JUM‘AH PRAYER

.1. JUM‘AH  PRAYER الْجُمْعَة) (صَلاةُ

Its Names and Origins

The word Jum‘ah is the name of the Friday where Muslims perform their congregational prayer. Al-Wāh.idī reported from the grammarian al-Farrā’ that it has many variant readings: (a) jumu‘ah (pl. jumu‘āt); (b) jum‘ah (pl. juma‘), and (c) ) juma‘ah, as it makes people gather together, in the pattern of  d.uh.akah for a person who likes laughs, and lu‘anah for a person who likes to curse, a curser (lu‘nah is a person who is cursed too often, cursed). In the Qur’ān  it is said وَيْلٌ لِكُلِّ هُمَزَةٍ لُمَزَةٍ  (الْهُمَزَة : ١)  ) “Woe to every slanderer and backbiter” Q. 104:1) The verb hamaza yahmuzu or yahmizu, hamzan, meaning “to beat, to strike; to backbite, to slander; to provide with letter ء,  and lamaza yalmuzu or yalmizu lamzan,meaning “to speak ill (of s.o), to find fault (with s.o), to criticize, to blame, to backbite, to slander, to defame (s.o.)” The expressionهَمْزٌوَلَمْزٌ  means “defamatory insinuations; taunts, gibes, sneers.” The name used in the Qur’ān is jumu‘ah, but also pronounced jum‘ah for easy pronunciation (لِلتَّخْفِيْفِ).

The name of the Friday in the jāhiliyyah (pre-Islamic) period was called al-‘Arūbah (i.e., الْمُعَظَّم “the glorified day”). In a h.adīth Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. asked Salmān r.a.:

“O Salmān, do you know what is the Jum‘ah?” 

“Allah and His Messenger know,” said Salmān.

“It is the day when your forefather and foremother [i.e., Adam and Eve], gathered together,” said the Prophet.

According to Ibn Sīrīn, it was the people of Medinah who gave this name of the day as Jum‘ah. He said that before the coming of the Prophet to Medinah, and before the injunction of the Friday congregational prayer, the ans.ār (the people of Medinah) said that the Jews had a day in a week where they gathered together, and so did the Christians. They also wanted to have one day in a week where they would remember, thank and worship Allah, and chose the ‘Arūbah iHHisday, which was later called Jum‘ah. It was said that As‘ad ibn Zurārah called people to pray in congregation, and Mus.‘ab ibn ‘Umayr led the prayer.

Its Legal Judgment (حُكْم)

It is فََرْض عَيْن   (an individual duty), but with some conditions, based on the Qur’ān, h.adīth, and ijmā‘ (consensus of Muslim scholars). Allah says in the Qur’ān,

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا إِذَا نُودِيَ لِلصَّلَاةِ مِنْ يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ فَاسْعَوْا إِلَى ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ

 وَذَرُوا الْبَيْعَ ذَلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ (الجمعة : ٩) 

  “O you who believe! When the call is proclaimed for the prayer on  Friday, come to the remembrance of Allah, and leave off business.  That is better for you if you did but know.” (Q. 62:80)

Following this prohibition on business transactions, according to H...anbalī     school, any business transaction becomes void and invalid when the call to prayer is being proclaimed, and therefore shops have to be closed immediately.

            There are several h.adīths (traditions of the Prophet) indicating the obligation of Friday prayer, such as

  رَوَاحُ الْجُمُعَةِ وَاجِبٌ عَلَى كُلِّ مُحْتَلِمٍ (رواه النسائي)

     Attending Friday prayer is obligatory for every mature male.

(Reported by al-Nasā’ī).

The prohibition of z.uhr prayer on Friday emphasises the injunction of the Friday congregational prayer.

The Merits of the Jum‘ah Prayer

There are several h.adīths indicating the merits of the Jum‘ah prayer, among which are as follows:

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ

 مَنْ تَوَضَّأَ  فَأَحْسَنَ الْوُضُوءَ  ثُمَّ أَتَى الْجُمُعَةَ فَاسْتَمَعَ وَأَنْصَتَ غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا بَيْنَ

الْجُمُعَةِ  إِلَى الْجُمُعَةِ  وَزِيَادَةَ ثَلَاثَةِ أَيَّامٍ وَمَنْ مَسَّ الْحَصَى فَقَدْ لَغَا

 (رواه مسلم و أبو داء ود و الترمذي و ابن ماجة)

It was narrated by Abū Hurayrah, r.a.. that the Messenger of

Allah s.a.w. said: “Whoever performs his ablution perfectly then comes  to Friday  prayer, listening to the khut.bah and keeps silent, Allah will  forgive  his sins till next Friday with extra three days. Whoever  touches  pebbles his prayer becomes void (of reward)”.

