"O you who believe! When you are called to the congregational payer, hasten to the remembrance of God and leave off trade. That is better for you, if yo but knew. And when the prayer is completed, disperse throughout the land and seek the Bounty of God, and remember God much, that haply you may prosper."
Quran 62:9-10
While Muslims are required to pray five times a day (although, as we've discussed, certainly not every Muslim in the world actually prays five times a day; for example, only around 42% of American Muslims do) the only congregational prayer is midday on Friday. I guess one of the best proofs that I found a good fit is that I rarely miss the Friday prayer, and that was true for a while even before I converted. The Dhuhr prayer, the second one of the day, sometimes referred to as the noonday prayer, moves around a little as the day shortens and lengthens, but on Friday it is subsumed as part of the congregational Jummah prayer, which is almost always at 1:00 p.m. The sermon itself is called the khutbah.
As Nasr tells us in the Study Quran (and, as I propose quite regularly, if you have any interest at all in Islam, or even more generally in faith, you should pick up a copy):
"According to al-Qurtubi, As'ad ibn Zurarah and Mus'ab ibn Umayr, who had been among the first Madinians to embrace Islam, began the practice of the congregational prayer so that Muslims would have a day for prayer and remembrance like the Jews and Christians. The Friday congregational prayer was thus begun by the Helpers in Madinah before the migration of the Prophet, then institutionalized by the Prophet when he arrived in Madinah, and later given Divine sanction in these verses. The Prophet first led the Friday congregational prayer himself during his migration to Madinah; he had stopped in Quba, just south of Madinah, for twelve days, then set out for Madinah on a Friday. When the time for prayer came, he prayed with the people in a seasonal riverbed that they used as a mosque. It was here that he delivered the first congregational sermon."
As I think we discussed earlier (or maybe I talked to my class about it last semester) Friday is not quite the same for Muslims as Saturday is for Jews or Sunday is for Christians. That is, it's not considered a sabbath per se. This means that it's not expected that you'll take the day off. Rather, you're simply taking a break to pray with your brothers and sisters, and then you need to get back out into the world; hence the second passage of this verse. Nasr points out, "Ibn Abbas is reported to have said that this injunction is not to disperse in order to seek worldly things, but rather to call upon the sick, attend funerals (which are often held after the Friday congregational prayer), and visit one's brothers in God." For many Muslims, however, it means that they're off to work.There may be a lull early in the day, but by mid-afternoon all the shops are open. When I visited Yemen I purposely flew into Sana'a on a Thursday evening, so that I'd have a quiet period on Friday to look around the city.
I'm sure I'll revisit the topic of the public service later.
Quran 62:9-10
While Muslims are required to pray five times a day (although, as we've discussed, certainly not every Muslim in the world actually prays five times a day; for example, only around 42% of American Muslims do) the only congregational prayer is midday on Friday. I guess one of the best proofs that I found a good fit is that I rarely miss the Friday prayer, and that was true for a while even before I converted. The Dhuhr prayer, the second one of the day, sometimes referred to as the noonday prayer, moves around a little as the day shortens and lengthens, but on Friday it is subsumed as part of the congregational Jummah prayer, which is almost always at 1:00 p.m. The sermon itself is called the khutbah.
As Nasr tells us in the Study Quran (and, as I propose quite regularly, if you have any interest at all in Islam, or even more generally in faith, you should pick up a copy):
"According to al-Qurtubi, As'ad ibn Zurarah and Mus'ab ibn Umayr, who had been among the first Madinians to embrace Islam, began the practice of the congregational prayer so that Muslims would have a day for prayer and remembrance like the Jews and Christians. The Friday congregational prayer was thus begun by the Helpers in Madinah before the migration of the Prophet, then institutionalized by the Prophet when he arrived in Madinah, and later given Divine sanction in these verses. The Prophet first led the Friday congregational prayer himself during his migration to Madinah; he had stopped in Quba, just south of Madinah, for twelve days, then set out for Madinah on a Friday. When the time for prayer came, he prayed with the people in a seasonal riverbed that they used as a mosque. It was here that he delivered the first congregational sermon."
As I think we discussed earlier (or maybe I talked to my class about it last semester) Friday is not quite the same for Muslims as Saturday is for Jews or Sunday is for Christians. That is, it's not considered a sabbath per se. This means that it's not expected that you'll take the day off. Rather, you're simply taking a break to pray with your brothers and sisters, and then you need to get back out into the world; hence the second passage of this verse. Nasr points out, "Ibn Abbas is reported to have said that this injunction is not to disperse in order to seek worldly things, but rather to call upon the sick, attend funerals (which are often held after the Friday congregational prayer), and visit one's brothers in God." For many Muslims, however, it means that they're off to work.There may be a lull early in the day, but by mid-afternoon all the shops are open. When I visited Yemen I purposely flew into Sana'a on a Thursday evening, so that I'd have a quiet period on Friday to look around the city.
I'm sure I'll revisit the topic of the public service later.
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