Surah No. 62
Introduction
Merits of the Surah1
1. Muslim has a report that the Prophet used to recite this Surah and Surah al-Munafiqoon during every Friday Prayers (Ibn Kathir). Surah al-Munafiqoon follows this Surah (Au.).
Herewith a report on the importance of the day:
Abu Hurayrah reported the Prophet: “The best of days on which the sun arose is Friday: therein was created Adam, therein admitted into Paradise, therein removed from it and the Hour will not strike but on this day” (Qurtubi).
The report is in Muslim and others (Au.).
2. Al-Quddus: The one who is free of whatever the polytheist ascribe to Allah, ascribing such attributes as which do not belong to Him (Ibn Jarir). “Blessed” is another meaning (Razi).
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ يُسَبِّحُ لِلَّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ الْمَلِكِ الْقُدُّوسِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَكِيمِ (1)
(62:1) Whatever is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Allah, the Sovereign, the Holy,2 the All-mighty, the All-Wise.3
3. Everything that exists whether animate or inanimate, whether an atom or the galaxies, whether an ameba or the human beings, exist to such amazing perfection, that by their very existence they sing the glory of Allah (Au.).
هُوَ الَّذِي بَعَثَ فِي الْأُمِّيِّينَ رَسُولًا مِنْهُمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَإِنْ كَانُوا مِنْ قَبْلُ لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُبِينٍ (2)
(62:2) It is He who raised among the unlettered4 ones a Messenger from among themselves5 reciting to them His Revelations, purifying them6 and teaching them the Book and the Wisdom,7 although before that they were in clear misguidance.8
4. Ummi is someone who does not know how to read and write, though he need not be a “jaahil” (ignorant, or worse, ignoramus) for that reason. The Arabs were ummi in the original literary sense (Au.).
A second opinion is that the Arabs were called ummi because they had not received a Book earlier (Ibn Jarir).
That is, the Jews and Christians were not ummis, although they too did not know how to read and write, because they had a Revelation (Au.).
Asad comments: “The term ‘unlettered people (ummiyun) denotes a person or community who had not previously had a revealed scripture of their own (Razi). The designation of the Prophet as a man ‘from among themselves’ is meant, in this context, to stress the fact that he, too, was unlettered (ummi) in the primary sense of this word (cf. 7: 157 and 158), and could not, therefore, have ‘invented’ the message of the Qur’an or ‘derived’ its ideas from earlier scriptures.”
It might be added here, in passing, that had the Prophet been a lettered person, and attempted to derive ideas from earlier scriptures, he would have failed because firstly, many of the Qur’anic ideas are fresh and new which are not to be found in any other literature. And that stands true even to this date, despite the appearance of millions of books, and, secondly, because some of the ideas that the Jews and Christians allege he took from their Scriptures, are so well buried in unknown works, as to be foreign to the scholars even untill this date. How did the Prophet access them? (Au.).
Mawdudi looks into the three senses in which the word has been used in the Qur’an: (i) At one point the word ummi has been used for a people who do not possess a revealed scripture. E.g.,
“Ask those who possess the Book and those who do not know (the ummis): will you surrender?” (3: 20) Here the allusion is to Arab polytheists. (ii) In the sense of illiterates among the people of the Book:
“Among them are the illiterate ones who know anything about the Book but fanciful ideas” (2: 78). (iii) A term covering all non-Jews from Jewish point of view:
“There is no questioning us concerning the non-Jews” (3: 75).
(Back to the main theme), a narrative preserved in the Sahihayn and several other works reports the Prophet as having said,
“We are an unlettered people. We do not write nor do we know how to count: a month is like this and like this (signaling with the fingers).”
What he meant is that ‘we are a people who were never taught how to write, and have, consequently, remained in the natural state (Alusi).
The above said, the Qur’anic ayah is not restricting the Prophet’s mission to the Arabs. There are other verses of the Qur’an which speak of the universality of his mission, such as, e.g. (7: 158),
“Say, ‘O mankind! I am indeed Allah’s messenger to you all’” (Ibn Kathir).
