The ruling on being silent and speaking during the khutbah (sermon) on Friday

* Friday Prayers - - - I go to Jumu'ah prayer, but every time I enter
the prayer-hall of the mosque, I say salaams and the other worshippers
return the greeting, even those who are reading Qur'aan. When the
khutbah has begun, some worshippers come in and say salaams, and the
imam return the greeting in a low voice. Is this permissible?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Those who attend Jumu'ah prayer should be quiet and listen attentively
to the imam when he is preaching. It is not permissible to speak to
others, even if that is to tell them to be quiet. Whoever does that
has engaged in idle talk (laghw), and whoever engages in idletalk, his
Jumu'ah prayer does not count.
It was narrated from AbuHurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said: "If you say to your companion when the
imam is preaching on Friday, 'Be quiet and listen,' you have engaged
in idle talk." Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 892; Muslim,851).
This prohibition also applies to responding to a question about Islam,
let alone any other kind of speech that has to do with worldly
matters.
It was narrated that Abu'l-Darda' said: The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) sat on the minbar and addressed the
people, and he recited a verse. Ubayy ibn Ka'b was next to me, so I
said to him: "O Ubayy, when was this verse revealed?" But he refused
to speak to me, so I asked him again andhe refused to speak to me,
until the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came
down (from the minbar). Then Ubayy said to me: "You have gained
nothing from your Jumu'ah except idletalk." When the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had finished (the
prayer), I went to him and told him (what had happened). He said:
"Ubayy was right. When you hear your imam speaking, then keep quiet
and listen attentively until he has finished." Narrated by Ahmad,
20780; Ibn Maajah, 1111; classed as saheeh by al-Busayri andal-Albaani
in Tamaam al-Mannah, p. 338.
This indicates that it is obligatory to remain silent and listen
attentively, and that it is forbidden to speak while the imam is
delivering the khutbah on Friday.
Ibn 'Abd al-Baarr said:
There is no dispute among the fuqaha' of allregions that it is
obligatory to remain silent and listen attentively to the khutbah, for
those who hear it.
Al-Istidhkaar, 5/43.
Some of them held an odd opinion and said that it is not obligatory,
but they have no evidence to support their view.
Ibn Rushd said, concerning the ruling onremaining silent and listening
attentively to the khutbah:
With regard to those who do not regard it as obligatory, I do not know
that they have anyargument except that the suggestion that it is
obligatory may seem to contradict the verse (interpretation of the
meaning): "So, when theQur'aan is recited, listen to it, and be
silent" [al-A'raaf 7:204] – i.e., that it is not obligatory to remain
silent for anything except the Qur'aan. There is some weakness in this
argument, and Allaah knows best. It is very likely that this hadeeth
did not reach them.
Bidaayat al-Mujtahid, 1/389.
An exception is made from that in the case of speaking to the imam,
orthe imam speaking to the worshippers for some important reason.
It was narrated that Anasibn Maalik said: The people were afflicted
with a drought at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him), andwhilst the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) wasdelivering the khutbah one Friday, a Bedouin
stood up and said: "O Messenger of Allaah, our wealth has been
destroyed and our children are starving. Pray to Allaah for us." So he
raised his hands [and made du'aa']. And it rained that day and the
next and the next and the next, until the following Friday, when that
Bedouin – or he said, someone else – stood up and said: "O Messenger
of Allaah, our houses have been destroyed and our wealth drowned. Pray
toAllaah for us." So he raised his hands… Narrated by al-Bukhaari,891;
Muslim, 897.
It was narrated that Jaabir ibn 'Abd-Allaah said: A man came whilst
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was addressing
the people on Friday, and he [the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him)] said: "Have you prayed, O So and so?" He said,
"No." He said: "Stand up and pray two rak'ahs." Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 888; Muslim, 875.
Whoever quotes these hadeeth as evidence that it is permissible for
worshippers to speak to one another and that it is not obligatory to
remain silent, is not correct.
Ibn Qudaamah said:
What they quote as evidence may be understood as referring only to the
one who speaks to the imam or towhom the imam speaks, because that
