Fathwa, - Voluntary prayer between the two Athaans of Jumu‘ah prayer

Question
Is it permissible to perform voluntary prayerbetween the two
Athaans(i.e. call for prayer) of Jumu'ah prayer, given that it is said
that no voluntary prayer should be performed between the two Athaans
of Jumu'ah?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify
that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad
isHis slave and Messenger.
It is permissible to perform voluntary prayers before the Jumu'ah
Prayer, whether they have a specific reason such as the prayerof
Tahiyyat-ul-Masjid (i.e. salutation to the mosque)or other general
voluntary prayers that have no such reason. However, a worshipper
should not perform voluntary prayer before Jumu'ah prayer considering
it as a regular Sunnah with a fixed number of Rak'ahs. Such an act was
not reportedly done by the Prophet .
However, the Hanafi scholars and a group of Shaafi'i and Hanbali
scholars adopted thisopinion. They relied on the narration of Ibn
'Abbaas as he said, " The Prophet , used to perform four Rak'ahs
before Jumu'ah Prayer without separating them at all. " [Ibn Maajah].
This is a very weak narration. Imaam An-Nawawi said, " This weak
narration should not be relied upon as evidence; since it is very weak
. "
Shaykhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah elaboratedon this issue in his book,
Al-Fataawa. He said, "The Prophet , did not perform any voluntary
prayer before the Jumu'ah prayer (i.e. after the Athaan) and no one
reported that he did. During the lifetime of theProphet , the Athaan
was not called except after the Prophet , sat on the pulpit. No one
reported that the Prophet , used to perform any voluntary prayer in
his house before going to the mosque for Jumu'ah Prayer. There are no
sayings of the Prophet , about specific voluntaryprayers before the
Jumu'ah prayer. On the other hand, the words of the Prophet , merely
urged the Muslims to perform prayer in the mosque on Friday in general
without any specific timing. For instance, the Prophet , said: "
Whoever goes out early and walks and doesnot ride to the mosque and
prays what has been prescribed [by Allaah] forhim . "
And this is what was reported by the Companions that they used to
perform voluntary prayers as much as is easy for them when entering
the mosque for the Jumu'ah prayer.
Therefore, the majority of Muslim jurists agreed that there is no
fixed Sunnah prayer with a specific number of Rak'ahs before the
Jumu'ah prayer since thiscan only be proven by either the words or
actions of the Prophet . This is the opinion of the Maaliki and
Shaafi'i schools of Fiqh, held by many Shaafi'i scholars, and it is
the famous opinion in Imaam Ahmad 's school of Fiqh. A group of Muslim
scholars believed that there is a voluntary prayer before the Jumu'ah
prayer. Some believed that there is a two-Rak'ah Sunnah prayer before
the Jumu'ah prayer such as a group of Shaafi'i scholarsand Ahmad .
Others believed that there is a four-Rak'ah Sunnah prayer before the
Jumu'ah prayer such as the Hanafi scholars and a group of scholars
from the school of Fiqh ofImaam Ahmad .
Some people cite as proof of the Sunnah prayers before the Jumu'ah
prayer, the Hadeeth of the Prophet , as he said: " Between every two
Athaans (i.e. Athaan and Iqaamah) there is a prayer . "
Other scholars disagreed with this opinion and underlined that during
the lifetime of the Messenger of Allaah , the Athaan was not
calledfrom minarets like it is nowadays. 'Uthmaan ibn 'Affaan
commended Muslims to call the Athaanfrom minarets when the number of
Muslims increased (so that the Athaan would be heard by all people).
In the past,people used to hear the Athaan after the Prophet , would
go to the mosque and sit on the pulpit.
As 'Uthmaan ibn 'Affaan introduced this habit of raising the second
Athaan for the Jumu'ah prayer, it had become common and approved by
Muslim jurists.
In such a case, performing voluntary prayers between the twoAthaans on
Friday is permissible but not as a regular voluntary prayersjust like
performing voluntary prayer before Maghrib.
Therefore, people should not criticize anyone who performs voluntary
prayers before the Jumu'ah prayer or anyone who does not.
This is the opinion that is considered most likely to be true and the
words of Imaam Ahmad support it.
In such a case, it is better not to perform a Sunnah prayer before the
Jumu'ah prayer so that ignorant people would not mistake it for a
regular Sunnah or erroneously think that it is obligatory. One should
not perform this voluntary prayer so that people would not mistake it
for a fixed voluntary prayer or mistakenly think that it isobligatory,
especially if people performed it regularly.
Allaah Knows best. - - ▓███▓ Translator:->
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