C – From Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him):

“When the sun had begun to decline, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, would perform the Friday prayer.”

Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Awsat, and its chain is sound.

These reports clearly support what we have stated, for it is well known that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used to deliver two sermons before the prayer, in which he would recite the Quran and admonish the people. At times he would recite during them Surah Qaf – “Qaf. By the Glorious Quran” – and the narration is authentic. In Sahih Muslim (3/139) Umm Hisham bint Harithah ibn al-Nuʿman said, “I memorized ‘Qaf. By the Glorious Quran’ only from the tongue of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him; he would recite it every Friday on the pulpit when he addressed the people.”

It is likewise authentically reported that he once recited Surah Baraʾah (at-Tawbah) in the Friday sermon. Ibn Khuzaymah included it in his Sahih, and al-Hakim declared it authentic, a verdict endorsed by al-Dhahabi and others.

Remembering all of this, we realize that the call to prayer was made before the sun had reached its zenith.