When do the first and second “hours” on Friday begin?

* Friday Prayers - - - In the hadeeth about thevirtue of coming early
toJumu'ah prayer it says that the one who comes in the first "hour"
will have a reward like that of one who sacrifices a camel, and the
one who comes in the second "hour" will have a similar reward. I hope
that you can tell me when the first "hour" begins and ends, so that
the second "hour" begins.
Praise be to Allaah.
It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him)
said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
"Whoever comes (to the mosque) in the first hour, it is as if he
sacrificed a camel. Whoever comes at the second hour, it is as if
hesacrificed a cow. Whoever comes at the third hour, it is as if he
sacrificed a horned ram. Whoever comes at the fourth hour, it is as if
he sacrificed a chicken. Whoever comes at the fifth hour, it is as if
he sacrificed an egg. Then when the imam comes out, the angels come in
to listen to the reminder (khutbah)."
Narrated by al-Bukhaari,841; Muslim, 850
The scholars differed as to the definition of thesehours. There are
three opinions.
1 – That they start when dawn breaks
2 – That they start when the sun rises. This is the view of
al-Shaafa'i, Ahmad, and others.
3 – That these 'hours' all fall within one period of time, which is
after the sun has passed its zenith.This is the view of Maalik, and
was favoured by some of the Shaafa'is.
The third view is weak, and was refuted by many.
Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
It is well known that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) used to go out to offer the Jumu'ah prayer straight after
the sun passed its zenith, as do all imams in all regions. That is
after the end of the sixth hour, which indicates that the one who
comes after thesun has passed its zenith has no share of guidance and
virtue, and no reward will be recorded for him at all, because he has
come after the scrolls (of the recording angels) have been rolled up.
The mention of these hours is intended only to encourage people to
come early and attain the reward of being in the first row and waiting
for the prayer, and keeping busy with naafil prayers, dhikr andthe
like. None of that can be achieved by going to the mosque after the
sun has passed its zenith, and there is no virtue in doing so, because
the call to prayer is given at that time and it is haraam to delay
responding to it. End quote.
Al-Majmoo', 4/414
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
With regard to the view of Maalik that goes against these reports: it
is mustahabb to performJumu'ah prayer just afterthe sun has passed its
zenith. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used
to pray Jumu'ah early, and when the imam comes out the scrolls (of the
recording angels) are rolled up, and no reward is writtendown for the
one who comes to Jumu'ah prayerafter that, so what virtuecan there be
in such a person? End quote.
Al-Mughni, 2/73
The correct view is the second one, which says that these hours begin
when the sun rises, and the time between sunrise and the second adhaan
should be divided into five parts, of which each one is what is meant
by the word saa'ah (lit. "hour") in the hadeeth.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on
him) was asked:
When does the first hourof Friday begin?
He replied:
The hours which were mentioned by the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) are five. He said: "Whoever comes (to the mosque)
in the first hour, it is as if he sacrificed a camel. Whoever comes at
the second hour, it is as if hesacrificed a cow. Whoever comes at the
third hour, it is as if he sacrificed a horned ram. Whoever comes at
the fourth hour, it is as if he sacrificed a chicken. Whoever comes at
the fifth hour, it is as if he sacrificed an egg. Then when the imam
comes out, the angels come in to listen to the reminder (khutbah)." So
the time between sunrise and theimam's arrival is divided into five
parts, each of which may be equivalent to what we know as an hour
(sixty minutes), or it may be more or less, because time changes. So
there are five hours between sunrise and the imam's arrival for the
prayer, starting at sunrise. It wasalso said that it begins atthe
break of dawn, but the first view is more correct, because the time
before sunrise is the time for Fajr prayer.
And Allaah knows best.

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