CONGREGATIONAL SERVICE OF FRIDAY
Shaykh Abul-Hasan Ali Nadwi

The congregation service of Friday is distinguished by certain incentives and other features that have enhanced its solemnity and splendour and are conducive to the generation of enthusiasm for prayer and the promotion of the spirit of unity and co-operation among Muslims for piety and righteousness.

"O ye who believe! When the call is heard for the prayer of the day of congregation (Friday), hasten unto remembrance of Allah and leave your trading. That is better for you if ye did but know." (-lxii:9)

Some of the Traditions of the holy Prophet regarding the congregation of Friday are as follows:

"He who misses three Friday services (in succession) owing to heedlessness or indolence, God sets the seal on his heart." (Abu Dawud, Nasaai, Ibn Majah)

"Let people give up neglect of the Friday prayer otherwise God will set the seal on their hearts, and then they will become of those that are negligent." (Muslim and Nasaai)

"Sometimes I feel like telling someone else to lead the prayers so that I could go and set fire to the dwellings of those who stay away from the congregation." (Ibid)

For the Friday service a Muslim is required to take a bath, brush his teeth and use perfume and take the greatest care for cleanliness. A sermon is also delivered before the commencement of the service. The sermon the holy Prophet used to deliver was not of a routine nature but he dwelt on the current problems and realities of life and made it an effective medium of guidance and instruction. We learn from Hazrat Jabir that "when the holy Prophet delivered the sermon his voice got raised and his eyes became red. It appeared that he was warning against the enemy, an attack from whom was imminent (and could take place at any time of the morning or evening)."

Writes Allama Ibn-i-Qaiyim in Zad-ul-Ma'ad,'

"In his sermon the holy Prophet used to instruct and inform the Companions about the laws, principles and practices of Islam and if there was a matter of sanctioning or prohibiting he would sanction or prohibit (as the case might be)."

Commenting on the conduct of the Imams and preachers of his day, the Allama remarks:

"Then a long time elapsed, the light of Apostleship faded from the eyes and rituals took the place of commands and practices became common which were carried out mechanically and without regard to their purpose and significance. People became obsessed with outward forms and ceremonials and thought only of observing them in an impressive manner. The rituals were elevated to the status of the Sunnah and lofty ideals and objectives, in respect of which the least amount of negligence or variation was forbidden, fell into neglect. They embellished their sermons with glittering phrases and far-fetched ideas, but the thought-content declined till the very object of the sermons was lost." (Zad al-Ma'ad vol.1 pg.115)

The sermons of the venerated Prophet were neither lengthy nor tiresome as the practice is today. The sermons, nowadays, are generally used for making a display of one's learning or stealing a march over others. In them the emphasis is laid largely on local and superficial issues (over which there is an unlimited scope for raising a controversy) and open attacks are made on those who hold a different view. Consequently, the listeners, instead of deriving solace and satisfaction are filled with disgust and weariness, and the solemnity and dignity of the Friday sermon, which is its chief characteristic, is destroyed. The sermons of the Prophet used to be realistic and to the point and full of radiance and vitality. Like his conversation they were precise and appealing, neither too long nor too short. Jabir bin Samura tells that "the Salat of the Prophet was moderate, and so was his sermon. He recited a few verses of the Qur'aan and then he gave good counsel to the people." (Muslim) Another Tradition has it that "the holy Prophet did not deliver a long sermon on Fridays but said only a few words." (Muslim)

The sermon should be heard quietly for full benefit can be acquired from it only in a peaceful and spiritual atmosphere. The sermon is an occasion for prayer not eloquence. It is strictly forbidden to talk to one another during a sermon. Even stopping those sitting close to one from talking is not permitted for it, too, is a source of disturbance. A Tradition says that "he who told his companion in a Friday congregation to keep quiet also indulged in unnecessary talk." (Abu Dawud)

By its very nature, the Friday congregation should be held only in one mosque, or in a limited number of mosques in a town (provided that the town is not so big and extensive that it may be difficult for its people to assemble in one mosque) so that the Muslims can collect, once a week, at one place. This will go a long way in strengthening the bonds of solidarity and brotherhood among Muslims and, at the sametime, serve as a safeguard against the pollution and distortion of their religious beliefs and practices. But the Muslims, unfortunately, have been prone to be lethargic and neglectful with the result that the effectiveness and grandeur of the Friday congregation has suffered a decline.

Criterion of the Week
For the tired and restless man, preoccupied with the needs and responsibilities of life, it was advisable that a day should be set apart on which he could re-equip himself inwardly and cleanse his heart of the impurities that might have collected therein during the week and acquire a fresh inspiration for prayer and devotion to the Almighty. He ought to make use of this day in such a way that its radiance and auspiciousness permeated through the rest of the days of the week and they all became a projection of it. Such a day (or time, if we may say so) is Friday in the week, Shab-i-dadr in the month of Ramadan and the month of Ramadan in the year.

As Allama Ibn-i-Qaiyim writes, "Friday is the day on which special and single-minded application to worship is called for. It enjoys a superiority over the rest of the week in other respects also. God has allocated a day for each community on which people can stay away from worldly activities and devote themselves to worship. Friday is a day of worship in the same way. Its place and importance in the week is the same as that of Ramadan in the year. The particular time of the acceptance of petitions and supplications that is in it is identical in nature to Shab-i-Qadr in the month of Ramadan. Thus, a person who spends the Friday in a befitting manner for him the other days of the week will also fall in line with it, a person who observes the month of Ramadan in the right spirit and keeps away from sinfulness and wrong-doing the rest of the year will turn out to be the same for him and a person who performs the Hajj properly his whole life will be spent likewise.