Majid leads us to a historical fact with the help of a quote: “Before the days of Muhammad, Arabia was steeped in idolatry: female babies were buried alive as unwanted, and other hideous atrocities were committed. Truly can it be said of the Arabian Prophet that he accomplished nothing short of a miracle in raising the country from its slough of crime and ignorance to a united nation with a deep sense of its religious obligations and duties, a nation which was shortly after his death to conquer and lead the world in culture, knowledge and scientific attainments, while the faith of Islam spread from sea to sea.” (Lady Cabbold, op. cit. pp. 105, 106).
5. Being one of them, the Makkans knew all about him and his past. There was not a tribe among the Quraysh but to whom the Prophet was related, one way or another (Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir), except for Banu Taghlib, among whom some were Christians (Qurtubi).
The Prophet was raised among the Arabs because the Children of Israel had proven, through their long history, during which numerous Prophets and Messengers were raised among them, that they could not be relied on for carrying on the burden of a new Revelation. As an ayah portrayed them in this Surah itself, they had become, with reference to Allah’s Revelations, like a donkey that carries a weight on its back without knowing what in reality it is. Torah and its interpretations, whether Talmud or Mishnah or whatever else, were no more than a donkey’s load for the Jewish scholars. Any new revelation would have meant no more than addition of weight upon weight. Those who entered Egypt, and those who left it with Musa, were two different people: differing in beliefs, practices, values, morals, outlook, and sincerity towards their Lord. When they left Egypt, they carried with them seeds, fruits and trees of corruption. They at them, planted themin Palestine and tended them until fresh fruition. With those fruits as their intellectual diets, they became more corrupt than the corrupt of other nations, other countries, other races, and other cultures. They were in the same state as Nuh (asws) remarked about his own nation:
“They will not give birth to any but flagrant transgressors, unbelievers.”
It was in this situation that the Arabs, untouched by any other faith, of the dozens of powerful and influential faith-systems, were chosen to bear the burden of a new revelation. There was not much to be done with the Arabs except to remove the loosely planted paganism from their hearts, minds, culture and moral system. That done, they were as raw as the first generation of Adam (asws): on the fitrah of Allah’s creation, as sincere, frank, honest, forthright, courageous and true to their words that any people could be (Au.).
Sayyid writes: Another factor in the choice of the Arabs was the answer to Ibrahim’s prayer. He had said, (in the very words that ayah 2 of this Surah repeats),
“O Our Lord, raise among them a Messenger from among themselves reciting to them Your Revelations, teaching them the Book and the Wisdom, purifying them..”
And, a well-reported hadith says:
Abu Umamah asked the Prophet, “What was it like at the start of your mission?” He answered, “(It was an) answer to Ibrahim’s supplication, glad tiding given by `Isa, and my mother’s dream that a Light emerged from her that set the palaces of Syria alight.”
6. That is, purifying them from shirk and its associated evils (Zamakhshari).
7. That is, the Book and the Sunnah (Zamakhshari). It has also been said that by the Book the allusion is to writing with the pen, and by wisdom to in-depth understanding of the religion (Shawkani).
8. This ayah leads us to the opinion that an unlettered can attain to the highest state in knowledge, if he receives proper instructions from a Master (Alusi, Thanwi).
With reference to the words, “although before that they were in clear misguidance” Sayyid writes: When `Amr b. al-`Aas was sent to Najashi to try and get back the Muslims from Abyssiniyyah, and Najashi asked the Muslims to explain what they were doing in his country, Ja`far b. Abi Talib answered, “O King.. We were an ignorant people. We worshipped idols, ate carrion, committed obscenities, severed blood relationships, mistreated the neighbors, and our strong devoured the weak. We were in that state when Allah raised a Messenger from amongst us. We know his lineage, his truthfulness, trustworthiness and his morality. He invited us to Allah, that we should believe in His oneness, should worship none but Him, and give up whatever we practiced of devotion to stones and idols. He ordered us to speak the truth, honor the trusts, treat the kin with generosity, do good to the neighbors, restrain ourselves from the unlawful and shedding of blood. He also prohibited that we should commit any obscenity or deceit, as he also prohibited us devouring of the orphan’s property, and slandering virtuous women. He also commanded us that we worship Allah alone without associating aught with Him, as he also ordered us to Pray, expend in charity, and fast.”
وَآخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ لَمَّا يَلْحَقُوا بِهِمْ ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ (3)
(62:3) And (to) others of them,9 who have not yet joined them, and He is the All-mighty, the All-wise.
