231 – Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to recite in the dawn prayer on Friday: ‘Alif-Lam-Meem. The Revelation’—Surah as-Sajdah—and ‘Has there come over man…’—Surah al-Insan.” Agreed upon.

Al-Tabarani records, in the hadith of Ibn Masʿud, the wording: “He would do that constantly.” (1)

—

Degree of the report:
The narration of Ibn Masʿud was transmitted by al-Tabarani with a weak chain, and Abu Hatim preferred the view that it is mursal, in al-ʿIlal (1/204).

Vocabulary notes:
• kāna: generally conveys continuity and regular practice, though not invariably; al-ʿAyni pointed out that it does not, by itself, prove absolute constancy.

Lessons drawn from the hadith:
1 – It is recommended to recite Surah “Alif-Lam-Meem—as-Sajdah” in the first rakʿah of the Friday dawn prayer, and Surah “al-Insan” in the second. Their recitation in this prayer is part of the Prophet’s established sunnah.
2 – The word kāna, along with al-Tabarani’s phrase “he would do that constantly,” shows that he habitually recited these two surahs in the Friday dawn prayer and scarcely ever left them out.
3 – Ibn al-Qayyim said in Zad al-Maʿad: “The Prophet ﷺ would recite in the Friday dawn prayer the two surahs ‘Alif-Lam-Meem. Tanzil’ and ‘Has there come over man….’ I heard Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah say: The Prophet ﷺ recited these two surahs in the Friday dawn prayer because they contain what…”