Chapter on the Friday Prayer
Introduction
The word Jumuʿah may be vocalized in two legitimate ways. With the second consonant moved and the middle syllable pronounced with ḍammah, it functions as an active participle, meaning “a cause for people to gather.” When the mīm is left quiescent, it becomes a passive participle, referring to “the place where they gather.”

Its legislative basis is the Almighty’s statement: “O you who believe! When the call is proclaimed for prayer on the Day of Congregation, hasten to the remembrance of Allah and leave off trading; that is better for you, if only you knew” ⦗9⦘ (al-Jumuʿah 62:9). Numerous hadiths—both statements and actions—likewise establish its legitimacy.

Al-ʿIrāqī said: “The schools of the imams unanimously agree that it is an individual obligation (farḍ ʿayn). Indeed, the Friday prayer is among the most emphatically obligatory acts in Islam and one of the greatest communal gatherings of the Muslims. Without dispute, it is superior to the ẓuhr prayer.”

It is an independent act of worship, not a substitute for ẓuhr; rather, ẓuhr replaces it if one misses the Friday prayer. Friday is the finest day of the week. Allah has singled it out for the Muslim community and caused previous nations to miss out on it as an act of grace and favor toward this ummah. The Prophet ﷺ said, “The best day on which the sun has ever risen is Friday” (reported by Muslim).

Al-ʿIrāqī also remarked: “The imams concur that Friday is the greatest of Islam’s obligatory observances and the most important assembly of the Muslims, apart from the gathering at ʿArafah.”

This day boasts certain distinctive acts of devotion, foremost among them the Friday prayer itself, the most emphatic of obligations. They include: the recommendation to recite Sūrat as-Sajdah (32) and Sūrat al-Insān (76) in the dawn prayer of that day, and to recite Sūrat al-Kahf (18) during the day itself,