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Fatwa CenterPraying Jumu’ah in congregation
Question
According to a famous Hadith, on the day of Jumu’a (Friday) one should reach the mosque as soon as possible and as time goes by the Thawab (reward) becomes less and less and once the Imam stands up the angels close their book and anyone entering after that does not get rewarded for Jumu’a. Under these circumstances what about those who enter the mosque when the Imam is giving Khutba of Jumu’a? Should you go to the mosque if you are late and know that the Imam has started the Jumu’a khutba? Is it better to pray the Zuhr pray at home instead of going to the mosque when you know that you cannot get the reward of Jumu’a prayers?
Answer
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
The meaning of the Hadith is that the angels close the books after the coming of the Imam and his sitting on the pulpit, and the reward of those who compete to performing good actions will not be written on the book of the person who is late. But still, the Wajib (obligation) of Jumu’ah remains, and this can be achieved by just joining the last Rak’ah of the prayer.
So a Muslim should not neglect praying the Friday obligatory prayer, after being negligent by not attending the Khutbah or arriving before the first Takbeer.
He must rather endeavour for Jumu’ah prayer. If he prays Zuhr without an excuse while he can reach the Jumu’ah prayer, his praying of Zuhr will not be valid. However, if the Jumu’ah prayer is finished, he must pray Zuhr instead and he is sinful for being negligent, and therefore should repent.
Allah knows best.
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