What is the ruling on delivering the lesson that is given before the Friday sermon?
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The Shaykh : On Friday, it is a matter specific to Friday. So, I understand that this prohibition is also reasonable in meaning, because you know, and we have always mentioned this when this issue is raised, so I do not know what the reason is for raising the issue again and elaborating on it.
The questioner : A new doubt has appeared to us.
The Shaykh : Whoever holds fast to the Sunnah is not affected by new doubts. You know the command of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), or more clearly, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) originally encouraged his noble Companions, and those who came after them followed suit, to hasten to the mosque on Friday. As you know, the hadith in al-Bukhari:Muwatta Malik 5:1 to the end of the hadith; then the other hadiths which include: Sahih Ibn Hibban 10:1094, Sahih al-Bukhari 5734, . How can one reconcile these matters in which the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) encouraged with extreme encouragement, with the permissibility of the imam teaching before his sermon? How is this possible? And how can we imagine a lesson being delivered before the sermon, followed by a sermon on the pulpit, when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was not known for this practice throughout his blessed life? If he had not prohibited gathering in circles on Friday, it would have been sufficient that it was not the practice of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the first place. Furthermore, it disrupts the system he (peace be upon him) established for those entering the mosque on Friday, which is to hasten and engage in remembrance and prayer as long as he wishes, as mentioned in the hadith. How can this be reconciled with the permissibility of gathering in circles on Friday, i.e., teaching on Friday, while disturbing these people? Knowing that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) one day heard raised voices in the mosque, and it was not a Friday, so he pulled aside the curtain and said: . And what harm is greater than harming the masses of worshippers on Friday with a lesson that disturbs those present? So, what is this new doubt that...?
The questioner : Okay, Shaykh, can we also argue against them that there must be a separation between the obligatory prayer and the recommended practice? That is, since they recommend this lesson, they are mixing this lesson with the Friday sermon, so there is no separation. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded the separation between the obligatory and the recommended, so is it not more fitting that this argument is acceptable and has a basis?
The Shaykh : It is weaker than a spider’s web; it has no basis.
Another questioner : Some argue with the athar whose chain has been authenticated from Abu Hurayrah that he used to take the branch of a tree...
The Shaykh : It is not an argument. How can one argue with an athar that contradicts the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?
The questioner : They say it does not contradict it, but rather it clarifies that the intended meaning of the circle, i.e., gathering in circles, is...?
The Shaykh : As if you have not heard the previously mentioned response!
The questioner : I heard it.
The Shaykh : Okay, what is the meaning of this statement?
The questioner : They say...
The Shaykh : No problem, my brother, they say, you say it. They say such and such, so you say to them such and such. Say what you heard, how do they reconcile this statement? Leave the gathering in circles aside; our discussion now is not about gathering in circles, okay? How do they interpret the prohibition of gathering in circles?
The questioner : By the act of the circle.
The Shaykh : Is that not so? If we gather like this, andThe Shaykh : he stands to deliver the lesson, correct? The alleged gathering in circles is gone by their claim?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And what happened to the objections we mentioned earlier?
The questioner : They remain valid.
The Shaykh : Okay, why did you keep this issue valid?
Al-Halabi : There is another argument, which is in the hadith itself. In a narration of the hadith, he prohibited gathering in circles...
Another questioner : Some, of course, from those who defend the absence of the lesson, argued that the one who narrated this hadith is 'Amr ibn 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As, and he is...
The questioner : 'Amr ibn Shu'ayb from his father from his grandfather.
Al-Halabi : It is the same person.
The questioner : And he resided in Egypt, so perhaps the athar or this Sunnah did not reach the Companions who taught in Madinah. And he brought a witness for it from Sahih Muslim that Ibn 'Umar used to lease agricultural land in the time of the Messenger of Allah, Abu Bakr, and 'Umar, until the command came to him from Rafi' ibn Khudayj that the Messenger of Allah had prohibited it, so he stopped. Is this argument appropriate or inappropriate?
The Shaykh : What does this concern us, my brother? What is the benefit of all this speech? What is it based on?
The questioner : It is based on the fact that if the prohibition reached Abu Hurayrah, how did he do this?
The Shaykh : How do you know that it reached him?
The questioner : I am saying, for example.
The Shaykh : Okay, and I am saying with you, but this explanation you are giving confirms to you that it did not reach him? No, the original principle is that a Companion does not contradict the hadith. And I said once, after studying the chain of this athar, that Abu Hurayrah may have done this for incidental reasons, just as we say regarding supplication in the Friday sermon; it is not prescribed, but for an incidental matter it is prescribed. But we do not have evidence that Abu Hurayrah did this every Friday, every Friday, his whole life. We do not have that.
The questioner : Okay, Shaykh, on the same topic, can we argue against the opponents that the prohibition in the hadith implies invalidity by this principle of jurisprudence, just as it is a prohibition of buying and selling and searching for lost items, and also a prohibition of this act, and all of these fall under...
The Shaykh : This statement is not applicable. What invalidity? The invalidity of what?
The questioner : The invalidity of the act at this time.
The questioner : The prohibited act, gathering in circles.
Al-Halabi : Shaykh, our brother Abu Anas, from a book by the Imam al-'Ala'i, "Tabyin al-Murad fi anna al-Nahy Yuqtadi al-Fasad" (Clarifying the Intention that Prohibition Implies Invalidity), because this chapter...
The Shaykh : But this has no relation to the issue; it is a matter concerning gathering in circles!
