The Book of Jumu'ah, the Two Festivals, the Prayer for Rain, the Eclipse Prayer, and Funerals-01a

The reciter: And Qutaybah ibn Sa'id narrated to us from Malik ibn Anas, in what was read to him, from Sami, the freed slave of Abu Bakr, from Abu al-Salih al-Samman, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .

The Shaykh : This contains an encouragement to arrive early on Friday, and that one attains this reward on the condition that he has taken a bath, . Here, it is from the category of attributing a thing to its description, meaning the bath that is like the bath for major ritual impurity, and not from attributing a thing to its cause. This is because the bath for major ritual impurity is obligatory, whether on Friday or otherwise. But what is intended is a bath like the bath for major ritual impurity, so the tool of comparison was omitted to emphasize the comparison. For they mentioned that comparison is divided into four categories: emphatic and eloquent, emphatic but not eloquent, eloquent but not emphatic, and plain. If the tool and the point of comparison are mentioned, that is the weakest type of comparison, like saying: So-and-so is like the sea in generosity, or in generosity. This is the weakest. If it is said: So-and-so is a sea, and this is an eloquent comparison, then this is the strongest. What remains is one degree, and it becomes a metaphor, like saying: I saw a sea scattering dinars. This is known in the science of rhetoric.
The important point is his saying: How is the comparison emphasized? Because when the tool of comparison is omitted, the thing compared to becomes as if it were the thing being compared.
His saying: : His saying "then went" means: in the first hour, as it came in some wordings. And his saying "then went in the second" indicates this. And "going" here is not what happens after the sun passes its zenith, as some scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) said. But what is intended by "going" is simply departing. And this language is still known even in our custom now. It is said: So-and-so went to such-and-such, meaning: he went, even if it is at night. So the meaning of "went" is "went." : The difference in reward between the hours to this far difference is not for us to decide, because the estimation of reward belongs to the Shari'ah, so it is from the matters that are based on divine revelation. For this reason, we cannot state why the descent from the third hour is as if one had offered a horned ram, and in the fourth as if one had offered a hen. This is a clear descent. But it is said: The estimation is that the reward is from Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and not from us. Then it may be said: The one who delays until the fourth hour is more blameworthy than the one who comes in the third, because the one who came in the third has a type of early arrival, but the one who came in the fourth is completely negligent. And worse than him is the one who came in the fifth. For this reason, it is as if he had offered an egg. Perhaps the hen is worth twenty riyals, and the egg is half a riyal. But the later one is, the more blame there is. If someone asks: What are these hours? Are they estimated equally or what? We say: They are estimated, as it appears, equally. This is the original rule. So what is between the sun [passing its zenith] and the arrival of the imam
is divided into five parts. So the first part is the first hour, the second is the second, the third is the third, the fourth is the fourth, and the fifth is the fifth.
He said: : And the meaning of "were present" is: they ceased from writing down the early arrivals. Because Allah places angels at the doors of the mosques on Friday who write down the first, then the first, then the first. So when the imam arrives, they stop, and they are present listening to the remembrance.
And in this is evidence for issues: First: The virtue of arriving early with taking a bath. And from its benefits also: That whoever arrives early without taking a bath does not attain this reward. And in it also from its benefits: That the reward is of the same kind as the deed, and the reward is according to the deed. Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) distinguished between the early arrivals and the late arrivals.
And in it also: That the angels love the remembrance of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). For this reason, they refrain from their work so that they are not occupied with it to the detriment of listening to the sermon.