Certainly—and the same holds for the sermon—since the prayer itself was offered as the sun reached its meridian. This is plain and needs no further explanation; praise be to Allah.

Even clearer than the foregoing reports in establishing the point is another narration from Jabir:

D – Jabir also said: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, would perform the Friday prayer, then we would go to our camels and let them rest when the sun had begun to decline”—meaning the draught camels used for drawing water.

It was recorded by Muslim (3/8–9), al-Nasaʾi (1/206), al-Bayhaqi (3/190), Ahmad (3/331), and Ibn Abi Shaybah in his Musannaf (1/207/1).

This is an explicit indication that the prayer took place before the sun passed its zenith; how much earlier, then, must the sermon and the call to prayer have been?

Reports concerning the alternative timing

Supporting this are several narrations describing the practice of the Companions; we shall mention a few of them as corroboration.

A – ‘Abd Allah ibn Sidan al-Sulami said: