CREATING TIME FOR SUPPLICATIONS ON FRIDAY
By
Ibn Abdillah As-sudaisiy Al-Iloori
Getting busy with 'ibādāt and supplications on a Friday is a Sunnah. There is a hadith that there is a period in it in which prayers are often accepted. Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger ﷺ said:
فِيهِ سَاعَةٌ لاَ يُوَافِقُهَا عَبْدٌ مُسْلِمٌ، وَهْوَ قَائِمٌ يُصَلِّي، يَسْأَلُ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى شَيْئًا إِلاَّ أَعْطَاهُ إِيَّاهُ ". وَأَشَارَ بِيَدِهِ يُقَلِّلُهَا.
There is an hour (opportune time) on Friday and if a Muslim gets it while praying and asks something from Allah, then Allah will definitely meet his demand. And he (the Prophet) pointed out the shortness of that time with his hands. [Sahih al-Bukhari 935]
There is an authentic narration from Al-Imām Muslim that suggests that the time being refered to in the hadith is between the time the Imām sits to give khutbah till the end of the prayer. Sheikh Ibn Bāz رحمه الله said it is between the two sermons. Someo of the companions رضي الله عنهم said the period is after Asr prayer till sunsets.
Perhaps this is the practice the Sufis target with their evening sittings on Fridays. The sad thing about their own way is that they do not perform it with daleel from Qur'ān and Sunnah. For instance, the Tijaniyyas do not have evidence for the kind of awrād they have fabricated that they chant during their Friday "Kuburah".
Secondly, sitting together in congregation to chant adhkār on a Friday evening has no basis in the Sunnah. What is sunnatic according to the way of the Salaf (pious predecessors) is to engage in a lot of adhkār on Friday individually. There are reports also emphasising the virtue of sending salawāt on the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم as much as possible.
Therefore, as we condemn the bid'ah way the sufis are practising it, it is important for us to revive this Sunnah amongst us by getting ourselves busy with a lot of adhkār on this day. Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr رحمه الله said regarding a Tābi', Sa'eed Ibn Jubayr رحمه الله:
وَكَانَ سَعِيدُ بْنُ جُبَيْرٍ إِذَا صَلَّى الْعَصْرَ لَمْ يُكَلِّمْ أَحَدًا حَتَّى تَغْرُبَ الشَّمْسُ
If Saʿīd b. Jubayr prayed al-ʿAṣr on Jumuʿah he would not talk to anyone until the sun had set (due to being busy making duʿāʾ) [Al-ʾIstiḏkār 2/40]
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