Of the seven days of the week, Friday holds a special rank: it is the weekly Eid of Muslims. Besides the Jumuah prayer, there are several practices the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) particularly encouraged on this day. Writing in Prothom Alo, Faizullah Riyad says many people neglect them through busyness or lack of awareness.
The first is sending blessings (durood) on the Prophet. He said that the best of days is Friday, so send blessings on me abundantly on it, for your blessings are presented to me (Sunan Abu Dawud, hadith 1047). The writer suggests reciting them throughout the day, not only before and after the prayer, even between tasks or on the move.
The second is reading Surah Al-Kahf. The Prophet said that whoever reads Surah Al-Kahf on Friday will have light shining for him from one Friday to the next (Al-Mustadrak al-Hakim, hadith 3392). The surah teaches sacrifice to protect faith, freedom from the lure of wealth, humility in seeking knowledge and the right use of power, so trying to understand its meaning matters too.
The third is supplication. There is an hour on Friday in which, if a Muslim standing in prayer asks Allah for something, Allah grants it (Sahih Bukhari, hadith 935). Scholars differ on when it falls; two times are stressed in authentic hadith: from when the imam sits on the pulpit for the sermon until the prayer ends, and from after Asr until just before sunset (Sahih Muslim, hadith 853).
The fourth is cleanliness. The Prophet said that the Friday bath is binding on every adult (Sahih Bukhari, hadith 879). Most jurists hold it to be a stressed sunnah. Cleaning the teeth, using perfume and wearing clean, good clothes as one can afford are also among the manners of the day (Sahih Bukhari, hadith 883).
The hadith describe a special merit for these acts, the writer notes, so he urges attention to cleanliness before setting out for the Friday prayer.
Photo: Ehsanul Siddiq Aranya / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Prothom Alo
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