does not distract anyone from listening to his khutbah. Hence the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) asked him, "Have
you prayed?" and he replied;and 'Umar asked 'Uthmaan a question, when
he came in whilst he was preaching, and he answered. Thus we should
understand thesereports in this manner, in order to reconcile the
reports. It is not correct to draw an analogy withanything else,
because when the imaam speaks,he interrupts his khutbah, so he is not
talking to the other person during the khutbah as such, unlike when
others speak during the khutbah.
Al-Mughni, 2/85
With regard to saying Yarhamuk-Allaah (may Allaah have mercy on you)
to one who sneezesor returning salaams whilst the imam is delivering
the khutbah, the scholars differed concerning that.
Al-Tirmidhi said in his Sunan, following the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah,
"If you say to your companion…":
They differed concerning returning salaams and saying Yarhamuk-Allaah
(may Allaah have mercy on you) to one who sneezes. Some scholars
granted a concession allowing returning salaams and saying
Yarhamuk-Allaah (may Allaah have mercy on you) to one who
sneezeswhilst the imam is delivering the khutbah. This is the view of
Ahmad and Ishaaq. But some of the scholars among the Taabi'een and
others regarded that as makrooh. This is the view of al-Shaafa'i.
It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa'imah (8/242):
It is not permissible to say Yarhamuk-Allaah (may Allaah have mercy on
you) to one who sneezes or to return salaams whilst the imam is
delivering the khutbah, according to the correct scholarly opinion,
because both ofthem involve speaking, which is forbidden when the imam
is delivering the khutbah, because of the general meaning of the
hadeeth.
It also says (8/243):
It is not permissible for the one who enters whilst the imam is
delivering the khutbah on Friday, if he can hear the khutbah, to greet
the people in the mosque, and those in the mosque should not return
his greeting whilst the imam is delivering the khutbah.
And it says (8/244):
It is not permissible to speak whilst the khateebis delivering the
Friday sermon except for one who speaks to the imam for an important
reason.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen said:
It is haraam to give salaams during the Friday khutbah, so it is not
permissible for one who enters the mosque whilst the imam is
delivering the khutbah to give salaams, and it is also haraam to
return the greeting.
Fataawa Ibn 'Uthaymeen, 16/100
Shaykh al-Albaani said:
If someone says "Be quiet!", this is not regarded as idle talk (laghw)
from a linguisticpoint of view, because itcomes under the heading of
enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil. However the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) called it laghw
that is not permissible. This comes under the heading of giving
precedence to what is more important (namely being silent and
listening to the preaching of the khateeb) over what is important
(namely enjoining what is good during the khutbah). As this is the
case, everything that comes under the heading of enjoining what is
good comes under the same ruling as enjoining whatis good – so how
about if it of less importance than that? Undoubtedly in that case it
is more appropriate that it not be allowed and it comes under the
heading of laghw (idle talk).
Al-Ajwabah al-Naafi'ah, p. 45
Conclusion:
Those who attend Jumu'ah prayers have to be silent and listen
attentively to the imam. It is not permissible to speak whilst the
imam is delivering the khutbah, except in the cases indicated by the
evidence, such as speaking to the khateeb or responding to him, orin
cases of necessity suchas saving a blind man from falling and so on.
Greeting the imam with salaam or returning the greeting of one who
comes in also come under this prohibition, because there is no
concession allowing oneto speak with the imam except in cases of need,
which does not include giving or returning greetings.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen said in al-Sharh al-Mumti', 5/140:
It is not permissible for the imam to say anything that serves no
purpose, rather it shouldbe for a reason connected with the prayer or
other suitable topics. But if the imam says something that serves no
purpose, that is not permissible.
If there is a need, then it is permissible. For example, if a listener
does not understand something that the khateeb says in his khutbah, or
if the khateeb makes a mistake in reciting a verse that alters the
meaning, or if he omits aphrase from a verse, andso on.
Other reasons in which the imam may speak for a purpose include
problems with the loudspeakers, in which the imam may speak to the
engineer and ask him to see what is wrong.
And Allaah knows best.

