Clarification of the ruling on holding scholarly circles before the Friday prayer.

The Shaykh : ... in the recitation, so you cause harm to the believers; therefore, based on the hadith mentioned earlier: "He forbade forming circles on Friday," and based on this collection of evidence, it is not permissible for a teacher to teach people before the Friday prayer. If teaching is absolutely necessary, let it be after the prayer. I know that many people argue that if we do not teach before the prayer, the people will disperse after the prayer and no one will remain with us. We say to them: Then you want to force people to listen to your lesson against their will.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : This is not permissible. This reminds me of an Umayyad innovation. Perhaps you know that the Sunnah in the festival prayer is for the sermon to come after the prayer, unlike the Friday prayer. The festival prayer is performed, and then the sermon follows. One of the Umayyad caliphs, Marwan ibn al-Hakam, reversed this; he gave the sermon before the prayer. Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up to him and said to him: "You have contradicted the Sunnah, O Marwan." He said to him: "What is there is gone." He did not care, meaning, it is gone with the death of the Messenger. What was this poor man's argument? He said: Because if he follows the Sunnah, prays the festival prayer, and then gives the sermon, no one sits to listen to him. Why? Because he did not give a sermon from which the attendees would benefit. Do you see how it is? And so do the rulers who impose their desires, and so do the preachers and teachers who impose their desires. So you, O teacher, if you truly want to benefit people, you do not force people to listen to you; rather, you give them the choice. Our Lord said regarding what is greater than that, regarding faith: , . No, this preacher-teacher, if he truly wants the benefit for people, says at the end of the sermon: O people, I have a sermon, I have a word, I have a lesson I will deliver to you after the next Friday prayer. So whoever wishes, let him sit and listen, and whoever wishes, let him leave. This is how the matter should be!

The questioner : What is the position... our Shaykh, if they are ordered to do this?

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner : The position of the imams and preachers who are ordered to do this. Ordered that you give a lesson before?

The Shaykh : In that case, the accountability goes back up, or this person resigns from the job and arranges his affairs if he is able.