How did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recite Surah "Q" on Friday?

The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. It is established from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that he used to recite "Q" on Friday. Did he merely recite it and then, meaning, conclude the sermon, or did he comment on it? What was the manner of it?

The Shaykh : Just recitation, no commentary!

The questioner : Excuse me, Shaykh, what about on the festival?

The Shaykh : In the Friday prayer and in the festival prayer, is it a recommended practice in both?

The questioner : If one recites it and sits, is that sufficient?

The Shaykh : Yes, but it is not with us. It suffices with the first Arabs who understood the Noble Qur'an recited to them. But today, whether it is recited to Arabs or non-Arabs—both are the same!—there is little understanding and reflection.
On this occasion, I will tell you a story about how people's minds are distracted and their language is foreign, even if their name is Arab. About thirty years ago, I went to a summer resort in Damascus, about fifty kilometers from Damascus, called Madya, a high mountain with pleasant, cool air. So, in the Fajr prayer, I went down to the mosque on Friday morning, on the morning of Friday. We prayed the greeting of the mosque and sat down. The prayer was called, and they looked and did not find the regular imam! So they looked at me, thinking I had some knowledge, and they put me forward. The reality is that I do not memorize Surah "Q" well, so...

The questioner: ...Surat al-Sajdah.

The Shaykh : Excuse me, Surah al-Sajdah, and also Surah al-Dahr. So I recited for them in the first rak'ah about one and a half pages from Surah al-Kahf, not from Surah Maryam. The people were accustomed in every Friday Fajr prayer for the imam to go down into prostration with the second takbir; because he had recited a prostration verse. I did not recite for them from Surah al-Sajdah, I recited for them from Surah "Kahif" (Kahf), about one and a half pages. I said the takbir bowing, and if you had seen all the people going down into prostration!

The questioner : They were accustomed!

The Shaykh : Yes, the mosque, although it is small, has a long pulpit, which cuts across the first row and perhaps the second. So the congregation behind me noticed that I was not prostrating, so they realized their mistake, and they stood up and joined me in the bowing. As for those behind the pulpit, they remained prostrating, until they heard me say: "Allah hears the one who praises Him." There was a commotion, noise, and clamor among them. Allah knows what they said about this imam whom they were afflicted with! After I finished the prayer, I admonished them a little. I said to them: O people, are you Arabs or non-Arabs? By Allah, if this story had happened in a country of the non-Arabs, it would have been considered the most reprehensible thing. You do not distinguish between and , and are not all verses different from the prostration verse? But it appears that your minds and thoughts are behind the cattle, the crops, and the milk, as he (peace be upon him) said in the authentic hadith: . Then we explained to them that although it is a recommended practice to recite Surah al-Sajdah in the first rak'ah, and Surah al-Dahr in the other; this is something the imam should sometimes leave off, out of fear that the general public will understand it to be an obligatory requirement that must be fulfilled. And they—meaning, like that, prostrating—while they had not heard the recitation of Surah al-Sajdah, is a practical proof that the congregation has been impressed with the idea that the imam—any imam—must pray al-Sajdah on Friday morning. And this is what the Hanafi scholars have stated explicitly, that it is recommended for imams to leave that off—sometimes—from the perspective of repelling the greater evil with the lesser evil.