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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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The electricity cut out during Jumu’ah prayer and they were not able to continue following the imam

* Friday Prayers - - - We were praying Jumu'ah, and our mosque is on
several levels. During the first rak'ah the electricity cut out and
the worshipperswho were praying on the second and third levels were
not able to continue following the imam, so they prayed Zuhr. Is what
they did correct?.
Praise be to Allaah.
If that happened before rukoo' (bowing) in the first rak'ah, then what
they did was correct. Butif that happened after bowing with the imam
then they should have completed it as Jumu'ah,with two rak'ahs.
Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz Aal al-Shaykh was asked about a similar
situation and he said: Whoever catches up with one rak'ah of Jumu'ah
then is faced with a problem such as the electricity cutting out and
the like, should complete it as Jumu'ah on his own, i.e., he should
pray the second rak'ah then say the salaam, because in al-Saheehayn it
is narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that
the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: "Whoever catches up with one rak'ah of the prayer has caught
upwith the prayer." One catches up with the rak'ah by catching up with
the rukoo' (bowing). The one who does not catch up with rukoo' with
the imam has not caught up with the rak'ah. Based on this, if the
people mentioned in the question did not catch up with anything but
the opening takbeer with the imam, then they should have prayedit as
Zuhr.

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Ruling on collecting donations during the Jumu’ah khutbah

* Friday Prayers - - - What is the ruling on collecting donations
during the second Jumu'ah khutbah, when the khateeb calls for that?
What is the ruling on doing that at the time of the du'aa' in the
second khutbah? Is Jumu'ah prayer invalidated by giving donations
during the khutbah? Is the Jumu'ah prayer of those who go among the
rows to collect donations invalidated?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
Those who attend Fridayprayers should focus fully on the khutbah. It
isnot permissible to be distracted from it, whether by returning a
greeting or denouncing one who talks during the khutbah.
It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him)
said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: "Whoever does wudoo' and does wudoo' well, then comesto
Jumu'ah and listens attentively, will be forgiven (his sins) between
that and (the next) Jumu'ah, and threedays in addition to that, but
whoever touches thepebbles has engaged in an idle action." Narratedby
Muslim (875).
Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
The words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him),
"but whoever touches the pebbles has engaged in an idle action" show
that touching the pebbles and other kinds of fidgeting during the
khutbah are forbidden. This indicates that the heart should be focused
fully on the khutbah. What is meant by idle action is false and
blameworthy things. Endquote.
Sharh Muslim (6/147)
Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan (may Allaah preserve him) said:
It is not permissible to fidget during the khutbah with one's hand,
foot, beard, garment or anything else, because the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "but whoever touches the
pebbles has engaged in an idle action." According to another hadeeth:
"Whoever engages in idle actions or steps over the people's necks, it
is Zuhr prayer for him." Becausefidgeting prevents khushoo' (proper
focus and humility). Similarly, it is not appropriate for him to turn
to his right or left, or be distracted by looking at the people,and so
on, because that distracts him from listening to the khutbah.Rather he
should face towards the khateeb as the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased
with them) used to face towards the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) during the khutbah. End quote.
Al-Mulakhkhas al-Fiqhi (1/176).
Collecting donations from the people who areattending the Jumu'ah
khutbah distracts them greatly from the khutbah. It causes movement on
the part ofthe one collecting the donations and the people who are
giving them, and it involves thecollector stepping over the necks of
people. All of that is forbidden and goes against the purpose of
Jumu'ah and the khutbah. This is not necessary, because donations can
be delayed until after the prayer has ended. The one who does that is
deprived of the reward of Jumu'ah and it is merely Zuhr for him.
It was narrated from 'Abd-Allaah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'Aas (may Allaah be
pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: "Whoever does ghusl on Friday and puts on some of his
wife's perfume, if she has any, and puts on his best clothes then does
not step over the people's necks and does not engage in idle actions
during the exhortation, that will be an expiation for whatever comes
between them (two Fridays). But the one who engages in idle actions
and steps over the people's necks, it willbe Zuhr for him." Narrated
by Abu Dawood (347); classed ashasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh
al-Targheeb (721). i.e., it will be like Zuhr in reward, and because
of his idle actions and stepping over people's necks, he will be
deprived of the great reward which is attained by the one whoprays
Jumu'ah. 'Awn al-Ma'bood.
Shaykh al-Fawzaan (mayAllaah preserve him) said:
It is not permissible for the one who is listening to the khutbah to
give charity to a beggar during the khutbah, because the beggar has
done something that it isnot permissible for him to do, so he should
not help him in doing something that is not permissible, which is
speaking during the khutbah. End quote.
Al-Mulakhkhas al-Fiqhi (1/175).
Secondly:
The prohibition on speaking or playing withthe pebbles etc applies
equally both at the beginning of the khutbah and during the du'aa'.
What some of thefuqaha' said about it being permissible to speak
during the du'aa' is a weak view.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
Some of the fuqaha' (may Allaah have mercy on them) said that whenthe
imam starts to say du'aa' during the khutbah, it is permissibleto
speak, because the du'aa' is not one of the pillars (essential parts)
ofthe khutbah, and speaking during something that is not one of the
pillars of the khutbah is permissible. But this is a weak view,
because so long as the du'aa' is connected to the khutbah it is part
of it. It was narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) used to pray for forgiveness for the believers every
Friday during the khutbah.
The correct view is that so long as the imam is speaking, whether it
is the essential parts of thekhutbah or what comes after it, speaking
is haraam. End quote.
Al-Sharh al-Mumti' (5/110).
And Allaah knows best.

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