“No man bathes on Friday, then purifies himself as best he can, applies some of his own oil or touches some perfume from his house, then goes out without separating two people, performs whatever prayer has been decreed for him, and listens attentively when the imam speaks, but that he will be forgiven for what lies between that Friday and the next.” Reported by al-Bukhārī.

833 – ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather (may Allah be pleased with him), reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “It is not lawful for a man to separate two people except with their permission.” Narrated by Abu Dāwūd and al-Tirmidhī, who graded it ḥasan.

In another wording recorded by Abu Dāwūd: “He must not sit between two men except with their permission.”

834 – Hudhayfah ibn al-Yamān (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ cursed the one who sits in the middle of a circle. Reported by Abu Dāwūd with a ḥasan chain.

Al-Tirmidhī also transmitted—from Abū Majlaz—that when a man sat in the middle of a circle, Hudhayfah said, “Cursed on the tongue of Muhammad ﷺ—or Allah has cursed on the tongue of Muhammad ﷺ—the one who sits in the middle of a circle.” Al-Tirmidhī said: a ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ ḥadīth (1).

835 – Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, “The best of gatherings are the ones that are the most spacious.” Reported by Abu Dāwūd with a sound chain according to the conditions of al-Bukhārī.

836 – Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Whoever sits in a gathering in which there is much idle talk (2), then before he rises from that gathering says: Subḥānaka Allāhumma wa bi-ḥamdik, ash-hadu an lā ilāha illā Anta, astaghfiruka Allāhumma wa atūbu ilayk (Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise is Yours; I bear witness that there is no deity but You; I seek Your forgiveness, O Allah, and I repent to You), except that he will be forgiven for whatever