 (Reported by  Muslim, Abū Dā’ūd, al-Tirmidhī and Ibn Mājah).

            In another h.adīth the Prophet said that Friday is the سَيِّدُ الأَيَّام  (“the master of the days”), greater than the two ‘īds, as it was the day Adam a.s. was created, entered heaven, was taken out from heaven, descended to the earth, died, and is the day when the Doomsday will take place. Furthermore, on Friday there is a particular moment where supplication is answered by Allah. 

Conditions for Its Prescription

Scholars of Islamic jurisprudence put conditions for the obligation of Jum‘ah prayer as follows:

1.      الإسْلام . Being a Muslim. A non-Muslim is definitely is excluded from it. Allah says,

لَئِنْ أَشْرَكْتَ لَيَحْبَطَنَّ عَمَلُكَ وَلَتَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ (الزمر: ٦٥)

 If you ascribe a partner to Allah, all your deeds will become fruitless

 and you will surely be among the losers.  (Q. 39:65).

2.      الْْبُلُوْغ . Maturity. Children are not enjoined to do it, but their prayers are valid and acceptable. The Prophet orders children to start praying at the age of seven, and to enforce them, even to beat them, if necessary, at the age of ten to pray.

3.      الْعَقْل . Intelligence (presence of sound judgement, consciousness, being sensible).  Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. said,

رُفِعَ الْقَلَمُ عَنْ ثَلَاثَةٍ عَنْ النَّائِمِ حَتَّى يَسْتَيْقِظَ وَعَنْ الصَّبِيِّ حَتَّى

 يَشِبَّ  وَعَنْ الْمَعْتُوهِ حَتَّى يَعْقِلَ (أخرجه أبو داءود)

 The script [i.e., prescription] is lifted upon three things: the sleeping

 person until he wakes up, the child until he matures, and insane

 until he becomes sane.  (Reported by Abū Dā’ūd).

People who lose consciousness (because of medicine, accident, etc.) are exempt from making up (قََضَاء) missed prayer, unless there still remains time to do it when he becomes conscious. This is the view of Mālik and al-Shāfi‘ī. According to H...anbalī school unconsciousness is like sleeping, and with it the prayer has to be made up. Abū H...anīfah’s opinion is if a person is unconscious and misses five prayers, he has to make them up. If more than five prayers he does not have to make them up.

4.      الذُّكُوْر  Being a male. Women can come to pray, so that they can listen to the khut.bah, but attendance is not obligatory for women.

5.      الْحُرِّيَّة Being free (not slave).  The Prophet said as narrated by T.āriq ibn Shihāb:

الْجُمُعَةُ حَقٌّ وَاجِبٌ عَلَى كُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ فِي جَمَاعَةٍ إِلَّا أَرْبَعَةً عَبْدٌ مَمْلُوكٌ

أَوْ امْرَأَةٌ أَوْ صَبِيٌّ أَوْ مَرِيضٌ  (رواه أبو داءود)

Friday prayer is an obligatory duty for every Muslim, except the slave

 or the woman, the children and the sick. (Reported by Abū Dā’ūd)

Slavery has been abolished, but there is no guarantee that it will remain totally eradicated till the Doomsday. Hopefully this condition remains dormant forever, just a recorded distant history of man on this earth.

6.      الإسْتِيْطَان  Being Resident (not travelling). A person in residence is not allowed to combine or shorten his prayers. The four schools of law (H...anafī, Mālikī, Shāfi‘ī and H...anbalī) as well as al-Thawrī and Ish.āq say that travellers are not enjoined to attend Jum‘ah prayer, even following a short travel. They say that Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. himself did not pray Jum‘ah prayer while travelling. He did not pray Jum‘ah prayer in his farewell pilgrimage. Instead, he prayed z.uhr and ‘as.r combined and shortened in the z.uhr time (جَمْعُ تَقْدِيْم). (Al-Zuhrī, al-Nakha‘ī and Ibn H...azm stick to the verse Q. 62:8 mentioned above in its general sense, that travellers are also Muslims  have to come to Jum‘ah prayer upon hearing the call to prayer).

