15. In this command remembrance implies the Friday sermon, for the first thing that the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to do after the call was to deliver the sermon, and he always led the Prayer after delivering the sermon. Abu Hurairah has reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The angels on Friday go on writing down the names of the people as they arrive. Then, when the Imam comes out to deliver the sermon, they stop writing the names and turn their attention to the remembrance (i.e. the sermon). (Musnad Ahmad, Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Daud, Tirmidhi, Nasai). This Hadith also shows that the remembrance implies the sermon. The exhortation of the Quran itself points to the same thing. First, it says: Hasten to the remembrance of Allah; then a little below it says: Then, when the Prayer is over, disperse in the land. This shows that on Friday the order of the service is that first there is the remembrance of Allah and then the Prayer. The commentators also agree that remembrance either implies the sermon, or the sermon and the Prayer both.

Using the word dhikr-Allah for the sermon by itself gives the meaning that it should contain themes relevant to the remembrance of Allah. For instance, praising and glorifying Allah, imploring Him to bless His Messenger (peace be upon him), exhorting and instructing the audience to obey His commands and follow His Shariah, commending His pious and righteous servants, etc. On this very basis, Zamakhshari writes in al-kashshaf: Praising the wicked and tyrannical rules in the Friday Sermon, or mentioning their names and praying for them, has nothing to do with the remembrance of Allah; this would be the remembrance of Satan.

Hasten to the remembrance of Allah does not mean that one should come to the mosque running, but it means that one should make haste for it. The commentators also agree on this very meaning. Hastening, according to them means that on hearing the call one should immediately start making preparations to attend the mosque. The Hadith even forbids coming to the mosque for the Prayer running. Abu Hurairah has reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: When the Prayer has begun, one should come walking to it with calm and dignity, and not running. Then, one should join in whatever remains of the Prayer, and should make up whatever he has missed independently later. In Sihah Sittah, Abu Qatadah Ansari says: Once we were offering the Prayer under the leadership of the Prophet (peace be upon him) when suddenly we heard some people coming to join the Prayer running. When the Prayer was concluded, the Prophet (peace be upon him) asked: What was the noise about. They replied; We came running for the Prayer. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said; Don’t do that, whenever you come for the Prayer, come with calm and dignity. Join behind the Imam in whatever remains of the Prayer, and make up whatever you have missed independently. (Bukhari, Muslim). Leave off your trading also includes every other worldly activity and business which prevents one from getting ready for the Prayer with full attention and care. Buying and selling has been particularly forbidden, for commerce flourishes on Fridays. People from the surrounding areas gather together at a central place, the merchants also arrive with their merchandise, and the people become occupied in buying the necessities of daily use. The prohibition however is not restricted only to buying and selling, but it applies to all other occupations as well. And since Allah has forbidden these, jurists of Islam agree that after the call has been sounded for the Friday Prayer all forms of trade, business and worldly occupation become forbidden.

This command absolutely confirms the obligatory nature of the Friday Prayer. In the first place, the exhortation to hasten for it after one has heard the call is by itself a proof of its being obligatory. Then, the prohibition of a lawful thing like trade and business at the time of the Prayer also shows that it is obligatory in nature. Moreover, the elimination of the obligatory Zuhr Prayer on Friday and its being replaced by the Friday Prayer is a clear proof that it is obligatory in nature. For, an obligatory duty becomes eliminated only when the duty replacing it is more important. This very thing has been supported in many Ahadith in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) exhorted the Muslims in most emphatic words to attend the Friday Prayer and has declared it in clear words to be obligatory. Abdullah bin Masud has reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: I feel I should ask somebody to stand in my place to lead the Prayer, and I myself should go and set fire to the houses of the people who do not come for the Prayer. (Musnad Ahmad, Bukhari). Abu Hurairah, Abdullah bin Abbas and Abdullah bin Umar say: We heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) say this in the Friday Sermon: The people should refrain from giving up the Friday Prayer; otherwise Allah will seal up hearts and they will become totally heedless. (Musnad Ahmad, Muslim, Nasai). From the traditions reported by Abu al-Jad Damri, Jabir bin Abdullah and Abdullah bin Abi Aufa from the Holy Prophet one comes to know that Allah seals up the heart of the person who abandons three Friday Prayers, one after the other, without a genuine reason and lawful excuse. Rather, in one tradition the words are to the effect: Allah turns the heart of such a one into the heart of a hypocrite. (Musnad Ahmad, Abu Daud, Nasai, Tirmidhi Ibn Majah Darimi, Hakim, Ibn Hibban, Bazzar, Tabarani in al-Kabir. Hadrat Jabir bin Abdullah says that the Prophet said: From today till Resurrection the Friday Prayer is obligatory on you. Allah will neither bless nor set right the condition of the one who abandons it disregarding it or considering it an ordinary thing. Note it well: the Prayer of such a one will be no prayer at all, his zakat will be no zakat at all, his Hajj no Hajj, his fasting no fasting, and no good done by him will be good, until he repents. Then, for the one who repents, Allah is Most Forgiving. (Ibn Majah, Bazzar). Another tradition, which is very close in meaning to this has been cited by Tabarani in Auset from Ibn Umar. Furthermore, there are many traditions in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) has declared the Friday Prayer as obligatory in clear words. Abdullah bin Amr bin al-Aas has related that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The Friday Prayer is obligatory on every person who hears the call to it. (Abu Daud Daraqutni). Jabir bin Abdullah and Abu Saeed Khudri say that he said in a Sermon: Know that Allah has enjoined the Friday Prayer as a duty on you. (Baihaqi). However, He has exempted the women, children, slaves, the sick and the travelers from this duty. Hafsah has reported that the Prophet said: Attendance at the Friday Prayer is obligatory on every adult male. (Nasai). Tariq bin Shihab’s tradition contains this saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him): The Friday congregational Prayer is obligatory on every Muslim except the slave, women, children and the sick. (Abu Daud, Hakim). In the tradition of Jabir bin Abdullah, his words are to the effect: Friday Prayer is obligatory on the person who believes in Allah and the Last Day unless it is a woman, or a traveler, or a slave, or a sick man. (Daraqutni, Baihaqi). On account of these very exhortations of the Quran and the Hadith the entire Ummah is agreed that the Friday congregational Prayer is of obligatory nature.