They learn about the doctrines and practices of Islam, the consciousness of being a Muslim grows in them and they take pride in it and remain secure against the inroads of polytheism and idolatory by virtue of it. But for the congregational service of Friday a large majority of Muslims would have been swept away by the rising tide of Apostasy and got absorbed into the un-Islamic societies in which they live. For this very reason even some of the latter-day jurists of the Hanafi school have preferred not to adopt an attitude of narrowness and rigidity over it but be liberal and accommodating.

Friday is the criterion of the week, Ramadan the criterion of the year and the Hajj the criterion of life. The good fortune to act virtuously and well depends, of course, on the will of God." (Zad-ul-Ma'ad)

The Salat of the Two Eids
The annual festivals and other celebrations, in all nations and religious communities, have degenerated into occasions for revelry and self-gratification. Intemperate entertainment, merry­making and dissipation have become their main attributes and this has led to the destruction of their religious significance and sanctity. They have turned into the exact opposite of what they were intended to be.

With the two Eids, 'Idul Fitr and Eidul Adha, however, it is different. These festivals which have been sanctioned for the Muslims by the Divine Law-Giver for their emotional satisfaction and in recognition of a fundamental human need are cast altogether in a religious and spiritual mould. For instance, extra Takbirs are prescribed for the prayer-services of the 'Ids and in the end a sermon is delivered. It is also preferable, though not necessary, to raise Takbir repeatedly while going to celebrate the Eid services. Alms-giving (known as Sadqa-i-Fitr) before the prayers of 'Idul Fitr and sacrifice of animals after the prayers of Eidul Adha are an additional feature.

The underlying purpose of the Eid prayers was that just as the Muslims met, once in a week, for the Friday congregational service they should also get together twice in a year in a wide, open maidan but as with the Friday service, about these, too, they fell a prey to indifference and lassitude and the Eid prayers began to be celebrated in all the mosques, big as well as small. Consequently, the Eid services also were deprived of their efficacy and many of the objects the Shariat had in view were lost. Writes Allama Ibn-i-Qaiyim:

"The Prophet used to offer the prayers of Eid in the Musallah which is situated at the eastern gate of Medina. This is the place where the pilgrims used to dismount from their camels. He offered the Salaat of Eid in his own mosque only once when it was raining (if the authenticity of the Tradition mentioned in Abu Dawud and Ibn-i-Majah is not questioned). The normal practice, in any case, was that the Prophet offered up the 'Id prayers in the Musalla." (Zad-ul-Ma'ad vol.1 pg.119)

Hazrat Shah Waliullah has the following remarks to offer on the special significance of the two 'Ids:

"For every community a congregation is needed in which all its members can take part for the display of their strength and solidarity. Hence, for the 'Ids it has been made commendable for all Muslims, even women and children, to come and join the congregation. The women and children are advised to participate in it from a place set apart for them outside the Musalla.

The holy Prophet, further, used to adopt one route for going to the Musalla and another for returning from there so that the spectacle of the glory of Islam could be seen by people living along both the routes." (Hujjat vol.ii pg.23)

Safeguard against Confusion, Innovation and Misrepresentation
Friday and the congregational prayer service have played a notable part in the security and preservation of faith, in the maintenance of the stability of the foundations of the Shariat and in the survival of the religious environment bequeathed by the sacred Prophet to his illustrious Companions. Thanks to them, Islam has remained protected against pollution, distortion and misrepresentation and succeeded in avoiding the fate of being reduced to a child's play. Had the Muslims given up these two things – Friday and the congregational service – and started offering up their prayers at home, it would have become impossible to recognize their Salaat today; or at least, it would have lost much of its original form and character and all sorts of variations would have been introduced in it. Various types of Salaat would have now been in vogue among the Muslims and just as their social and cultural life presents a different picture from place to place their prayers, too, would have accepted innumerable local influences and like the followers of Judaism and Christianity and of the polytheistic faiths of India they too would have been celebrating their Salaat in a different manner in different towns and countries. Congregational service, therefore, is a most important means to the promotion and safeguarding of uniformity and strict observance of rules in worship.

On account of these and many other considerations, which are known only to God, a prayer offered in congregation is held to be much superior to the one offered individually. Hadhrat Abu Hurayra (Radhiallaahu Anhu) related from the prophet that, "The Salaat celebrated congregationally is twenty five times more valuable than the one celebrated at home or in the shop for when a Muslim performs the ablution for it, and performs it well, and goes to the mosque solely with the object of saying his prayer, his status is raised by one degree and a sin is forgiven at each step. When he begins the prayer, the angels send salutations and blessings of the Lord upon him as long as he remains on the prayer-mat and say, ‘O Lord! Bestow Thy Peace and Blessings upon him and treat him with Mercy.' Moreover, the time a devotee spends in waiting for the service to begin is deemed to have been spent in the service itself." (Sihah Sittah with exception of Nasaai). It is related by Hadhrat ibn Umar (Radhiallaahu Anhu) that the Holy Prophet (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) once said, ‘A Salaat offered up in congregation is twenty seven times superior to that offered individually.' (Muatta, Bukhari, Tirmidhi, Nasaai