7.      الْخُلُوُّ مِنَ اْلأَعْذَار (Having no excuse to be absent), such as having difficulty in attending the prayer, fear of the increase of sickness or the decrease of speed recovery, being very old or unable to walk, or attending the sick where nobody could take his place.

Conditions of travelling

Muslim scholars mention some issues concerning travelling which exempts a traveller from shortening or combining his prayers as well as the Jum‘ah prayer, as follows:

If a traveller intends to stay for more than four days, knowing that he is unable to accomplish his need in less than that period (four days), he is not allowed to shorten or combine his prayers, and he has to attend the Jum‘ah prayer. If he has no intention to stay, and his stay is only because of his illness or of heavy rain, he is allowed to shorten and combine his prayers until he leaves the place, as Ibn ‘Umar stayed at Azerbaijan for six months shortening and combining his prayers. Similarly, if the traveller has no intention to stay, as he does not know when he will accomplish what he intends to do, he is also allowed to shorten and combine his prayers until he leaves.  The Prophet stayed at Tabūk for twenty days shortening prayers (Reported by Ahmad and others).

Al-Shāfi‘ī has a slightly different view. According to him, if the traveller intends to stay for four days excluding the days of entering and leaving the area he is not allowed to combine his prayers.

Ibn al-Qayyim of the H...anbalī school does not limit the period of staying. He says that even if the traveller intends to stay longer than four days he is allowed to shorten and combine his prayers. He gives the example of the Muslims staying in Nihavend (Persia) for six months shortening and combining their prayers and they knew that they could not finish what they needed in four days. As long as a traveller remains a traveller he can shorten his prayers.

Conditions for Its Validity

There are conditions for its validity according to different schools, but they share in many conditions, such as follows:

It has to be perform on time (z.uhr prayer time)

1. It has to be performed in a building, not in the desert (Shāfi‘ī); in a village even made of reeds or stalks (H...anbalī); in the town’s mosque or mus.allā (H...anafī)

2. It has to be attended by a group of people in congregation (Mālikī); forty people (Shāfi‘ī and H...anbalī).

3. It has to be preceded by two khut.bahs

4. It is not preceded or performed with another Jum‘ah prayer (Shāfi‘ī). However, this condition is not followed in a mus.allá (a spacious room for prayer) in Calgary (Canada) where the Jum‘ah prayer is performed twice by very large congregation. The second prayer is performed about two hours after the starting of the first one with a different imām. This is to give facility for people who cannot afford to attend the earlier Jum‘ah prayer, and therefore they can attend the second one rather than missing it completely.

Number of People in Congregation

Al-Suyūt.ī mentions 14 views concerning the minimum number of people who attend the congregation for the validity of the Jum‘ah prayer, as follows:

1.      2 persons (including the imām), according to al-Nakhā‘ī and Dā’ūd (of the Z.āhirī school).

2.      3 persons (including the imām), according to al-Awzā‘ī, Abū Thawr, Abū Yūsuf and Muh.ammad al-Shaybānī (the two disciples of Abū H...anīfah)

3.      4 persons (including the imām), according to Abū H...anīfah, al- Shāfi‘ī in his earlier view (قَوْلٌ قَدِيْم). Al-Suyūt.ī adopted this view.

4.      7 persons, as reported from ‘Ikrimah

5.      9 persons, as reported from Rabī‘ah

6.      12 persons, as also reported from Rabī‘ah, and al-Māwardī

7.      13 persons (including the imām), as reported from Ish.āq ibn Rāhawayh

8.      20 persons, as reported by H...abīb from Mālik

9.      30 persons, as reported from  Mālik

10.    40 persons (including the imām), according to ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz, Shāfi‘ī, Ah.mad and Ish.āq.

11.    41 persons (including the imām), according to Shāfi‘ī in his later view (قََوْلٌ جَدِيْدٌ)

12.    50 persons, according to ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz in another report, and Ah.mad also in another report.

13.    80 people, as reported by al-Māwardī.

14.    Many people without specific number, according to Mālikī school. Ibn H...ajar of the Shāfi‘ī school states that this view might be the most acceptable view.

