Explanation of the words of Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) regarding what he quoted: "

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) stated, as he quoted from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This contains evidence that attending the Friday prayer, after a person perfects his wudu, then listens to the preacher while he is delivering the sermon and remains silent, results in the forgiveness of his sins from one Friday to the next, plus an additional three days. This is a minor act that does not burden the person: he performs wudu, attends the Friday prayer, and listens to the imam’s sermon until he finishes. His statement in this hadith: does not contradict what is established in *al-Sahihayn* and others from Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: For this second hadith contains an addition to the first hadith, and it is to be adopted. It is also more authentic, as it was narrated by the seven imams, whereas this one was narrated only by Muslim. Therefore, it is obligatory for whoever intends to attend the Friday prayer to perform ghusl (ritual bath) as an obligation. If he does not do so, he commits a sin, but the Friday prayer remains valid, because this ghusl is not for janabah (major ritual impurity), such that we would say the Friday prayer is invalid. Rather, it is an obligatory ghusl like other obligations: if a person leaves it, he sins, and if he performs it, he is rewarded. It indicates that it is not a condition for the validity of the prayer, but rather an obligation. Meaning: it was as if he (may Allah be pleased with him) was busy and could not attend early. He said: Meaning: how can you limit yourself to wudu, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So he commanded ghusl for whoever attends the Friday prayer, but he did not say to him, “Go and perform ghusl,” because if he went and performed ghusl, he might miss the Friday prayer for which the ghusl became obligatory, and the primary objective would be lost for the sake of the secondary. The conclusion is that although this hadith does not indicate the obligation of ghusl, there are other hadiths that indicate the obligation of ghusl. And in this hadith is evidence of the virtue of listening to the sermon and being silent. Listening means that his hearing attends to it, and being silent means that he does not speak. This is the difference between them. He listens and follows the words of the preacher with his hearing, and does not speak. It is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that the one who speaks on Friday while the imam is delivering the sermon is like a donkey carrying books. The donkey is the most dull of animals; it carries books, meaning texts. Does the donkey benefit from the books if it carries them? No. So this person who attended did not benefit from the sermon because he spoke. He said: He silences him. And the meaning of “he has wasted his time” is: he missed the reward of the Friday prayer. So the matter is serious. For this reason, he said here: What pebbles are these? In the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the mosque was covered with small pebbles, the size of lentils or slightly larger or smaller, which were used instead of sand and instead of the carpets we lay down now. So some people would sometimes play with the pebbles, moving them with their hand or wiping them with their hand or the like. So he said: Because touching the pebbles prevents him from listening to the sermon. Meaning: he is deprived of the reward of the Friday prayer, by which this Ummah was preferred over others. And if this is the case with touching the pebbles, then likewise is the one who plays with other things, such as moving a pen or a watch or the like, or a fan, waving it like this, except for a need. Or the one who plays with the miswak, using it while the imam is delivering the sermon, except for a need. For example, if sleep and drowsiness come upon him and he uses the miswak to drive away the drowsiness, then there is no harm in that, because it is for the benefit of listening to the sermon. We were asked about a man who writes down what he hears in the sermon, because some people forget, so he says: “Whenever a useful sentence passes me, I write it down. Is it permissible or not?” The apparent ruling is that it is not permissible. The apparent ruling is that it is not permissible, because if he is occupied with writing, he is distracted from what comes after, because a person does not have two hearts. So if he is occupied with writing, he is distracted from what the preacher is saying while he is writing, regarding what has already passed. But, praise be to Allah, Allah has provided for people what relieves them: these recorders have come. You bring the recorder and record the sermon comfortably, and listen to it in your home or in your car at your leisure.