"O you who believe! When you are called to the congregational prayer, hasten to the remembrance of God and leave off trade. That is better for you, if you but knew. And when the prayer is completed, disperse throughout the land the seek the Bounty of God, and remember God much, that haply you may prosper."
Quran 62:9-10
These two verses are drawn from the 62nd surah, al-Junu'ah, often rendered as "The Congregational Prayer." As you know, prayer is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, and that includes the Friday congregational prayer as well as the five daily prayers. We've discussed the fact that less than fifty percent of American Muslims make it to the mosque every week for Friday prayer, which is not really an indication of a lack of faith but rather the difficulties of being a religious minority. Friday is not an off-day in the US, so attending the Friday prayer is often a challenge as it means leaving work, rushing to the mosque, and returning (which means that the service often features late arrivals). Actually, Friday is not an off-day even if you lived in a majority-Muslim country, at least in the same way that Saturday can be for Jews and Sunday can be for Christians; essentially, as we've discussed, Muslims do not have a sabbath in the same way that Jews and Christians do. There's usually nothing going on before the congregational prayer, but then things pick up and the rest of the day wouldn't look that much different to an outside observer. There would definitely be more families out and about on a Friday evening in the Muslim world. I have Muslim friends who don't feel that attending Friday prayer is actually an obligation (and who am I to judge anyone after my blog post admitting that I occasionally have a beer), but the vast majority of Muslim want to attend Friday prayer but it's not always a logistical possibility. Many more men than women attend Friday service, which I think is actually a cultural remnant that often gets justified as a religious exception. Truthfully, I would argue that the preponderance of men over women at the mosque for Friday prayer reflects negatively on us; not that women should be forced to go, but we should work more diligently to insure that they should have the same opportunity to go as the men.
The admonition to "leave off trade" seems to fly in the face of my comments above, but it has to be understood in its appropriate context. Muslims will definitely leave the mosque and return to the world. Islam does not have the tradition of monasticism, the assumption is that you're going to be out in the world. In that way the short daily prayers are fitting symbolically. Take time away from this world to attend to the next, and now get out and work and do what needs to be done. In this case the "leave off trade" injunction mainly relates to putting yourself in the appropriate place spiritually to hear the sermon and to pray. According to a famous hadith the Prophet said, "When you come to prayer do not come while you are endeavoring [for this world], but come to it while you are at peace." (Nasr, Study Quran, p. 1372)
Quran 62:9-10
These two verses are drawn from the 62nd surah, al-Junu'ah, often rendered as "The Congregational Prayer." As you know, prayer is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, and that includes the Friday congregational prayer as well as the five daily prayers. We've discussed the fact that less than fifty percent of American Muslims make it to the mosque every week for Friday prayer, which is not really an indication of a lack of faith but rather the difficulties of being a religious minority. Friday is not an off-day in the US, so attending the Friday prayer is often a challenge as it means leaving work, rushing to the mosque, and returning (which means that the service often features late arrivals). Actually, Friday is not an off-day even if you lived in a majority-Muslim country, at least in the same way that Saturday can be for Jews and Sunday can be for Christians; essentially, as we've discussed, Muslims do not have a sabbath in the same way that Jews and Christians do. There's usually nothing going on before the congregational prayer, but then things pick up and the rest of the day wouldn't look that much different to an outside observer. There would definitely be more families out and about on a Friday evening in the Muslim world. I have Muslim friends who don't feel that attending Friday prayer is actually an obligation (and who am I to judge anyone after my blog post admitting that I occasionally have a beer), but the vast majority of Muslim want to attend Friday prayer but it's not always a logistical possibility. Many more men than women attend Friday service, which I think is actually a cultural remnant that often gets justified as a religious exception. Truthfully, I would argue that the preponderance of men over women at the mosque for Friday prayer reflects negatively on us; not that women should be forced to go, but we should work more diligently to insure that they should have the same opportunity to go as the men.
The admonition to "leave off trade" seems to fly in the face of my comments above, but it has to be understood in its appropriate context. Muslims will definitely leave the mosque and return to the world. Islam does not have the tradition of monasticism, the assumption is that you're going to be out in the world. In that way the short daily prayers are fitting symbolically. Take time away from this world to attend to the next, and now get out and work and do what needs to be done. In this case the "leave off trade" injunction mainly relates to putting yourself in the appropriate place spiritually to hear the sermon and to pray. According to a famous hadith the Prophet said, "When you come to prayer do not come while you are endeavoring [for this world], but come to it while you are at peace." (Nasr, Study Quran, p. 1372)
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