9. That is, the Messenger was sent to the Ummis of the Prophet’s time, in a particular geographical location, but ultimately to all the rest of the people who will ever join them until the Day of Judgment (Au.).
Mujahid is widely reported as having said that the allusion is to non-Arabs. This is supported by a hadith which says,
öAbu Hurayrah reported: “We were in a company with the Prophet when Surah al-Jumu`ah came down and he (Abu Hurayrah) asked thrice about who were meant by the words, ‘And others of them..’ but the Prophet did not answer. At the third asking he placed his hand on Salman al-Farsi’s shoulder and said, ‘If eiman (belief) was in Pleiades, men of his race will retrieve it’” (Ibn Jarir, Zamakhshari, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).
Another report on the topic comes from Sahl b. Sa`d. He said,
“I heard the Prophet say, ‘Surely, from the loins of the loins of the loins of my Companions will appear men and women who will enter Paradise without undergoing reckoning.’ Then he recited, ‘And others of them who have not yet joined them. And He is the Mighty, the Wise’” (Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).
Haythami declared it trustworthy (Au.).
ذَٰلِكَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ ۚ وَاللَّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ (4)
(62:4) That is the bounty of Allah which He bestows upon whom He will; Allah is the possessor of great bounty.
مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ حُمِّلُوا التَّوْرَاةَ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَحْمِلُوهَا كَمَثَلِ الْحِمَارِ يَحْمِلُ أَسْفَارًا ۚ بِئْسَ مَثَلُ الْقَوْمِ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ ۚ وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ (5)
(62:5) The similitude of those who were entrusted with the Tawrah, but who did not shoulder it,10 is as the likeness of a donkey which carries a load of books;11 evil is the likeness of a people who laid the lie against Allah’s revelations. Allah does not guide a wrongdoing people.
10. That is, did not live by its demands.
11. According to Dahhak, sifr (of which asfaar is the plural), is for “a book” in the Nabataean language (Ibn Jarir); but actually, add Razi and Shawkani, “sifr” is for a large-sized book.
The similitude is pretty close to the realities. The West produced hundreds of philosophical and even so-called scientific ideas that were not worth a donkey-load. A few poetical lines quoted by Qurtubi, apply to this situation:
Howl out whatever you wish, you will find supporters.
Bundle together any number of books, you will find a donkey,
To carry whatever you place of of the loads
Carrying it like a donkey burdened with a load.
قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ هَادُوا إِنْ زَعَمْتُمْ أَنَّكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ لِلَّهِ مِنْ دُونِ النَّاسِ فَتَمَنَّوُا الْمَوْتَ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ (6)
(62:6) Say, ‘O those who adopted Judaism,12 if you claim that you are friends of Allah, to the exclusion of other people,13 then, wish for death if you are truthful.’14
12. Zamakhshari realizes that perhaps at one point in their history, the Children of Israel Judaized themselves, having been non-Jews earlier.
Majid comments: “’By a legal fiction persons not of the Hebrew blood were admitted to its union as members’ (JE. V. p.336). Judging by the names preserved most of the Jews in Arabia must have been Judaized Aramaens and Araians rather than descendants of Abraham’ (Hitti, op. cit. p. 101).
In Yusuf Ali’s words: “(To be) Of Jewry is a very different thing from following the Law and Will of Allah. An arrogant claim to be a chosen people, to be the exclusive possessors of divine teaching, to be exempt from any punishment for breaches of the divine law, (cf. ii. 88), is presumptuous blasphemy. It may be Judaism, but it is not in the spirit of Moses.”
13. In the words of the Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, and as quoted by Majid: “The whole Jewish thought may be summed up in this, that as surely there is only one God, so surely is there one sacred community” (ERE. VII. p.520).
The Jews said (and endlessly repeat with the approval of the Christian Zionist Armageddonists: Au.),
“We are Allah’s own children and His beloved ones” (Qurtubi).
Reports say that when the Prophet appeared, the Jews of Madinah wrote to the Jews of Khayber: “If you follow the Prophet, we shall follow him. If you oppose him, we shall oppose him.” The Khaybarite Jews wrote back: “We are God’s children. `Uzayr was raised among us, as were many other Prophets. Even if the Prophet was to appear in Arabia, he should have been of us. There is no way that we should follow him,” and so Allah revealed this verse (Alusi).
