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:

Is it so that on juma when a person reaches masjid and the khutba has started ,a person cant read 4 sunnah during khutba ?

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Answer:

Tahiyat masjid on friday

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.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 62 Surah Jumuah verse 9:

9 O ye who believe! When the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday (the Day of Assembly) hasten earnestly to the Remembrance of Allah and leave off business (and traffic): that is best for you if ye but knew!

Abu Hurairah reports that the Prophet (saws) said: "Whoever makes ‘ghusl’ on the day of Jumu'ah and then goes to the mosque and prays what has been prescribed for him, and remains quiet while the imam delivers the khutbah, and then prays with the imam (in congregation), he will have forgiven for him what is between that Jumu'ah and the next, and an additional three days."

Related by Muslim.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 2.51 Narrated by Abu Huraira

The Prophet (saws) said, "When it is a Friday, the Angels stand at the gate of the mosque and keep on writing the names of the persons coming to the mosque in succession according to their arrivals. The example of the one who enters the mosque in the earliest hour is that of one offering a camel (in sacrifice). The one coming next is like one offering a cow, and then a ram, and then a chicken, and then an egg respectively. When the Imam comes out (for the Jumua sermon) they (i.e. Angels) fold their scrolls and listen to the Khutba."

The Messenger of Allah (saws) time and time again stressed the merits and rewards for arriving early to the mosques during all congregational prayers, especially the Jumua Friday mid-day sermon and prayer. If for some genuine reason one is late to the Friday mid-day prayer, and only reaches the mosque to find that the ‘imam’ has already started the sermon, one should not sit down until one has recited the two-rakah ‘tahiyat-ul-masjid’ prayer.

Al-Muwatta Hadith 9.60

Yahya related from Malik, from Amir ibn Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr, from Amr ibn Sulaymaz-Zuraqi, from Abu Qatadaal-Ansari that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said, "Whenever you enter the mosque, you should pray two rakas (tahiyat-ul-masjid) before you sit down."

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 2.52 Narrated by Jabir bin Abdullah

A person entered the mosque while the Prophet (saws) was delivering the Khutba (sermon) on a Friday. The Prophet (saws) said to him, "Have you prayed (the tahiyat-ul-masjid)?" The man replied in the negative. The Prophet (saws) said, "Get up and pray two Rakah."

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: "If one of you comes to the mosque on the day of Jumu'ah and the imam is delivering the khutbah, he should pray two rak'at and make them quick."

Related by Ahmad, Muslim, and Abu Dawud.

Firstly there is no evidence in the authentic and established Sunnah that the Messenger of Allah (saws) would offer a four-rakah prayer before the Friday mid-day sermon and prayer, thus the four-rakah before Friday mid-day prayer cannot be considered amongst the Sunnah prayers. The Messenger of Allah (saws) commanded the believers to offer only the two-rakah ‘tahiyat-ul-masjid’, and to make them quickly, if the ‘imam’ had already started the sermon on Friday.

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