On the strength of these hadiths and reports, Imam Ahmad—may Allah have mercy on him—held that the Friday prayer may be performed before the sun passes its zenith, as has already been mentioned. This, as al-Shawkani and others have affirmed, is the correct view. A full exposition of the issue lies beyond the scope of this brief treatise; consult the larger works such as Nayl al-Awtar and al-Sayl al-Jarrar, 1/296–297, and similar references.

The Pre-Friday Sunnah Prayer Is Not Established

What has preceded also answers the second question raised in the fourth paragraph: “If the pre-Friday sunnah is proven, when is it to be performed?” The answer is that no authentic basis exists for such a sunnah, nor is there any slot for it in the sequence of events. From the previously cited hadiths you have seen that zenith, then the call to prayer, then the sermon, and finally the congregational prayer follow one another in an unbroken chain