Asad writes: “Connecting the idea – implied in the preceding passage – that God’s revelation is a sacred trust as well as a bounty, the discourse turns now to the problem of man’s betrayal of his trust, exemplified by the Jews of post-Biblical times. They had been entrusted by God with the task of carrying the message of His oneness and uniqueness to all the world: but they failed in this task inasmuch as they came to believe that they were ‘God’s chosen people’ because of their descent from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and that, therefore, the divine message was meant for them alone and not for people of other nations. Hence, too, they came to deny the possibility of prophethood being bestowed on anyone who did not belong to the children of Israel (cf. 2: 90 and 94), and so they summarily rejected the idea of Muhammad’s prophethood despite the clear predictions of his advent in the Torah itself.. By thus corrupting the innermost purport of the divine will bestowed on Moses, they themselves became unable to derive any real spiritual benefit from it, and to live up to its teachings.”
Sayyid adds: “The example of those who were burdened with the Torah, and then did not shoulder the burden – all those who were entrusted with the faith (in Allah) but did not honor it, the Muslims too who wear the dust of many generations, as well as those who live in the contemporary world, those who carry Muslim names but without living the way Muslims should live, especially those who read the Qur’an and other religious literature, but pay no attention to what is in them .. all of them, are like a donkey that carries a load of fat books on its back .. and they are aplenty, aplenty. This is not the question of books, carrying them forward, or teaching them to others. It is the question of understanding and putting to action what is in the books.
The Jews used to boast, as they boast even now, that they are a chosen race and that they are God’s friends, to the exclusion of others, that people other than them are ‘goyim’, or the unlettered ones, while they do not respond to the demands of their religion when it comes to dealing with non-Jews, saying, ‘There is no way against us for the unlettered ones’, to the last of the claims that are lies laid against Allah, they are being suggested that if they are true in their claims, then come out and meet the Prophet in mutual invocation of destruction. But, as we know, they refused.”
14. That is, if you find yourself in trouble after trouble, chastisement after chastisement descending on you, and, if you are true in your claim that you are Allah’s friends, then, why should you not wish for death, and die off to get rid of the troubles of this life and enter into the unlimited pleasures of the Next world? (Ibn Jarir).
وَلَا يَتَمَنَّوْنَهُ أَبَدًا بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ ۚ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِالظَّالِمِينَ (7)
(62:7) But they will never wish for it because of what their hands have forwarded;15 and Allah is knowing of the wrongdoers
15. Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir and others comment: Had the Jews truly wished to die, they would have all met with their death. A report of Ahmad reports Ibn `Abbas as saying,
“Abu Jahl had said, ‘Were I to see the Prophet praying near the Ka`bah, I would surely go to him and place my foot on his neck.’ The Prophet remarked, ‘Had he attempted it, the angles would have openly seized him. And, had the Jews wished for death (sincerely) they would have died and seen their places in the Fire. And, had those who challenged to enter into mutual invocation of curse with Allah’s Messenger, come out, they would have returned to discover their folks and property gone‘” (Ibn Kathir).
Haythami remarked that the report is also in Bazzar and is trustworthy (Au.).
Kashshaf and Shabbir portray the contrasting picture of the Companions who greeted death with joy. For example, when Bilal was in his death bed, his wife said, “Woe unto me.” He replied, do not say that, but rather say,
“Tomorrow we shall meet the beloved
Muhammad and his party”
(Shabbir).
`Ammar b. Yasir said the same thing before his martyrdom during the battle of Siffin (Zamakhshari).
Ja`far b. Abi Talib said before his martyrdom in the battle of Yamamah:
“O my! Paradise and its closeness
Goodly, whose drinks are cold”
(Shabbir).
When Mu`adh b. Jabal was struck by plague in Syrian lands he said in the throes of death:
“Welcome to death, welcome to a dear one that arrives while he is starving” (Shabbir).
Hudhayfa (ra) uttered more or less the same words when his death arrived (Zamakhshari).
It is reported of `Ali that he said in the battle of Siffin addressing his son Hasan:
“My son! Your father does not mind whether he falls on death, or death falls on him” (Zamakhshari, Shabbir).
