Some of the scholars have commented on this. Al-Nurbashtī said: “The prohibition can be understood in two ways. First, that such a posture runs counter to the orderly gathering of those who have come to pray. Second, that the Friday assembly is a momentous occasion; whoever attends it must not be preoccupied with anything else until it is over, and to sit in circles before the prayer suggests heedlessness toward the duty for which they have been summoned.”

Sharḥ al-Sunnah states: “The ḥadīth indicates that sitting in study circles on Friday before the prayer is disliked; instead, one should busy himself with remembrance, supererogatory prayer, and attentive listening to the sermon. After the sermon there is no objection.”

Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn likewise says: “It is disliked to sit in circles before the prayer.”

Nayl al-Awṭār adds:
“The majority have understood the prohibition to signify reprehensibility (makrūh), because sitting in circles may break the rows, whereas the worshippers have been instructed to arrive early on Friday and to form tight rows, one after another. Al-Ṭaḥāwī said: The disapproved circling before the prayer is that which fills and dominates the entire mosque; otherwise, there is no harm in it. The restriction to ‘before the prayer’ shows that it is permissible afterward for learning or remembrance, and the restriction to the Friday prayer shows that it is permissible on other days. This is supported by the agreed-upon ḥadīth of Abū Wāqid al-Laythī: ‘While the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was in the mosque, three men came. Two of them approached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and one turned away. One of the two found a gap in the circle and sat there, while the other sat at the back…’—and so on.”

“As for forming circles in the mosque for worldly affairs, that is not permissible. In the ḥadīth of Ibn Masʿūd it is stated: ‘Toward the end of time there will be people who sit in the mosques in separate circles; their only concern is worldly gain. Do not sit with them, for Allah has no need of them.’ ” This was cited by al-ʿIrāqī in his commentary on al-Tirmidhī.