Among the special merits of this day are:
• The recommendation to pronounce the takbīr (saying “Allāhu akbar”) when heading to the mosque for the Friday prayer; to remain occupied with supererogatory prayers, remembrance, and Qur’an recitation until the imam comes out for the sermon; the obligation to listen attentively to the sermon once it begins—whoever fails to do so is engaging in idle talk, and whoever engages in idle talk has no Friday prayer; and the prohibition of speaking during the sermon, for in the Musnad it is related, traced back to the Prophet ﷺ: “Even the one who says to his companion, ‘Be quiet,’ has no Friday prayer.”

• Another distinction of Friday is the recitation of Sūrah al-Kahf during its day. It is authentically reported from the Prophet ﷺ: “Whoever recites Sūrah al-Kahf on Friday, a light will shine for him from beneath his feet up to the sky’s zenith, illuminating for him on the Day of Resurrection, and he will be forgiven for what occurred between the two Fridays,” recorded by al-Hākim and al-Bayhaqī.

• A further hallmark of Friday is that it contains the hour of response. In the two Ṣaḥīḥs, from the hadith of Abū Hurayrah, the Prophet ﷺ said: “Indeed, within Friday there is an hour in which no servant …”