قُلْ إِنَّ الْمَوْتَ الَّذِي تَفِرُّونَ مِنْهُ فَإِنَّهُ مُلَاقِيكُمْ ۖ ثُمَّ تُرَدُّونَ إِلَىٰ عَالِمِ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ فَيُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ (8)
(62:8) Say, ‘The death, from which you flee, will surely encounter you,16 then you shall be returned to the Knower of the Unseen and the Open, He will then inform you of what you were doing.’
16. Sayyid presents the following in explanation of the uselessness of trying to escape death. Will the Western mind, which tires not searching for ways to lengthen lives, understand the beauty in this hadith?
The Prophet said, “The example of he who flees death is similar to a fox from whom the earth demands back its loan. So it began to run about until when it was tired and had done all it could, it entered into its hole. The earth told him, ‘O fox. My loan?’ So the fox left, farting, and kept (running about) until its neck broke and it died.”
Haythami remarked that one of the narrators may not be trusted when he takes his narration right up to the Prophet. That is, a narrator is missing in the chain (Au.).
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا نُودِيَ لِلصَّلَاةِ مِنْ يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ فَاسْعَوْا إِلَىٰ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَذَرُوا الْبَيْعَ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ (9)
(62:9) O those who have believed! When the call to Prayer17 is proclaimed on Friday,18 hasten19 to the remembrance of Allah20 and leave off trade.21 That is better for you if you but knew.22
17. The allusion is to the prayer-call made when the Imam takes his position in the pulpit and the caller begins the call to the start of the Prayer. During the Prophet’s time, there use to be one adhan for the Prayers, (immediately followed by the sermon) and one iqaamah (Ibn Jarir).
18. The majority have read the word as “jumu`ah” except for the sole exception of A`mash who read it as “jum`ah” (Ibn Jarir). Farra’ has also allowed that it be pronounced as “jum`ah” (Qurtubi).
The first Jumu`ah was organized at Madinah by Mus`ab b. `Umayr even before the Prophet’s arrival. The Prophet himself organized his first Jumu`ah among the Banu Salim b. `Awf on the way to Madinah, after having spent a few days in Quba. And the third was organized in a town in the Bahrayn district called Juwaathaa (Qurtubi). The mosque still exists in Hofuf (Alusi).
It happens to be still there (Au.).
Ibn Seereen has pointed out, as in Musannaf of `Abd al Razzaq, that the choice of Friday for special Prayers and sermon, as independently made by the earliest Companions early at Madinah, corroborates the fact stated in a hadith: “We were guided to Jumu`ah” (Mufti Shafi`).
Commentators add:
Jumu`ah is the day on which Adam was created, the day in which he was admitted into Paradise, the day on which he was removed from Paradise, and in which the Day of Judgment will take place (Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).
There are trustworthy ahadith to the above effect in Ahmad and others (Shawkani).
There is an hour in this day when no one will ask Allah a thing but He will grant it. According to a report in Ibn Abi Hatim, the day was so named because it was on this day that Adam and Hawwa’ met with each other on the earth. (The report is also in Hakim who declared it trustworthy: Sami). A hadith in Bukhari records Abu Hurayrah as saying that the Prophet said,
“We are the last but the first on the day of Judgment despite the fact that those who went before us were given the Book before us. Moreover, this day (Friday) was declared obligatory on them but they differed therein, but Allah guided us. So, the people are our followers: the Jews tomorrow and the Christians, the day after” (Razi, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).
Majid quotes: “Pope Nicholas I had declared abstinence from meat on Fridays to be obligatory throughout the Church (C.D. p. 384). ‘Brides have shunned Friday (and still do!) owing to superstition. Christian peoples have always considered it an unlucky day for weddings because our Lord was crucified on that day and tradition says that it was Friday that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit.’”
That, and the beauty of Friday devotions are not lost on Christians. Majid quotes again, “In dignity, simplicity and orderliness,” says another Christian historian with reference to the Friday assembly, “it is unsurpassed as a manner of collective worship. Standing erect in self-arranged rows in the mosque and following the leadership of the imam with precision and reverence, the worshippers present a sight that is always impressive” (Hitti, op. cit. p. 132).
19. `Umar and Ibn Mas`ud reportedly read “fas`aw” as “famdu” (meaning, “proceed”) – Ibn Jarir, Zamakhshri, Ibn Kathir.
The report about Ibn Mas`ud is weak, and consensus of the Ummah is on “fas`aw” meaning “hasten up” (Qurtubi).
