took place and what is yet to take place on that day; for the two chapters mention the creation of Adam, peace be upon him, and they speak of the Return, the Resurrection and the gathering of the servants—all of which will occur on a Friday. Thus the Prophet’s recitation of them in the dawn prayer of that day serves to remind the ummah of what has already happened and of what will come to pass, so that they may draw lessons from the past and prepare for the future. The verse of prostration in Surah as-Sajdah appears only incidentally; it is not the objective in itself such that the worshipper should choose the chapter merely for the sake of that prostration wherever it may occur.

Then he—may Allah have mercy on him—said: Many people who lack knowledge imagine that the purpose is to single out this prayer with an extra prostration, and they call it “the Friday prostration.” For that reason some of the imams persist in reciting this surah in the Friday dawn prayer in order to dispel the misunderstanding of the ignorant.

4 – Some mosque imams, during the Friday dawn prayer, adopt practices that run contrary to the sunnah while thinking they are doing something good:
(a) Some recite only a portion of Surah as-Sajdah in the first rakʿah and a portion of Surah al-Insan in the second.
(b) Some recite Surah as-Sajdah one Friday and Surah al-Insan the next.
(c) Some recite Surah al-Jumuʿah and Surah al-Munafiqun to remind people of Friday.
(d) Some recite a passage from Surah al-Kahf in the Friday dawn prayer to remind the congregation to read it that day.
All of this comes from their own initiative; what is required is to follow (the prophetic practice) and to leave whatever is other than it.

5 – From this we learn that the preacher, the exhorter, the guide and those like them should choose what is suitable when reminding, admonishing and directing the people. Every period has its appropriate topic, every circumstance its own context. Likewise, what is addressed to the audience must fit their situation and accord with their level of understanding. Attention should be given to the matters in which they are actually involved, and these should be dealt with through wisdom and good counsel. That is more conducive to acceptance, more accessible to their minds, and more likely to elicit a response.