What is the ruling on what some reciters do, which is reciting Surat al-Ikhlas for the worshippers after the first adhan on Friday?

The questioner : It is known that acts of worship in Islam are not established except by a text from the Book of Allah or the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Therefore, it is not permissible to innovate a dhikr or an actual act of worship without evidence from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger. So what is the ruling on some of what some people or some mu'adhdhins do at the Friday prayer, after the first adhan, when the mu'adhdhin recites Surat al-Ikhlas, twice or three times, to alert the people, as he says, to the prayer and its iqamah, or to the khutbah? What is the ruling on this action?

The Shaykh : There is no doubt or hesitation in the fact that such a matter is, as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) indicated in some hadiths, among the newly invented matters. There is no doubt that the matter was, in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), on Friday and in all five prayers on the other days of the week, that there was nothing but the adhan and the iqamah. There was nothing that preceded the adhan or followed the adhan, just as there was nothing that preceded the iqamah or followed the iqamah, from the mu'adhdhin and the one who gives the iqamah. If the matter is so, we must keep in mind what our Prophet (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) used to preach to the Companions every Friday. He would begin the Friday khutbah by saying: And he would say in the Friday khutbah: , and in a hadith or in a narration of al-Nasa'i, it was added: . If it is true, and it is truly so, that the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), then it is not permissible for a Muslim who truly believes in Allah and His Messenger to precede him in what has come to us from the Shari'ah of his Lord, by adding or subtracting. The matter is, as the common people say in some lands, "the excess is the brother of the deficiency." Is the man who prays Fajr three or four rak'ahs like the one who prays Maghrib four or two? There is no difference between the two matters, because both are contrary to what the Messenger (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) brought. It is not said here, as is said by many of the heedless and ignorant, "My brother, this is in the obligatory prayer," meaning they immediately agree that it is not permissible to pray Fajr three or four rak'ahs, and they immediately agree that it is not permissible to pray Maghrib four or two rak'ahs. Their answer, they claim, is "this is an obligation." We say, "All praise is to Allah that we agreed on the obligation. Now let us descend to what is not an obligation, to the Sunnah. Is it permissible for you to pray the Sunnah of Fajr three or four rak'ahs?" Here the poor man is stunned, because he is among the heedless. And if he wakes up after a long time and effort, we say to him, "May Allah reward you with good." When he realizes that it is also not permissible to add, even in this voluntary prayer, we then thank him for this realization and move to the point of the matter, as it is said, and to the place of disagreement. So what is the difference between an adhan that has an addition preceding it, or an addition at its end?