 Conditions of the Two Khut.bahs (شُرُوْطُ الْخُطْبَتَيْنِ)

            The performance of two khut.bahs is one of the conditions for the validity of the Jum‘ah prayer according to the great majority of Muslim scholars, with the exception of Dā’ūd, al-Shawkānī and ‘Abd al-Malik of the Mālikī school. The conditions for the validity of these khut.bahs are as follows:

1. دُخُوْلُ الْوَقْتِ On time. As these two khut.bahs are parts of the Jum‘ah prayer, and in turn it is the substitute of the z.uhr prayer, they have to be performed within the z.uhr prayer time
2. الْعَدَدُ الَّذِّيْ تَنْعَقِدُ بِهِ الْجُمْعَة The number of attendants has to fulfil the requirement of the validity of the Jum‘ah prayer.
3. الْقِيَامُ مَعَ الْقُدْرَة  Standing if the kha t.īb is able to.
4. الْفَصْلُ بَيْنَهُمَا بِجَلْسَة  Sitting between the two khut.bahs.
5. الطَّهَارَةُ عَنِ الْحَدَثِ الأَصْغَرِ وَ اْلأَكْبَرِ  The kha t. īb (the speaker who delivers the khut.bah (Friday sermon) being free from minor and major impurity
6. الطَّهَارَةُ عَنْ نَجَاسَةِ الثَّوْبِ وَالْبَدَنِ وَالْمَكَان  The khat.īb’s body, clothes and place where the khut.bahs are delivered.
7. سَتْرُ الْعَوْرَة  The kha t.īb’s covering his ‘awrah (private part’s area)
8. أَنْ يَرْفَعَ صَوْتَهُ بِحَيْثُ يَسْمَعُ الْعَدَدُ الْمُعْتَبَر  The kha t.īb’s sermon should be loud enough to be heard by the number of congregation required in the Jum‘ah prayer.

The Basic Elements (Pillars) of the Two Khut.bahs (أَرْكَانُ الْخُطْبَتَيْنِ)

Muslim scholars have different view as to the basic elements of the khut.bahs, as follows:

1. Praising Allah, such as saying al-h.amdu lillāh (الْحَمْدُ لِلَّه, praise be to Allah). It is only recommended according to the Mālikī school.
2. Citing the s.alawāt to the Prophet, such as saying allāhumma s.alli ‘alá Muh.ammad (الَّلهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلىَ مُحَمَّد, “O Allah, give blessing to Prophet Muhammad”). It is only recommended according to Mālikī school.
3. Giving advice  (وَصِيَّة)to the Muslim to fear Allah, such as saying أُوْصِيْكُمْ وَ إِيَّايَ بِتَقْوَى الله  (“I advise you and myself to fear Allah”).
4. Citing a Qur’ānic verse in one of the khut.bahs. Some say in both of the khut.bahs, and yet others say that it is not obligatory in one of them, but recommended. To fulfil the requirement of advising the Muslims and citing one verse of the Qur’ān at the same time, the   khat.īb used to cite the verse,

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ (آل عمران  : ١٠٢)

 O ye who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not

 except in a state of Islam. (Q. 3:102)

5.     Making du‘ā’ (supplication) for the Muslims. Some say that it is not sufficient to say the du‘ā‘ just for ourselves, for example, “O Allah, forgive us, have mercy on us,” etc., but we have to mention the word “Muslims” or “believers”, namely, the whole believers wherever they are, as one ummah (community, nation), irrespective of their race and gender, dead or alive. In this way, the Muslims everywhere on every Friday pray for each other, indicating the solidarity and the brotherhood among Muslims.

It is highly recommended for the khat.īb to fulfil the five basic elements of the khut.bah mentioned above, but the congregation, the ma’mūm, should be tolerant if the khat.īb misses (some of) those items recommended by the school of law he is following. This is to avoid hot arguments which may lead to dissension and aversion, and eventually disunity and disintegration which are h.arām in Islam.

