The Time of the Friday Prayer
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Regarding the Friday prayer, is it valid to perform it before the sun reaches its zenith?
Yes, if your imam in your country prays, then pray, even if he prays before dawn, pray. You know now that the Friday prayer, no one performs it except after the sun reaches its zenith; because the majority of scholars hold that it is not performed except after the sun reaches its zenith, and I do not know of anyone who differed and performed it before the sun reached its zenith.As for the scholars, they differed regarding the entry of its time: -So some of them said: The time for the Friday prayer begins from when the sun rises the height of a spear,Meaning: The entry of the time for the Friday prayer is like the entry of the time for the festival prayer until the afternoon prayer.
-And some said: The time for the Friday prayer begins after five o'clock,Meaning: at six o'clock,Meaning: one hour before the sun reaches its zenith.
-And some said: It does not begin except after the sun reaches its zenith, like the midday prayer.
So there is scholarly disagreement in this matter; but we—praise be to Allah—are governed by a government that follows the Shari'ah, and a person should not deviate from the people. The Committee of Senior Scholars in the Kingdom has issued a prohibition against any of the Friday imams advancing before the sun reaches its zenith; following the majority of scholars, so that the word is unified, and so that no one advances and prays before the sun reaches its zenith, then this becomes an excuse for the one who lags behind the Friday prayer if he is ordered to say: I prayed in such-and-such a mosque. Do you know the scholars' disagreement?! As for the practical aspect: So it is obligatory for the imams to follow what the one in authority orders them to do; because this is from the permissible matters, it is not forbidden,And I said: if your imam prays before dawn from the standpoint of obligation, otherwise there is no one who wants to pray the Friday prayer before dawn; but a person follows what the authorities order him to do.
Yes, if your imam in your country prays, then pray, even if he prays before dawn, pray. You know now that the Friday prayer, no one performs it except after the sun reaches its zenith; because the majority of scholars hold that it is not performed except after the sun reaches its zenith, and I do not know of anyone who differed and performed it before the sun reached its zenith.As for the scholars, they differed regarding the entry of its time: -So some of them said: The time for the Friday prayer begins from when the sun rises the height of a spear,Meaning: The entry of the time for the Friday prayer is like the entry of the time for the festival prayer until the afternoon prayer.
-And some said: The time for the Friday prayer begins after five o'clock,Meaning: at six o'clock,Meaning: one hour before the sun reaches its zenith.
-And some said: It does not begin except after the sun reaches its zenith, like the midday prayer.
So there is scholarly disagreement in this matter; but we—praise be to Allah—are governed by a government that follows the Shari'ah, and a person should not deviate from the people. The Committee of Senior Scholars in the Kingdom has issued a prohibition against any of the Friday imams advancing before the sun reaches its zenith; following the majority of scholars, so that the word is unified, and so that no one advances and prays before the sun reaches its zenith, then this becomes an excuse for the one who lags behind the Friday prayer if he is ordered to say: I prayed in such-and-such a mosque. Do you know the scholars' disagreement?! As for the practical aspect: So it is obligatory for the imams to follow what the one in authority orders them to do; because this is from the permissible matters, it is not forbidden,And I said: if your imam prays before dawn from the standpoint of obligation, otherwise there is no one who wants to pray the Friday prayer before dawn; but a person follows what the authorities order him to do.