What is the ruling on giving lessons on Friday before the sermon?

The Shaykh : Go ahead, what do you have?

The questioner: And by Allah, I am asking this question, meaning I am not a scholar or a jurist.

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

The questioner: Whether the imam, or a student of knowledge, or the shaykh, when he comes to give a lesson at ten o'clock or nine o'clock on fiqh, does this mean it is prohibited? Or is it...?

The Shaykh : When, when?

The questioner: On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

The Shaykh : This was anticipated in the answer, may Allah reward you.

The questioner: We came just now, we arrived at this hour.

The Shaykh: No, no, not now.

The questioner: No, the shaykh brought the hadith about gathering in circles.

The Shaykh: No problem, I tell you the answer was given by your presence.

The questioner: At ten o'clock, if he came at eight o'clock and brought fiqh and stood up to teach illiterate people about the religion, is this prohibited, or is it a gathering in circles, or is it a good deed?
The student : ... .

The questioner: No, let me be here, may Allah reward you with good, let me stay on...

The Shaykh: ... I am saying that the answer was given, and he is saying to me... there is a hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that says: , , and in another narration: , so it is not permissible for anyone, while people are entering the mosque, at least to pray two rak'ahs as the greeting of the mosque, and that one to pray as much voluntary prayer as he wishes on Friday; because it is authentically reported from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in more than one hadith: So this person who enters the mosque and wants to pray two rak'ahs or more than two rak'ahs, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And I am sitting and teaching, is he disturbing me or not? A question for you, the one who says you are a layman. Being a layman, you may be so, but you are a sane, mature, understanding person, and so on. I am speaking now about if someone is talking there, is he disturbing me or not?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: Okay, so if you entered the mosque on Friday and wanted to pray two rak'ahs or four or whatever Allah has decreed for you, and I am teaching, are you not disturbing? Say it plainly.

The questioner: There is disturbance, but just two rak'ahs and then I will sit.

The Shaykh: Why do you say two rak'ahs? I am telling you what the Messenger said.

The questioner: I am listening to the fiqh.

The Shaykh : Listen, may Allah guide you.

The questioner: Go ahead.

The Shaykh: I am narrating to you the hadith of the Messenger, if you are not comprehending it, we will stop with you to clarify its meaning to you. What Allah has not written for him, he did not say two rak'ahs.

The questioner: It could be eight.

The Shaykh: These two rak'ahs are necessary because they are the greeting of the mosque, but if he wants to do voluntary prayer, would you tell him, "You do not pray except two rak'ahs," while he is intending to pray ten? Can you tell him: "No, do not pray except two rak'ahs," right?

The questioner: No, I cannot tell him that.

The Shaykh: Okay, then stay with me. You entered the mosque on Friday and I am teaching. You prayed two rak'ahs or four or more than that. Are you not disturbed by my teaching?

The questioner: I am disturbed.

The Shaykh: Okay, for this reason the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited gathering in circles on Friday.

The questioner: Our Shaykh.

The Shaykh: Because, please.

The questioner: Please, go ahead.

The Shaykh: Enough of what has passed.

The questioner: But one last sentence.

