Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalamualaikum wa Rehmatullahi wa Barakatuhu,

I have been listening different procedures by different people since I attained puberty which is about the salaath of Juma. Can u plz clarify my doubt based purely on authentic ahadeeth. What was the practice of our beloved prophet with regards to the salaath after the 2-rakah obligatory Jum`a prayer? Some people say that on fridays, the obligatory 4 rakh of zohr becomes sunnah and after offering the 2 rakah juma prayer, it is not obligatory to offer zohr prayer. While others say that after offering 2 raka juma prayer, we don`t have to offer the obligatory zohr prayer and we just have to offer the sunnah of zohr prayer.

Jazak Allah!

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Answer:

Jumua and dhuhr

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 2.144a

It is a Sunnah to pray a voluntary four rakah (if in mosque) or two rakah (if at home) after one has attended the al-Jumu'ah Friday congregational prayer. Abu Hurairah reports that the Prophet (saws) said: "Whoever is to pray (voluntary prayers) after the Jumu'ah (in the mosques) should pray four rakahs."

Related by Muslim, Abu Dawud, and at-Tirmidhi.

Ibn 'Umar reports: "The Prophet (saws) would pray two rak'at in his house after the Jumu'ah prayers."

Related by Bukhari and Muslim

Sheikh Ibn Taimiyyah says: 'When the Prophet (saws) prayed in the mosque, he would pray four [rak'at] after the Jumuah prayer, and when he (saws) prayed in his house, he would pray two rakahs.'

Dear and beloved brother, in light of the established Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws) and the practice of the earliest generation of believers, the absolute majority of the scholars and the jurists in Islam are unanimous in their opinion that one who offers the Friday Jumua prayers in congregation is neither required nor obliged to offer the obligatory four-rakahs of ‘dhuhr’ prayers as he would on other days. But if one for any reason misses the Jumua congregational prayer, he is to offer the ‘dhuhr’ prayers.

The confusion probably arose from the understanding of the following hadith related by Muslim, Abu Dawood, and Tirmidhi:

Abu Hurairah reports that the Prophet (saws) said: "Whoever is to pray (voluntary prayers) after the Jumu'ah (in the mosques) should pray four rakahs."

The Sunnah or practice of the Messenger of Allah (saws) was that if he willed to pray his ‘nafl’ or supererogatory prayers after the Jumuah in the mosque, he (saws) would offer four rakahs; and if he willed to offer his ‘nafl’ prayers after the Jumuah at his home, he (saws) would offer two rakahs.

But the absolute vast majority of the scholars and jurists in Islam are unanimous in their opinion that one who has offered the two-rakah Jumuah prayers in congregation with the believers is neither required nor obliged to offer another four-rakahs as his ‘dhuhr’ prayers. The Friday sermon and two-rakah prayer are in lieu of the normal four-rakah obligatory ‘dhuhr’ prayers one would offer on the other days of the week.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan