 minutes, or at least 5 minutes before the salah, and race towards the dhikr of Allah.

Sunnah #4 — Focus on Prayer, Dhikr, and the Qur'an

If a person comes early, what should they do? They should focus on prayer, dhikr, and the Qur'an. Some of the Sahabah would pray 10 rak'ahs, 16 rak'ahs, 17 rak'ahs — they would pray 4 rak'ahs, or sets of 2, continuously waiting for the khutbah, or reading the Qur'an.

Of course, we should talk about Surah al-Kahf. It is recommended to recite Surah al-Kahf every Friday. The Prophet ﷺ says in the hadith reported by al-Hakim:

(Al-Mustadrak 'ala al-Sahihayn, al-Hakim; also reported by al-Bayhaqi in Shu'ab al-Iman)

Whoever reads Surah al-Kahf on a Friday will receive a light in between the two Jumu'ahs. So take advantage of that as well — maybe there is traffic leaving the masjid and you sit down and read from Surah al-Kahf while you are waiting to exit.

Sunnah #5 — Send Salawat upon the Prophet ﷺ

The fifth is sending salām upon the Prophet ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ says:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 1047; Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 1636)

"Indeed among the best of your days is Friday, so make a lot of salah upon me on Friday, for your salah is presented to me." The Sahabah said: "O Messenger of Allah, how is our salām presented to you after you have died?" And so he said:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 1047; Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 1636)

"Allah has forbidden the earth from consuming the bodies of the Prophets." And so that salām gets presented.

The question then becomes: the Prophet ﷺ says make a lot of salah upon me — so how much is "a lot"? Is 10 a lot? Is 100 a lot? It is something that moves according to that person's level. Some people do not say salām even once on Friday — so if they do 10, that may feel like a lot for them today. For another person, 30 might be a lot. For another, 100 might be a lot. For another, 100 might not be enough and they need to push themselves to 200 or 300. It is something that moves according to that person's ability and capacity.

Sunnah #6 — Be Quiet and Attentive During the Khutbah

The sixth is to be quiet. The Prophet ﷺ says:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 1050; Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 1135)

"Whoever touches a pebble has committed vain speech." And vain speech during the khutbah of Jumu'ah negates the reward of your Jumu'ah — simply touching a pebble. And of course for us we are not touching pebbles, but we are touching our phones. I mean it is not just young people who are doing this — as a khatib I am standing there staring and I can see who is on their phone, who is texting, and I see everybody, the young and the old, not able to disconnect from their phones. I have even seen people sitting next to me who are elderly and they are buying and selling stocks while the khutbah is going on.

We are a community — a society — that has become addicted to our phones. It is important that we constantly remember: if I want the reward of Jumu'ah, I need to separate from distractions for those 20 minutes. Some of us might need to leave our phones in the car for those 20 minutes. I will get back to it afterwards. But recognize that for this period of time the khutbah has its sanctity, and that I do not become someone who comes to Jumu'ah and does not get the reward of it simply because I could not avoid texting or checking something on my phone for a few minutes.

So much so that you are not allowed to talk to somebody during Jumu'ah. In fact, if somebody talks to you, you are not allowed to respond. If you see somebody doing something wrong, you are not allowed to correct them. The only person you are allowed to speak to during the Jumu'ah khutbah is the khatib himself — if something is happening, you notify the khatib — but otherwise, communication is restricted during the khutbah.

Sunnah #7 — Make Du'a During the Accepted Hour

The last thing is to take advantage of the du'a that is accepted on Friday. The Prophet ﷺ says that there is an hour on Friday that if a person asks Allah, it will be granted. There is a difference of opinion with regards to when that hour is. A number of scholars hold that it is the last hour of Friday — the last hour after 'Asr.

Summary of the Seven Etiquettes

So these are seven quick things to remember on Jumu'ah:

1. It is the best day of the week.
2. Dress well — bathe, wear perfume, put on your finest clothes.
3. Come early.
4. When you come early, focus on prayer, dhikr, and the Qur'an — including reciting Surah al-Kahf.
5. Send abundant salawat upon the Prophet ﷺ.
6. Be quiet during the khutbah — refrain from texting and being on your phone so that you receive the reward of Jumu'ah.
7. Make du'a, taking advantage of the accepted hour on Friday.

We ask Allah to allow us to hear the speech and follow the best of it.

أَقُولُ مَا سَمِعْتُمْ وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

Second Khutbah — The Six Days of Shawwal

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ

The Prophet ﷺ reminds us, tells us, and teaches us:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1164)

"Whoever fasts Ramadan and then follows it with six days from Shawwal, it is as if they have fasted the entire year." So fasting six days after Ramadan gives you the reward of fasting the entire year, and it is encouraged for all of us to take advantage of this great reward from Allah.

Do you have to fast the six days consecutively, one after another? No. Do you have to fast the six days before making up your obligatory missed days? No — insha'Allah you have the entire year to fast the obligatory make-up days. But take advantage of the six days of Shawwal when you can.

And we ask Allah to accept from us what we did in Ramadan, and to bless us and to bless our families and our community, and to accept our charity and our qiyam, and to grant us many Ramadans in good health and safety and security and faith with our families. Allahumma ameen.

Du'a

وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