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:

THE FRIDAY PRAYERS.
1. In reciting the adhan ( call to prayer) They add salawat on the Prophet (sal) while starting the adhan.,
2. They call upon the people seated to pray the prior sunnah of Jum'mah,
3. They recite "Mahshar" while holding a pole,
4. The imam is prolonging the KHUTBAH. WHEN IT SHOULD BE SHORT.
5. The imam making long supplications permitting the people to raise hands and shout Ameen

6. The imam making the prayer short when this should be long.
7. The imam permitting children to be in the front ranks when they should be in the rear.
May I know the islamic rules in this connection.

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Issues of jumuah prayers

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.

Q-1: In reciting the adhan ( call to prayer) They add salawat on the Prophet (sal) while starting the adhan.,

It is ‘wajib’ to recite the ‘salawaat’ on the Noble Prophet (saws) whenever the Prophet’s (saws) name is mentioned in their midst, and one is at liberty to recite it whenever one wills or pleases; but to recite the ‘salawaat’ when starting the ‘adhaan’ for the Jumua or any prayer is not from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws).

Q-2: They call upon the people seated to pray the prior sunnah of Jum'mah,

To the best of our knowledge there is no evidence in the authentic and established Sunnah, that the Messenger of Allah (saws) offered any voluntary prayers either in his house or in his masjid before he (saws) delivered the Jumua Khutba or sermon; thus there is consensus amongst the jurists that there is no obligation for one to offer any ‘Sunnah’ prayers before the sermon on Fridays, but one may pray as many ‘nafl’ supererogatory prayers as one wishes after the ‘adhaan’ and before the start of the sermon.

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 masjid, you should pray two rakahs before you sit down."

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 2.52 Narrated by Jabir bin Abdullah

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

The Messenger of Allah (saws) guided the believers that whenever they enter any masjid they should offer a two-rakah ‘nafl’ prayer before they sit down. Thus if for any reason one happens to enter the masjid late on Fridays and finds the Imam already delivering the sermon, one should offer a short two-rakah ‘nafl’ prayer before he sits down to listen to the balance sermon. This two-rakah prayer offered when one enters any masjid is known in jurisprudence as ‘tahiyatul-masjid’ prayers.

Q-3: They recite "Mahshar" while holding a pole,

We honestly don’t have a clue what exact does reciting of a ‘Mashar’ imply or mean, but we absolutely assure you that it is not from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws)!

Q-4: The imam is prolonging the KHUTBAH. WHEN IT SHOULD BE SHORT.

Jabir related that the Prophet (saws) would not make his sermons on Friday too long, but give a very short ‘khutbah’.

Related by Abu Dawud.

Q-5: The imam making long supplications permitting the people to raise hands and shout Ameen
It is from the Sunnah for the ‘Imam’ to make supplications for the believers and the Ummah during the Friday sermon, but because the guidance of the Prophet (saws) is to strive to make the Friday sermon short, the supplications made by the ‘Imam’ in the sermon must be appropriate in length.

Q-6: The imam making the prayer short when this should be long.

The Sunnah of the Prophet (saws) was never to recite extremely long Surahs in any of the obligatory prayers, including the Jumua or Friday prayer. It is reported in several authentic narrations that during the Friday mid-day prayers, more often than not, the Prophet (saws) would recite either Surah 62 Al-Jumuah, or Surah 63 Al-Munafeqoon, or Surah 87 Al-Aala in the first rakah and Surah 88 Al-Ghashiya in the second rakah.

Q-7: The imam permitting children to be in the front ranks when they should be in the rear.

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 1.116 (part)

Abdullah ibn Ghanam related that Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (r.a.) gathered together the people of his tribe saying, " O Tribe of Ash'ari, gather together, and gather your women and children to teach them how the Messenger of Allah (saws) prayed with us in Madinah." They all gathered to watch him perform ablution. After it, he waited until the sun had just passed the meridian and there was some shade, and then he made the adhan. He put the men in the row closest to him, the children in a row behind the men, and the women in a row behind the children.

The practice of the Messenger of Allah (saws) in setting the rows for congregational prayers was that the men formed the rows immediately behind the ‘imam’ leading the prayer; then the rows of children (below the age of puberty) were formed after the rows of men; and then the rows of women after the children.

Although prayer in congregation is not obligatory for children until they reach the age of puberty, it would be prudent for believing parents to encourage their children to attend the congregational prayers along with them, so that this blissful habit may be formed in their children from an early age.

Although the prayer of the adults is not invalidated simply because children are standing along with the adults in prayer, if one offers prayers in a mosque where there is an arrangement made for all the children to stand in a separate row behind the adult believers, or some amongst the adult believers are uncomfortable or cannot concentrate on their prayers with the children amongst them; one must talk to their children with love and tenderness, and explain to them that it would be best if they stood in the row of children behind the adult believers in the normal congregational prayers.

During the larger prayers like the Friday mid-day prayer, or the Eid prayers, or when one is fortunate enough to pray in the Sacred House in Makkah, or the Prophet’s (saws) mosque in Madinah, etc. when a large number of believers are gathered and one obviously fears for the safety of their children wandering away or getting lost, there is absolutely no harm in keeping one’s children close to them and their praying beside them in congregation.

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