Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Asa brother,

If Khutba has started in Juma (not the Arabic text, but just a sermon in the local language of the country), should we not perform our Sunnat prayers, or is it ok to do so?

JzK

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Sunnah prayer before jumua friday

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Question: If Khutba has started in Juma (not the Arabic text, but just a sermon in the local language of the country), should we not perform our Sunnat prayers, or is it ok to do so?

To the best of our knowledge there is no evidence in the authentic and established Sunnah, that the Messenger of Allah (saws) offered any voluntary prayers either in his house or in his masjid before he (saws) delivered the Jumua Khutba or sermon; thus there is consensus amongst the jurists that there is no obligation for one to offer any ‘Sunnah’ prayers before the sermon on Fridays, but one may pray as many ‘nafl’ supererogatory prayers as one wishes after the ‘adhaan’ and before the start of the sermon.

Al-Muwatta Hadith 9.60

Yahya related from Malik, from Amir ibn Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr, from Amr ibn Sulaymaz-Zuraqi, from Abu Qatadaal-Ansari that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said, "Whenever you enter the masjid, you should pray two rakahs before you sit down."

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 2.52 Narrated by Jabir bin Abdullah

A person entered the mosque (and sat down) while the Prophet (saws) was delivering the Khutba on a Friday. The Prophet said to him, "Have you prayed?" The man replied in the negative. The Prophet (saws) said, "Get up and pray two Rakat."

The Messenger of Allah (saws) guided the believers that whenever they enter any masjid they should offer a two-rakah ‘nafl’ prayer before they sit down. Thus if for any reason one happens to enter the masjid late on Fridays and finds the Imam already delivering the sermon, one should offer a short two-rakah ‘nafl’ prayer before he sits down to listen to the balance sermon. This two-rakah prayer offered when one enters any masjid is known in jurisprudence as ‘tahiyatul-masjid’ prayers.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan