Jumu’ah in the Quran
“O you who have believed, when the call is made for the prayer on the day of Jumu’ah, then proceed to the remembrance of Allah and leave trade. That is better for you, if you only knew” (Quran 62:9). “And when the prayer has been concluded, disperse within the land and seek from the bounty of Allah” (Quran 62:10).
The best day of the week
“The best day on which the sun has risen is Friday; on it Adam was created, on it he was made to enter Paradise, on it he was expelled from it” (Sahih Muslim 854).
How the Friday prayer works
- The adhan is called at the time of Dhuhr. Check today’s Dhuhr time for your city.
- Two khutbahs: the Prophet ﷺ “used to deliver two khutbahs and sit in between them” (Sahih al-Bukhari 928).
- Two rak’ahs led by the imam, prayed aloud. The Prophet ﷺ often recited Surah Al-A’la and Surah Al-Ghashiyah in them (Sahih Muslim 878). See how to pray Salah.
Jumu’ah is prayed in congregation in place of Dhuhr. Who it is obligatory on (for example, travellers, women and the sick) and what to pray if you miss it are details where you should follow your school or a scholar you trust.
The Sunnahs of Friday
- Take a bath (ghusl): “Anyone of you attending the Friday prayer should take a bath” (Sahih al-Bukhari 877). See how to perform ghusl.
- Go early: whoever goes in the first hour is as if he sacrificed a camel, then a cow, and so on for each later hour (Sahih al-Bukhari 881).
- Pray two rak’ahs when you arrive, even if the khutbah has started: the Prophet ﷺ told a man who sat down during the khutbah, “Pray two rak’ahs” (Sahih al-Bukhari 931).
- Listen in silence: “When the imam is delivering the khutbah and you ask your companion to keep quiet, then you have done an evil act” (Sahih al-Bukhari 934). So no talking, not even to tell someone to be quiet.
- Send lots of salawat on the Prophet ﷺ: “Among the most excellent of your days is Friday… so invoke more blessings on me that day, for your blessings will be submitted to me” (Sunan Abi Dawud 1047, graded sahih).
- Seek the hour of answered dua: “There is an hour on Friday; if a Muslim gets it while praying and asks something from Allah, Allah will grant it,” and he ﷺ indicated that it is short (Sahih al-Bukhari 935). Scholars mention the time of the khutbah and prayer, or the last hour before Maghrib.
A warning about missing it
“He who leaves the Friday prayer for three Fridays out of slackness, Allah will put a seal on his heart” (Sunan Abi Dawud 1052, graded hasan sahih).
Make it a Friday routine
Ghusl in the morning, the morning adhkar, early to the mosque, salawat throughout the day, and dua before Maghrib. Many also read Surah Al-Kahf on Fridays.