The Shaykh: Enough of what has passed. What does the common proverb say? "The experienced one is not tested." He is not tested. The important thing is, if you prayed two rak'ahs or four, you will be disturbed. From what cause? It is me. I am here, I have contradicted the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) who said: . Reading the Qur'an, if one person sat on Friday and wanted to read Surat al-Kahf, as the encouragement to do so has come, he would not raise his voice. Why? Because this person entered from here and started praying two rak'ahs, and that one is still finishing four, and another person entered, just as you see them on Friday, people always following one another until the mosque is full. So this reader or that teacher disturbs all of them. And the jurists rightly said it is not permissible for a Muslim to raise his voice in reading the Qur'an if there is a man sleeping in the mosque. A sleeping man, you must not disturb him. Read quietly, especially since reading quietly is better than reading aloud, except in some cases. So what about you disturbing the one who is reading, the one who is praying, the one who is remembering his Lord, the one who is sending blessings upon the Prophet, and so on? All these meanings, when the jurist comes to the hadith But why don't you leave your teaching until after Friday, after people have finished praying two or four rak'ahs? I know why? Why do some jurists lengthen the sermon and make people bored, and we say, "O people, this is contrary to the Sunnah, and this is a known matter agreed upon by scholars"? What does he say? He says, "These people are present now. If we tell them we want to do a lesson after the prayer, they will all leave and turn their backs." Yes, do you want to impose your opinion and your lesson on people against their will? No, do the lesson, and whoever wants to sit and listen sits with complete comfort, and whoever does not want to listen... And the Companions of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) were not all at the same level. You have from Abu Bakr al-Siddiq to that Bedouin whom some described as one who urinates on his heels, a Bedouin who did not know what Islam was. He heard about the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), came to him, heard two or three words from the Messenger, Allah guided him and he believed and left, but he still did not know about Islam. And perhaps the hadith of that Bedouin who entered the mosque and uncovered his garment and wanted to do what? Urinate in the mosque, has reached you. Did he understand Islam? The Companions of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) rushed at him wanting to strike him, and he said: and so on. This was the case among the Companions, like Abu Bakr, and there was also this Bedouin Arab who urinates on his heels. So people are not equal. These people present for the Friday sermon, we must not put them under a fait accompli, imprisoning them for half an hour, for example. No, make the sermon as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . If you want to do a lesson and teach people, do the lesson after the prayer. After the prayer, whoever wants to sits, whoever wants to leaves, and so on. And what indicates that people are not all equal is the story of the one known as Dhu al-Yadayn (the one with the two hands). The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) one day prayed the midday or afternoon prayer two rak'ahs, made a mistake, and said the taslim. He moved to the side of the mosque. No one from his Companions spoke except one who had long arms, so he was nicknamed Dhu al-Yadayn. He said to him: "O Messenger of Allah, did the prayer become short, or did you forget?" He said: . He said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah, it was so." He looked at his Companions and said: . They said: "Yes." He returned, completed two rak'ahs, and prostrated the two prostrations of forgetfulness.
The hadith states that when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed two rak'ahs instead of four, the hurried people left. But not all of them were in a state where they needed to stay to complete the dhikr, takbir, and hamd, and so on. These hurried people are not required to be shackled or forced to sit for half an hour listening to the khutbah. No, if you want to give them a lesson, give it after the prayer. Then whoever wishes to sit may sit, and whoever wishes to leave may leave. The point now is: on Friday, people come in groups and individually. At the very least, they must pray two rak'ahs. If he wishes to perform voluntary prayer, as the righteous Salaf did, some of them would pray eight rak'ahs before the Jumu'ah prayer. And if he prays two rak'ahs and sits, he should either recite something from his memorized Qur'an or say: Subhan Allah, Alhamdulillah, La ilaha illa Allah, and Allahu Akbar. This is the best speech after the Qur'an, as stated in the authentic hadith. The important thing is that a Muslim should not sit there deaf and dumb. What should he occupy his time with? With the remembrance of Allah, with sending blessings upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Especially since he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . They said: How is that, O Messenger of Allah, when we are in distress? He said: . Therefore, the Muslim sitting in the mosque at this time is in obedience and worship. So it is not permissible for a scholar, a jurist, a learned man, or a self-proclaimed scholar—Allah knows best about him—to come and occupy all of them with his lesson. They came for a specific worship on Friday. This is why, when we come to the hadith prohibiting gathering in circles on Friday, scholars interpret it as an example of the principle of sadd al-dhara'i' (blocking the means to harm). What does sadd al-dhara'i' mean? It means cutting off the cause that leads to harm. So teaching on Friday, which you are asking about, disturbs the worshippers. It is like the khatib who lengthens the khutbah so that everyone hears his sermon against their will. No, my brother, these Muslims sitting now are not all the same. Some come while the khatib is already preaching, some come five minutes early, some ten minutes early, and some, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . So among the people are the hurried and the slow. They attended the mosque to worship Allah (Mighty and Majestic), a specific worship at that time. I mentioned to you that it is either prayer, or the remembrance of Allah, or sending blessings upon the Messenger of Allah. So the teacher's instruction at this time disturbs them. In that case, it contradicts his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: . The Qur'an is the best speech, better than the speech of the khatib and the teacher. So it is not permissible to cause disturbance. If you note this, you have received your answer completely: if the time is a time of worship and obedience, teaching is not permissible. But if the time is not a time of specific obedience, then there is a time for teaching. Therefore, we advise the khatibs who lengthen their khutbahs to shorten them as much as possible, and it is necessary. We all feel that sometimes an issue arises that needs clarification. It should be pointed out that this issue needs clarification, and I will do so after the sunnah prayer following the obligatory prayer. Then whoever wishes may sit. This combines, as the jurists say, realizing the maslahah (public benefit) and repelling the mafsadah (harm). This is how knowledge should be. As for us, we take things with unbridled emotions that have no limits. No, the best of things is the middle. Excess is wrong. We do not forbid knowledge, but knowledge has its place. Now, let me give you an example: and so on. We all know that this is not Qur'an, but rather du'a' (supplication), and the Qur'an is better. Do you see if one recites al-Fatihah in the tashahhud instead of the tahiyat, is it better? Say no, and do not be afraid. It is not better, even though the Qur'an is better and al-Fatihah is better. But the Wise Lawgiver made a specific worship for every time. He made a specific worship for every time. You are sitting for the tashahhud; what is the worship? The tahiyat. You do not recite al-Fatihah, nor do you recite anything from the Qur'an at all. And when you are prostrating, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . But if you recite the Qur'an in prostration, and likewise in bowing, you have disobeyed Allah. This is not a matter of intellect, but of transmission. The issue is one of following, not innovating. So the one entering the mosque on Friday is not seeking knowledge, but for the remembrance of Allah. Seeking knowledge has other times. Have I clarified the answer for you? Come, let's go to the sweets.

The questioner: May Allah reward you.

The Shaykh : And beware of that.