be confined (1) to six subdivisions; whereas, if what is meant is the customary hours, then once the sixth hour ends and the seventh begins, the imam comes out, the scrolls are rolled up, and no offering is recorded for anyone thereafter. This is explicitly stated in Sunan Abī Dāwūd (2), in the hadith narrated by ʿAlī from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:
“When Friday comes, the devils go out early to the marketplaces with their banners, assailing people with distractions (3) and discouraging them from attending the Friday prayer. The angels also go out early and sit at the doors of the mosques, recording the man who has been there for an hour and the man who has been there for two hours, until the imam comes out.”
Abū ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Barr said (4): Scholars differed concerning these hours. A group of them said that he meant the hours beginning when the sun rises and shines brightly. In their view, going early to the Friday prayer at that time is preferable. This is the view of al-Thawrī, Abū Hanīfa, al-Shāfiʿī, and most scholars; all of them (5) recommend going early to it.