Fatwā Regarding the Suspension of the Jumuʿah Prayer and Khuṭbah as well as Congregational Prayers and all Other Gatherings in Masjids

A translation of this fatwa

 

In the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Most Merciful
Fatwā of the Scholarly Fiqh Council of the Ministry of Endowments and the Scholars’ Union of Sham

Regarding the Suspension of the Jumuʿah Prayer and Khuṭbah and Congregational Prayers in Masjids because of the Coronavirus

· In accordance with the fiqhī rulings that are contained within the objectives of the Islamic Revealed Law for the sake of preserving life, protecting against illnesses as much as possible, and maintaining the physical health of those who are legally accountable;

· In accordance with the World Health Organization declaring that the coronavirus has become a global pandemic, and that nowhere in the world is removed from this danger;

· Out of concern for the well-being of those who pray and frequent the masjids, to support precautionary measures against the spread of gastric and infectious diseases, within measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus;

· In accordance with the necessary instructions issued by both governmental and health authorities to close schools, universities, institutes and other educational facilities temporarily in order to avert harm;

· In accordance with the established fear of experts and specialists within the medical profession, and others, that this epidemic will definitely or most likely spread because of crowded places and gatherings;

· Because the jurists[1] have established that preponderant likelihood[2] holds the place of certainty in juristic rulings of the Revealed Law;

The Scholarly Fiqh Council and the Scholars’ Union of Sham declare the following:

Fatwā Regarding the Suspension of the Jumuʿah Prayer and Khuṭbah as well as Congregational Prayers and all Other Gatherings in Masjids, temporarily, until the reasons behind said suspension cease to be, based on an official statement from the Ministry of Health. This is because, in emergency circumstances such as these, the fuqahāʾ must take into consideration the calamities that have befallen people when giving their rulings, which is to consider that which will protect them from harm and save lives, and that which is in accordance with the Islamic Revealed Law. Thus, we hold that:

1. There is no objection in the Revealed Law:

· To suspending congregational prayers (which are an emphasized sunnah)[3] in masjids and sufficing with performing them at home, temporarily, until the reasons behind said suspension cease to be, based on an official statement from the Ministry of Health.

· To suspending the Jumuʿah Prayer and Khuṭbah in masjids, and thus people must pray Ẓuhr in their homes instead of Jumuʿah, temporarily, until the reasons behind said suspension cease to be, based on an official statement from the Ministry of Health.

· To suspending all classes, meetings, social gatherings and celebrations in masjids, as well as all halls that are specifically for celebrations or grieving, temporarily, until the causes behind said suspension cease to be, based on an official statement from the Ministry of Health.

- Due to the Exalted One’s statement: “Wherever you turn, there is Allah’s Face. Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing.” [al-Baqarah 2:115]

- And the ḥadīth of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, {For me, the earth has been made both a masjid and made pure.}

2. It is obligatory in the Revealed Law:

· To utilize the means of protection against the epidemic, treatment and quarantine as obligated by the Ministry of Health.

· If one feels that they are afflicted with the epidemic, to openly declare it so that the infection is not transferred to others and so that diseases do not spread.

- Due to the ḥadīth of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, {The one who is ill is not brought into the presence of the one who is healthy.} (Agreed upon.)

- And due to his ḥadīth, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, {There is to be no harm and no reciprocating of harm.} (The Muwaṭṭaʾ of Imam Mālik.)

3. It is permissible in the Revealed Law:

· To suffice with merely giving the call to prayer[4] for the five daily prayers from the masjids, temporarily, until the reasons behind said suspension cease to be, based on an official statement from the Ministry of Health.

· That the muʾadhdhin say at the end of the adhān: ‘People, pray in your homes. O Allah, lift tribulation, epidemics and evil illnesses from us.’ This is legitimate in times of epidemics and gastric diseases.

- Due to the ḥadīth of ʿAbdullah ibn ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that he would command the caller to call people to pray and then tell them to pray in their stopping places on cold nights and rainy nights, which is agreed upon. In other words, pray in your homes, and if this is the case with rain and severe cold, then in times of epidemics and contagions it is even more so.

4. Likewise, we ask you to seek refuge in Allah the Exalted, to deliver His lands and His slaves from tribulation and disease:

· Especially in the hours before dawn,[5] by seeking Allah’s forgiveness and doing a lot of glorification[6]

· By asking Allah for pardon and well-being, especially when prostrating and in places where supplications are more likely to be answered

· By sending lots of blessings upon the Beloved Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace

- Due to Allah’s statement: “I said, ‘Ask forgiveness of your Lord. Then He is Endlessly Forgiving. He will send the sky down on you in abundant rain and provide you with more wealth and children, and grant you gardens and grant you waterways.’” [Nūḥ 71:10-12]

- Due to His statement, Exalted and Blessed is He: “The part of the night they spent asleep was small, and they would seek forgiveness before the dawn.” [adh-Dhāriyāt 51:17-18]

- Due to his statement, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to Ubay ibn Kaʿb, may Allah be pleased with him, when he said to him, ‘I have made my entire supplication the sending of blessings upon you’: {Therefore, Allah will take care of whatever troubles you in your worldly life and your Hereafter, and will forgive you your sins.} (at-Tirmidhī)