Tah.iyyat al-Masjid Prayer

The tah.iyyat al-masjid prayer is the one performed upon entering the mosque as an act of respect for that place of worship. The expression tah.iyyat al-masjid literally means, “greeting the mosque”. While the khut.bah is being delivered is it still recommended to perform this tah.iyyat al-masjid prayer? There are two different views:

(a)    Yes, according to al-Shāfi‘ī and Ah.mad ibn H...anbal. Therefore, the followers of the Shāfi‘ī and H...anbalī schools keep performing this prayer while the khut.bah is being delivered. Their argument is based on the h.adīth that runs as follows: “Narrated by Jābir, r.a. that a man (called Sulayk al-Ghat.afānī) entered the mosque and sat down while the Prophet was delivering the khut.bah. The Prophet asked him, ‘Have you prayed (tah.iyyat al-masjid)?’ He said, “No.” The Prophet said, “Stand up, and perform two rak‘ah.’”

(b)          No, according to some scholars, including Imām Mālik, and apparently also Imām Abū H...anīfah. Their arguments are:

1.       Allah says in the Qur’ān,

إِذَا قُرِئَ الْقُرْآَنُ فَاسْتَمِعُوا لَهُ وَأَنْصِتُوا لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ (الأعراف  : ٢٠٤)

And when the Qur’ān  is recited, listen to it, and be

 silent that  you may receive mercy.  (Q. 7:204).

This is also valid when the imām is reciting the Qur’ān in prayer and while delivering the khut.bah. The khut.bahs of the Prophet mostly consist of Qur’ānic verses, and therefore people did not record them. Those who reject this view argue that this verse has general meaning, whereas the foregoing h.adīth gives specification to this general meaning (تَخْصِيْصُ الْعَام).

2.       Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. himself prohibited people from telling others to keep silent. To the rejectors, this is not contradictory to the recommendation of the tah.iyyat al-masjid prayer.

There is possibility that those who reject the idea of recommending the performance of the tah.iyyat al-masjid prayer while the khut.bah is being delivered do not totally reject the foregoing h.adīth but understood it differently. The Prophet might not have started the khut.bah when he told the man to stand up and perform the tah.iyyat al-masjid prayer, but he was on the point of doing it, and therefore, he had not cited any Qur’ānic verse. We, again, have to be tolerant with this different of opinion.

Jum‘ah Prayer on ‘Īd Day

            If one of the ‘īd days (‘īd al-fit.r or ‘īd al-ad.h.á) falls on Friday, should the Jum‘ah prayer be performed as well? There are two views:

(a)           Yes, according to Aū H...anīfah, Mālik, al-Shāfi‘ī and the majority of jurists. They say that the ‘īd prayer is recommended (sunnah), whereas the Jum‘ah prayer is obligatory (fard.). An obligatory act cannot be replaced with a recommended one.

(b)          No, but it is permissible, according to Ah.mad ibn H...anbal, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmān, and Ibn ‘Abbās. The Muslims at that time either perform the z.uhr or the Jum‘ah prayer. Their argument is that the Prophet said:

 قَدْ اجْتَمَعَ فِي يَوْمِكُمْ هَذَا عِيدَانِ فَمَنْ شَاءَ أَجْزَأَهُ مِنْ الْجُمُعَةِ وَإِنَّا مُجَمِّعُونَ (رواه أبو داءود)     

Two celebration days today, and whoever prays Jum‘ah prayer

will be rewarded, but we are combining our prayers (z.uhr and

 ‘as.r prayers). (Reported by Abū Dā’ūd).

(Apparently the Prophet was saying it when he was performing the pilgrimage at Mina). It is also reported that Mu‘āwiyah asked Zayd ibn al-Arqam: “Have you ever witnessed two ‘īds in one day with the Prophet?” When Zayd said “yes”, he asked further what the Prophet did on that day. Zayd ibn al-Arqam said that he prayed the ‘īd prayer, and then gave rukhs.ah (permission) to leave the Jum‘ah prayer and said,

   مَنْ شَاءَ أَنْ يُصَلِّيَ فَلْيُصَلِّ  (رواه أبو داءود)

Whoever wants to pray, let him pray. (Reported by Abū Dā’ūd).

The Excuses from Attending the Jum‘ah prayer

            Several excuses for not attending the Jum‘ah prayer mentioned by Muslim scholars, as follows: rain, heavy mud, severe cold or heat, hunger and thirst, the uncontrollable call of nature (fart, i.e, break of wind, urine or stool), fear of one’s life (for being attacked), after eating food with strong odour that might disturb people in the congregation, attending a person on the point of death, although someone can take his place, and attending a  patient where nobody else can take his place.