20. The hastening, it may be noted, does not refer to physical hastening, but to the remembrance of Allah at the heart and spiritual level. (“Sa`aa” in any case also means to attend to a task seriously: various commentators). And the “dhikr” of the text alludes to the sermon (Ibn Jarir, Zamakhshari, Qurtubi).
The Sahihayn have recorded the Prophet as having said,
“After the Prayers have started, do not come to it hastily but rather come walking: calm and composed. Then, whatever you can manage to get of it, Pray. As for what you miss, complete it” (Ibn Kathir).
Another report preserved by the Sahihayn has the following to say,
One of the Companions reported: “While we were in Prayers behind the Prophet, he heard noises of some men. After the termination of the Prayer he asked, ‘What was happening?’ They told him, ‘We were hurrying up to the congregation.’ He said, ‘Do not do that. When you come to the Prayer, observe calmness and composure. Thereafter, whatever that you get of the congregational Prayer, do it, and whatever you miss, you complete” (Ibn Kathir).
Zamakhshari adds the pointer that to walk at a slightly faster pace to join up with the congregation should do no harm. It is reported in Muhammad b. Hasan’s Muwatta’ that when Ibn `Umar heard the iqamah in Baqi` he increased the pace of his walk. (That is, the prohibition in the hadith refers to the state of rushing up and hurtling down to the mosque in confusion and commotion: Au.).
21. There used to be only one adhan during the time of the Prophet. But due to population pressures, `Uthman (ra) got another introduced (said a little while before the adhan with which the sermon started: Au.), without any (of the Companions) objecting to it (Zamakhshari, Ibn Kathir).
We have a report in Bukhari:
On the authority of Sa’ib b. Yezid: “The first adhan used to be when the Imam took his position in the pulpit: during the time of the Prophet, Abu Bakr and `Umar. During the time of `Uthman when population increased, he got another Call added, made from Zawraa’.” Abu `Abdullah added that Zawraa’ was a place in the Madinan market (Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir and others). Some reports suggest that the call was made from `Uthman’s property there (Au.).
Ibn Kathir (who follows the Shafe`i school of Fiqh) writes that it is the second adhan that makes trade and commerce unlawful. But Alusi presents the Hanafiyy view-point that it is the first adhaan that makes worldly dealings unlawful. The point is that if the people are to suspend trade and commerce with the second adhaan (when the Arabic sermon starts) and start off for the mosque (from market-places), then, not only could they miss the sermon, but the Prayer itself.
Mufti Shafi` points out that the use of the word “bay`” is perhaps because, firstly, suspension of sale suspends purchase, and, secondly, to indicate that not all transactions or works need be suspended such as, for example, farming, since, Friday is not obligatory on village dwellers. Nonetheless, the prohibition through the directive covers all activities that prevent from joining the congregation, including study of books.
22. Friday Prayer is an obligation on all free men of a town; (but not of villages that do not have a commercial centers, schools, hospitals, nor is directly governed by a government, in other words hamlets). Women, children, travelers and slaves are excused, as also the sick and those who look after the sick (Au.).
Early in Islam, they used to offer Jumu`ah Prayers pretty early. It is said that the first bid`ah into which people fell is delaying of the Jumu`ah Prayer. During the days of the Salaf the people would begin to head to the mosque right after sunrise. Once Ibn Mas`ud thought he will be the first. But when he entered the mosque he found thirteen people already sitting there (Zamakhshari).
However, the great majority of scholars believe that mid-day is the best time for Friday Prayers (Qurtubi).
A hadith from the Sahihayn and other books speaks of the importance of Friday Prayer.
Abu Hurayrah reports that the Prophet mentioned Friday and said, “There is an hour in it that no Muslim will chance to coincide with, while he is in Prayer, seeking something from Allah, but He will grant it.” According to another version, the Prophet signaled with his hands to indicate that the “hour” was a short one. However, there is no consensus among the Companions or scholars of the Ummah as to which hour it is (Au.).
Qurtubi presents another hadith from Muslim. The Prophet said from his pulpit,
“Let the people cease ignoring the Friday Prayer or Allah will set a seal on their hearts, and so they become of those who are heedless.”
A bath is preferred. Says a hadith of the Sheikhyan,
“When one of you has Jumu`ah come on him, let him take a bath.”
