Jumah Salah before Zawaal

It is mentioned in Dars e Tirmidhi of Hadhrat Mufti Taqi Uthmani maddazilluhu under the hadeeth:

“…that Nabi salallahu ῾alayhi wasallam used to pray jummah when the sun had declined..”¹

According to the majority of Ulama’ the meaning of the hadeeth is that Rasulullah salallahu ῾alayhi wasallam would pray jummah right after the Zawaal of the sun (zenith). Hence, the time for Jumah Salah according to the majority is same as that of Dhuhr.

However Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal rahimahullah and some Ulama’ of Dhahiriyyah view Jumah Salah to be permissible even before the Zawaal. According to them the starting time of Jumah Salah is Dahwatul Kubra’².

Their evidence is the famous narration of Sahl bin Sa’d radiallahu anhu.

“…we neither used to have breakfast in the time of Rasulullah salallahu ῾alayhi wasallam nor used to have our siesta until after Jumah.”³

The reason for their deduction from this narration is the use of the word “al ghada’” which according to linguistics refers to that food which is partaken “after sunrise but before Zawaal”. Hence this hadeeth would mean that the sahaba radiallahu anhum used to eat their breakfast before zawaal and after having finished their Jumah Salah. This necessitates that the Jumah must have been much before the Zawaal.

Response to this is that although “al ghada’” linguistically refers to the meal taken before Zawaal, but if someone were to partake their afternoon meal after Zawaal, then that meal can be generally and contextually included under “al ghada’”. An example of this is how Rasulullah salallahu ῾alayhi wasallam mentioned about Sehri (food before Subah Sadiq), “…hasten towards al ghadaa al Mubarak”⁴. It can never be deduced from this narration that Sehri can be eaten after sunrise.

Imam Bukhari rahimahullah has mentioned an evidence contrary to the deduction o Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal rahimahullah through the narration wherein Sayidatuna Ayeshah radiallahu anha says, “They used to go after noon towards Jumah, so go after noon in the same manner like them”⁵ The usage in this hadeeth is “rawaah” and the word “rawaah” is linguistically specific to leaving after zawaal.

Another strong evidence of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal rahimahullah is the statement of Sayiduna Abdullah ibn Saydan rahimahullah who says, “I witnessed the day of Jumah along with Abu Bakr (radiallahu anhu) and his salah and khutbah was before the mid-day. Then I witnessed the day of Jumah along with ^cUmar (radiallahu anhu) and his salah and khutbah was just about at the mid-day. Thereafter I witnessed the day of Jumah along with ^cUthman (radiallahu anhu) and his salah and khutbah was after declining of mid-day and I never saw anyone finding fault with that and negating that.”⁶

In response to this Hadeeth Hafiz ibn al Hajar rahimahullah has placed his concern that Sayiduna Abdullah ibn Saydan rahimahullah is da^ceef (weak). Hadhrat Shah Saheb rahimahullah has mentioned that this contention of Hafiz ibn al Hajar rahimahullah is not correct. The reality of the matter is that Abdullah ibn Saydan rahimahullah is one of the elder Tabi’een and Hafiz ibn Abd al Bar rahimahullah has included him among Sahabah. Ibn Hiban rahimahullah has mentioned him as thiqqah (strong). Hence, this hadeeth cannot be rejected based on strength of the sanad.

A plausible response to this narration is that mid-day although is a particular time of the day which occurs, yet it can be generalized over a broad range of time period as well. So much so, that sometime after-noon is also metaphorically called mid-day. The intent in the hadeeth in reality is to mention the action of the three Khulafa’ and the sequence in their actions. Hence the reason of mentioning would be that Sayiduna Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu would pray Jumah so quickly after the passing of Zawaal, that one could still say that it is not even mid-day (Zawaal). Sayiduna cUmar radiallahu anhu would pray a bit later such that one would say that it was mid-day at the time. Sayiduna Uthman radiallahu anhu would delay it to the extent that no one would be able to doubt that it is at mid-day.

A similitude of this is mentioned in Sunan Nasa’i where “Sayiduna Anas radiallahu anhu mentions, ‘When Nabi salallahu ῾alayhi wasallam would come home (from a journey) he would not unmount except that he would pray Dhuhr.’ So it was said, ‘even if it were mid-day?’ so he answered, ‘yes, even it were mid-day’.” Now it is obvious that no one takes the meaning that Nabi salallahu ῾alayhi wasallam would pray Dhuhr before the Zawaal or at Zawaal, rather it means that he would pray Dhuhr so early that it would be doubtful whether it is still Zawaal or not. This is the meaning of the narration of Sayiduna Abdullah ibn Saydaan rahimahullah.

Dars e Tirmidhi Vol. 1 Pg. 276 – 279
Translated : 17 Jun 2013 (abuhajira)

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