Reciting the Fātih.ah

            Is it necessary to read the Fātih.ah in prayer by the imām? There are two views:

(a)           Yes, according to the masses of the ‘ulamā’ (Muslim scholars), based on the h.adīth where the Prophet said,

لَا صَلَاةَ لِمَنْ لَمْ يَقْرَأْ بِفَاتِحَةِ الْكِتَابِ (رواه البخاري و مسلم و الترمذي)

No prayer (is accepted) from a person who does not

 cite the fātih.ah (Opening Chapter) of the Book.

(Reported by Bukhari, Muslim and Tirmidhi)

(b)          Not necessary, according to Abū H...anīfah. He bases his view on the Qur’ānic verse,

 فَاقْرَءُوا مَا تَيَسَّرَ مِنَ الْقُرْآَنِ ( المزمل : ٢٠)

Therefore, read from the Qur’ān as much as you easily can. (Q. 73:20).

(For the rejectors, this verse indicates verses after reading the fātih.ah. Even if it is accepted in general sense, it has been abrogated by the foregoing h.adīth).  The Prophet was reported to have said to a person who could not pray properly,

اقْرَأْ مَا تَيَسَّرَ مَعَكَ مِنْ الْقُرْآنِ

 Read whatever you easily can from the Qur’ān

meaning that reciting the  fātih.ah is not necessary. (For the rejectors, the Prophet meant the person who cannot recite the fātih.ah, but can recite any other).

Is it also necessary for the ma’mūm to recite the fātih.ah? There are also two views:

(a)           Yes, according to al-Shāfi‘ī, as he interpreted that the forgoing h.adīth as applicable for any prayer, either performed in congregation or individually, either imām or ma’mūm, the fātih.ah has to be recited. According to h.adīth scholars al-Shāfi‘ī has a stronger argument, and it is said that Imām al-Bukhārī wrote an essay of it.

(b)          No, as the recitation of the imām includes that of the ma’mūm. According to Imām Ah.mad, the ma’mūm is recommended to recite the fātih.ah secretly and privately, and stop reciting it when he hears the imām reciting it loudly. This is also the madhhab of Imām Mālik, whereas according to Imām Abū H...anīfah the ma’mūm should only listen to the recitation of the imām, and should keep silent.

Since many people in Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia Indonesia, as well as Egypt and Lebanon and are followers of the Shāfi‘ī school, it is highly recommended that the imām after reciting the fātih.ah stops for a while before reciting other verses of the Qur’ān to give room for them to recite the fātih.ah. On the other hand, the ma’mūm who are following the Shāfi’ī school should tolerate if the imām does not give them chance to recite the fātih.ah. We have to appreciate our scholars in the past who came to various opinions in legal issues as the result of their ijtihād in general, as well as in the issue of the Jum‘ah prayer in particular. Even if they are wrong in their ijtihād they still will get a reward for their effort.

One example of the difference of opinions is the result of doubting the genuineness of a h.adīth by a jurist, such as the h.adīth exempting women, slaves, children and sick people from attending the Jum‘ah prayer mentioned above. Ibn H...azm states that the narrator T.āriq ibn Shihāb did see the Prophet, but did not hear the h.adīth from him. The other chain of narrators, H...uraym ibn Sufyān al-Bijlī, was claimed to be unknown by Ibn H...azm. Therefore, he rejects this h.adīth. But the jurists in the mass accept this h.adīth. They say that T.āriq received this h.adīth from the Prophet’s companion Abū Mūsá, and traditionists agree to accept his account (مَقْبُوْلٌ بِالْإِتِّفَاق) and a h.adīth of this kind is called مُرْسَلٌ صَحَابِيّ (incompletely transmitted authority of h.adīth till the s.ah.ābah, companions of the Prophet). H...uraym was not unknown, but a reliable authority according to Ibn Ma‘īn and Abū H...ātim, and was included by Ibn H...ibbān among the reliable authorities. Moreover, his companionship with the Prophet was proved to be true. Believing in the opinion of the majority of jurists, we also accept this h.adīth.

This difference of opinions among the Muslim jurists is only in the field of understanding issues dealing with Islamic law, which is a branch of Islam, and does not touch the core of Islamic faith called ‘aqīdah. Moreover, these different opinions should give us more options and room to manoeuvre to adopt that which scholars and effective investigators in the field of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) find and think closer to the true one. Allah knows best.  (CIVIC, 24.10.2014)