Another report in Muslim says,
“It is binding upon every Muslim that once in every seven days he should wash his head and body.”
Another narrative, also in the Sahihayn is as follows:
On Abu Hurayra’s authority: The Prophet said, “Whoever washed himself, the way a man seeking purification after intercourse does – and then went (to the mosque) is like him who offered a camel (as sacrifice). He who went in at the second hour, is as if offered a cow. He who went in at the third hour, is as if offered a goat. He who went in at the fourth hour, is as if offered a chicken. And he who went in at the fifth hour, is as if offered an egg. But once the Imam has emerged, the angels present themselves to listen to the sermon” (Zamakhshari [without quoting the hadith], Ibn Kathir).
One may apply perfume if he can afford it. Several ahadith are reported on this subject. One is in Abu Da’ud. Another of the same meaning is in Ahmad which Haythami declared trustworthy. It says:
`Ikrimah said that some people from Iraq visited Ibn `Abbas and asked him about a bath on Friday whether it was obligatory. He answered, “No. But it is cleaner and better for him who would wash. As for him who did not wash, well, it is not an obligation. Let me tell you how the Friday washing came to be. People those days worked hard and wore wool (out of poverty). They would work (carrying weight on their) shoulders. Their mosque was small, with a low ceiling. It was a hut you see. The Prophet came out (to the mosque) on a hot day while the people were sweating in the wool of theirs until the smell rose up and some felt uneasy because of others. When the Prophet felt this he said, ‘People. When it is this day, wash yourself, and let one of you perfume himself with the best possible oil or perfume’” (Au.).
Again, a clean pair of clothes is recommended. A report in Ibn Majah and Abu Da’ud says the following:
`Abdullah b. Salam said that he heard the Prophet say from his pulpit on Friday, “What would go wrong if one of you purchased a pair of clothes for Friday, apart from the pair in which he labors?” (Ibn Kathir).
Listening to the Sermon is the obligatory part of “dhikr” which should deal with matters directly related to religious. It should not, therefore, consist of praises for the rulers, mentioning whom with praises is to praise Shaytan, which, Zamakhshari remarks sarcastically, “is some distance away from dhikr of Allah.”
A hadith (of Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Da’ud and others: Au.) says,
“Whoever made ablution, and did it well, came to the Friday Prayer, and then heard (the sermon) without speaking, has his sins of Friday to Friday forgiven, plus three days. On the other hand, whoever played with the pebbles, committed an unwarranted act” (Au.).
[A hadith predicts that the Friday sermons will get longer near the end of the world, than the Prayers themselves: Au.].
فَإِذَا قُضِيَتِ الصَّلَاةُ فَانْتَشِرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَابْتَغُوا مِنْ فَضْلِ اللَّهِ وَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ (10)
(62:10) Then, when the Prayer is over, spread out23 in the land and seek Allah’s bounty.24 And remember Allah much, haply you will prosper.25
23. This “scatter” or “dispersion” is to be understood in the light of the previous verse which directed the Muslims to hasten to the remembrance of Allah. After the Prayer is over, they can disperse. In other words, it is not a command, but a suggestion that now, after the Prayers are finished, they may go their ways, if they so will (or stay in mosque, if they so wish) – Ibn Jarir.
Ibn `Abbas said that this is not a commandment to leave and seek out the world, but to visit the sick, accompany the biers, and visit a friend for the sake of Allah (Ibn Jarir, Zamakhshari, Shawkani). It is also reported as a hadith but quite weak (S. Ibrahim).
24. That is, now you are free to disperse in the land and seek Allah’s bounty, or stay back in the mosque, you have both the options (Ibn Jarir and others). Shah `Abdul Qadir wrote that the Jews were forbidden any worldly transaction (on day of Sabbath). In contrast, the Muslims could trade on Friday (Shabbir).
Many of the Salaf understood this verse in the literary sense of Allah, if not directing, according approval to economic activities immediately after Friday Prayers. Some of them in fact – as reported by some commentators - preferred to trade in hours following Friday Prayers (Au.).