The questioner : A new doubt has appeared to us.
The Shaykh : Whoever holds fast to the Sunnah is not affected by new doubts. You know the command of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), or more clearly, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) originally encouraged his noble Companions, and those who came after them followed suit, to hasten to the mosque on Friday. As you know, the hadith in al-Bukhari:
Yahya related to me from Malik from Sumayy, the mawla of Abu Bakr ibn Abd ar-Rahman, from Abu Salih as-Sammani from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "If someone does ghusl for major ritual impurity on the day of jumua and then goes in the first part of the time, it is as if he had offered up a camel. If he goes in the second part of the time, it is as if he had offered up a cow. If he goes in the third part of the time, it is as if he had offered up a horned ram. If he goes in the fourth part of the time, it is as if he had offered up a hen. If he goes in the fifth part of the time, it is as if he had offered up an egg. And when the imam comes out, the angels settle down listening to the dhikr (remembrance of Allah)."
من راح في الساعة الأولى فكأنما قرب بدنة ...Then he prayed as long as he wished
ثم صلى ما بدا لهwhat Allah has ordained for him
ما كتب الله لهThen he sat and listened when the imam ascended and delivered the sermon, and Allah forgave him what was between the Friday and the following Friday
ثم جلس وأنصت إذا صعد الإمام وخطب غفر الله له ما بين الجمعة والجمعة التي تليهاO people, each of you is conversing with his Lord, so do not raise your voices over one another in recitation, thereby harming the believers
يا أيها الناس كلكم يناجي ربه, فلا يجهر بعضكم على بعض بالقراءة فتؤذوا المؤمنينThe questioner : Okay, Shaykh, can we also argue against them that there must be a separation between the obligatory prayer and the recommended practice? That is, since they recommend this lesson, they are mixing this lesson with the Friday sermon, so there is no separation. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded the separation between the obligatory and the recommended, so is it not more fitting that this argument is acceptable and has a basis?
The Shaykh : It is weaker than a spider’s web; it has no basis.
Another questioner : Some argue with the athar whose chain has been authenticated from Abu Hurayrah that he used to take the branch of a tree...
The Shaykh : It is not an argument. How can one argue with an athar that contradicts the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?
The questioner : They say it does not contradict it, but rather it clarifies that the intended meaning of the circle, i.e., gathering in circles, is...?
The Shaykh : As if you have not heard the previously mentioned response!
The questioner : I heard it.
The Shaykh : Okay, what is the meaning of this statement?
The questioner : They say...
The Shaykh : No problem, my brother, they say, you say it. They say such and such, so you say to them such and such. Say what you heard, how do they reconcile this statement? Leave the gathering in circles aside; our discussion now is not about gathering in circles, okay? How do they interpret the prohibition of gathering in circles?
The questioner : By the act of the circle.
The Shaykh : Is that not so? If we gather like this, andThe Shaykh : he stands to deliver the lesson, correct? The alleged gathering in circles is gone by their claim?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And what happened to the objections we mentioned earlier?
The questioner : They remain valid.
The Shaykh : Okay, why did you keep this issue valid?
Al-Halabi : There is another argument, which is in the hadith itself. In a narration of the hadith, he prohibited gathering in circles...
Another questioner : Some, of course, from those who defend the absence of the lesson, argued that the one who narrated this hadith is 'Amr ibn 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As, and he is...
The questioner : 'Amr ibn Shu'ayb from his father from his grandfather.
Al-Halabi : It is the same person.
The questioner : And he resided in Egypt, so perhaps the athar or this Sunnah did not reach the Companions who taught in Madinah. And he brought a witness for it from Sahih Muslim that Ibn 'Umar used to lease agricultural land in the time of the Messenger of Allah, Abu Bakr, and 'Umar, until the command came to him from Rafi' ibn Khudayj that the Messenger of Allah had prohibited it, so he stopped. Is this argument appropriate or inappropriate?
The Shaykh : What does this concern us, my brother? What is the benefit of all this speech? What is it based on?
The questioner : It is based on the fact that if the prohibition reached Abu Hurayrah, how did he do this?
The Shaykh : How do you know that it reached him?
The questioner : I am saying, for example.
The Shaykh : Okay, and I am saying with you, but this explanation you are giving confirms to you that it did not reach him? No, the original principle is that a Companion does not contradict the hadith. And I said once, after studying the chain of this athar, that Abu Hurayrah may have done this for incidental reasons, just as we say regarding supplication in the Friday sermon; it is not prescribed, but for an incidental matter it is prescribed. But we do not have evidence that Abu Hurayrah did this every Friday, every Friday, his whole life. We do not have that.
The questioner : Okay, Shaykh, on the same topic, can we argue against the opponents that the prohibition in the hadith implies invalidity by this principle of jurisprudence, just as it is a prohibition of buying and selling and searching for lost items, and also a prohibition of this act, and all of these fall under...
The Shaykh : This statement is not applicable. What invalidity? The invalidity of what?
The questioner : The invalidity of the act at this time.
The questioner : The prohibited act, gathering in circles.
Al-Halabi : Shaykh, our brother Abu Anas, from a book by the Imam al-'Ala'i, "Tabyin al-Murad fi anna al-Nahy Yuqtadi al-Fasad" (Clarifying the Intention that Prohibition Implies Invalidity), because this chapter...
The Shaykh : But this has no relation to the issue; it is a matter concerning gathering in circles!
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.