to perform the ritual bath (ghusl) unless he fears harm or cannot find water. Suppose, for instance, he is travelling, passes through a village, wishes to pray Friday with its people, yet finds no place where he can bathe—in that case the duty is waived, for “Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity.”

Among the recommended practices on this day is to apply oil: if a man has hair on his head, he should oil it and arrange it so that he appears in the finest state. Likewise, he should wear his best clothes. He should also use the siwak especially for Friday, separate from his everyday tooth-stick; therefore, if he were to use a toothbrush on Friday to cleanse his mouth, that would be commendable and sound.

Another Sunnah is to set out early for the mosque. Whoever goes in the first hour is as though he has offered a camel; whoever goes in the second hour, a cow; in the third, a horned ram; in the fourth, a chicken; and in the fifth, an egg. Whoever arrives after the imam has entered receives no reward for coming early, though he still obtains the reward of the Friday prayer itself; yet the merit of arriving early has escaped him.

Many people—may Allah guide us and them—have no work on Friday, yet you find them sitting at home or lingering in the marketplace without any