25. Yusuf Ali compares directives and practices in the three major religions: “The idea behind the Muslim weekly ‘Day of Assembly’ is different from that behind the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday) or the Christian Sunday. The Jewish Sabbath is primarily a commemoration of Allah’s ending His work and resting on the seventh day (Gen. ii. 2; Exod. xx. 11): we are taught that Allah needs no rest, nor does He feel fatigue (ii. 255). The Jewish command forbids work on that day but says nothing about worship or prayer (Exod. xx. 10); our ordinance lays chief stress on the remembrance of Allah. Jewish formalism went so far as to kill the spirit of the sabbath, and call forth the protest of Jesus: ‘the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath’ (Mark. ii. 27). But the Christian Church, although it has changed the day from Saturday to Sunday, has inherited the Jewish spirit: witness the Scottish Sabbath; except in so far as it has been secularised. Our teaching says: ‘When the time for Jumu`a Prayer comes, close your business and answer the summons loyally and earnestly, meet earnestly, pray, consult and learn by social contact; when the meeting is over, scatter and go about your business.’”
وَإِذَا رَأَوْا تِجَارَةً أَوْ لَهْوًا انْفَضُّوا إِلَيْهَا وَتَرَكُوكَ قَائِمًا ۚ قُلْ مَا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ مِنَ اللَّهْوِ وَمِنَ التِّجَارَةِ ۚ وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ (11)
(62:11) But when they see merchandise or some diversion,26 they break up for it, leaving you standing.27 Say, ‘That which is with Allah is better than diversion and from merchandise. And Allah is the best of providers.’28
26. One of the reports concerning Dihya’ Kalbi’s trade caravan, (whose arrival had caused consternation in the Prophet’s mosque), speaks of a singer playing on a drum. Up until then, Dihya had not yet embraced Islam (Razi, Ibn Kathir). Actually, every trade caravan employed drummers to attract attention at arrival (Zamakhshari).
27. The allusion is to an incident that took place at the time when, early in Madinah, the Prophet used to deliver the sermon after the Friday Prayers (like in `Eid Prayers). On one occasion while he was delivering the sermon after the Prayers were over, someone came in and announced that Dihya Kalbi’s long-awaited trade caravan had arrived. Now, those were days of shortages and high inflation. So, hearing the news, the Companions started to leave, one after another, until no more than twelve men and a solitary woman were left, and Allah revealed this Surah. The Prophet had then said,
“Had the last of them followed the first of them, surely the valley would have been filled with flaming fire.” But some other reports suggest that forty persons remained in the mosque while the rest left (Ibn Jarir, Zamakhshari, Razi, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir), and that the Companions thought there was no sin involved in their departure; after all, the Prayers were over. Further, not all left for commerce. Some left merely to watch, which, being of no profit, was referred to as “lahw” (Qurtubi).
With that experience, and after the revelation of this Surah, the Prophet altered the sequence. He began to deliver the sermon to follow up with the Prayers (Ibn Kathir, Mufti Shafi`).
Alusi comments on the aspersions cast on the Companions, by the Shi`ah, with reference to this ayah. He reminds them that Allah (swt) simply reproached them. He did not rebuke them, nor threaten them with a punishment. Moreover, all narratives in this connection inform us that the Companions close to the Prophet – such as the four Khulafa’ and many others - did not leave the mosque. Therefore their censor is unwarranted.
A contemporary commentator - known for criticizing the Companions (in his other writings) - censors the Shi`ah for criticizing the Companions, but then proceeds to defends his own position of their criticism! His point is: Why can’t we criticize the Companions when Allah Himself criticized them: a logic he would not extend to the Shi`ah but which he extended to cover his own criticism of the Prophets!
28. Majid cites the opinion of a historian which, if accurate, sheds a new light on the pre-Islamic Arab’s proclivities and economic tendencies, miraculously reformed by the Prophet, but, with his influence waning, is now quite reflective in the contemporary Arab world. He writes and quotes: “This (assurance of Allah as the Provider) required special emphasis in view of the very great preoccupation of the Arabs with money matters and financial transactions. ‘In the money-changers’ books, men speculated on the currency exchange: they gambled on the rise and fall of foreign monies, on caravan freights, on their arrival and also on their lateness. The influx of Byzantine, Sasanid and Yemenite coins, the complications of the old monitory system and knowledge necessary for this manipulation, gave rise to an infinity of operations and to the most lucrative transactions .. Given this business activity there is no cause for astonishment if we find out Makkan merchants who in our day would be classed as millionaires.’ (Lammus, op. cit., pp. 15, 16).