The Shaykh’s reminder that the Friday bath is obligatory.

The Shaykh : I am telling you something now, and by that I mean reminding some people of an obligation. In my experience in this long life that our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) has bestowed upon me, most people do not fulfill this obligation. It is based on his (peace be upon him) saying: . If a man satisfies his desire with his wife on the night of Friday, he must bathe after the dawn breaks for Friday. However, if he does not bathe, his prayer is valid, but he has left off this obligation. This is because this obligation is not attached to the prayer itself, but to the day of Friday. This makes a person aware of the importance of this ruling on certain days in certain months, especially in this time when people are afflicted with wearing nylon socks. One of them comes to the mosque on Friday, and he may be a worker or a laborer. You hear, especially when you prostrate and he is prostrating in front of you, a very foul smell. I judge immediately that he did not bathe. Allah knows best; perhaps he performed wudu for the Fajr prayer and is coming to pray Friday with that wudu. Because of his work and walking, and it is summer with flies and dust and so on, this foul smell comes out. So he (peace be upon him) directed the Muslim community, as a life that continues on all days of the year, that the Muslim should bathe on Friday. Thus he (peace be upon him) said in clear Arabic: . The meaning of "muhtilim" is an adult who is accountable.
Today, many people do not perform this bath. They bathe for the sake of cleanliness, and there is no harm in that, but it must be a bath specifically for the day of Friday. It was reported in al-Hakim's al-Mustadrak that Abu Qatadah al-Ansari entered his son’s house while he was bathing and said, "What is this bath?" He said, "This is the bath for major ritual impurity." He said, "Add to it the Friday bath." Then he mentioned this hadith. The point is: if a person does not bathe, he commits a sin, but the Friday prayer is valid, because this is not a condition of the Friday prayer. I have made this meaning clear to you, I think?

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

The questioner : People today, in the present time, in those days... on Friday they would bathe, even if just once. Today, every morning they bathe.

The Shaykh : It appears you are talking about yourself [Everyone laughs!]. He is not measuring people by himself! [Everyone laughs!]. It appears, Abu Khudr, that your school of thought is the one that says: a man who has intercourse with his wife and goes out to enjoy the seashore, slips, falls into the sea, and comes out. What is he? Pure. That is your apparent school of thought.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : No, we are not in a position to make him impure or pure. We are in a position to ask: did this person bathe for major ritual impurity? According to your school of thought, he bathed. But according to the school of the one who says: , he did not bathe. And so, when you say and assume a hypothesis, it is a relative matter, as I told you. You, for example, bathe two or three times a week, Allah knows best, but not everyone has the opportunity for this... Suppose a person is as you say; he bathes two or three times a week, but he did not bathe in order to comply with the command of the Messenger. And do not forget, drink with your left hand. Be careful, pay attention.

Another questioner : Abu Khudr is ruining the youth.

The Shaykh : Why?
... ... ...

Another questioner : ... that Abu Qatadah entered his son’s house while he was bathing, and asked him about the bath? He told him: "Bath for major ritual impurity." He told him: "Add another bath to it." What does that mean? What is its meaning... Friday?

The Shaykh : It means he bathed for major ritual impurity so that he could pray, because he is pure, but he is commanded to pour water a second time for the Friday bath.

Another questioner : The intention for Friday.

The Shaykh : Do you understand?

The questioner : The bath for major ritual impurity is obligatory, and the Friday bath is a recommended practice. Do we combine the obligatory and the recommended?

The Shaykh : It is not up to me to say it this way, especially after you heard with me the saying of the Messenger: . It is obligatory, how can we say it is a recommended practice?

Another questioner : By Allah, it is clear.