- Due to the statement of Imam ash-Shāfiʿī: ‘I have not seen anything more beneficial in the face of disease than at-tasbīḥ.’ (Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ)

Asking Allah the Exalted to deliver us from tribulation and disease

Damascus, 19th Rajab, 1441/ 14th March, 2020

The Scholarly Fiqh Council                        The Scholars’ Union of Sham

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[1] Ar. al-fuqahāʾ
[2] Ar. ghalabat aẓ-ẓann
[3] Ar. sunnah muʾakkadah
[4] Ar. al-adhān
[5] Ar. al-asḥār
[6] Ar. at-tasbīḥ, i.e. saying Subḥān Allah

The Chapter on the Recommended Adhkār for the Day of Friday and its Night as well as the Supplications

The republishing of this translation

The Chapter on the Recommended Adhkār for the Day of Friday and its Night as well as the Supplications

By Imam Yaḥyā Al-Nawawī

Translated by Mahdi Lock[1]

It is recommended to do a lot of recitation of the Qurʾān, adhkār and supplications on the day of Friday and the night,[2] as well as prayers upon the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, and the recitation of Sūrat Al-Kahf in the day. Ash-Shāfiʿī, may Allah have mercy on him, said in the book Al-Umm, ‘It is recommended to read it on Friday night’.[3]

496_We have related in the two Ṣaḥīḥ collections of al-Bukhārī and Muslim, on the authority of Abū Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, mentioned Friday and said, “In it there is a period of time[4] that a Muslim slave does not coincide with while standing, praying and asking Allah for something except that He gives it to him.” And with his hand he indicated that it was short.

I have said: The scholars from the Salaf and the Khalaf have differed over this period of time with many positions that are as widespread as possible. I have gathered all the positions on the matter in Sharḥ Al-Muhadhdhab[5] and clarified who has said what, and that many of the Companions held the position that it was after ʿaṣr. The meaning of ‘standing, praying’ is the one waiting for the prayer, for indeed he is in prayer.

497_The soundest position that has come regarding this is what we have related in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim on the authority of Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī, may Allah be pleased with him, who said, ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, saying, {It is what is between the imam sitting until the prayer had finished}, meaning when he sits on the minbar.

498_As for the recitation of Sūrat al-Kahf and sending prayers upon the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, well-known aḥādīth have come regarding this so we have left off relating them due to the length of the book and the fact that they are well-known, and we have mentioned a number of them in a specific chapter.[6]

499_We have mentioned in the book of Ibn as-Sunnī, on the authority of Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, said, “Whoever says on the morning of Friday, before the dawn prayer:  ‘I seek Allah’s forgiveness, the One besides Whom there is no other god, The Living, the Self-Sustaining, and I turn to Him in repentance’ three times, Allah forgives him his sins, even if they are like are the foam of the sea.”

500_We have related therein, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, may Allah be pleased with him, who said, ‘When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, would enter the masjid on Friday, take hold of the door supports and then say: “Make me the one who turns to You most from those who turn to You, the nearest of those who draw near to You and the best of those who ask You and desire You.”

I have said: It is recommended for us to say: ‘Make us from those who turn to You most from amongst those who turn to You and from those who are nearest and from those who are best’. Thus, we add the word ‘from’.

As for what is recommended to recite in the Friday Prayer[7] and in the dawn prayer on Friday,[8] we have already clarified them in the chapter on the adhkār of prayer.

501_We have related in the book of Ibn as-Sunnī, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, may Allah be pleased with her, who said, ‘The Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, said: “Whoever recites after the Friday prayer:  “Say: ‘He is Allah, One’”[9] and “Say: ‘I seek refuge in the Lord of Daybreak’”[10] and “Say: ‘I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind’”[11] seven times, Allah , Mighty and Majestic, will protect him from evil until the following Friday.”

Section: It is recommended to do much remembrance of Allah the Exalted after the Friday Prayer. Allah the Exalted has said: “Then when the prayer is finished, spread through the earth, seek Allah’s bounty and remember Allah much so that hopefully you will be successful.” [12]

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[1] Translator’s note (tn): Translated from Al-Adhkār lil Imām Abī Zakariyyā Yaḥyā Bin Sharaf An-Nawawī Ad-Dimashqi (Beirut: Muʾassasa Al-Maʿārif, 2005) p.151-152.

[2] (tn): i.e. from sunset on Thursday until sunset on Friday.

[3] (tn): i.e. after sunset on Thursday. Some editions of Al-Adhkār mention the word ayḍan, i.e. as well, meaning that one should read al-Kahf twice, once at night and once in the day. This is also mentioned by Imam Muḥammad Ibn ʿAlān in Al-Futūḥāt Al-Rabbāniyyah ʿalā Al-Adhkār An-Nawawiyyah (v.4, p.227, Beirut: Dar Al-Turāth Al-ʿArabī), his commentary on Al-Adhkār. As for the aḥādīth on Sūrat Al-Kahf, the most well-known is: “Whoever recites it [i.e. Al-Kahf] on Friday, light shall shine forth for him between the two Fridays”, as narrated by Al-Ḥākim and Al-Bayhaqī, in Shuʿab Al-Īmān, from Abū Saʿīd, marfūʿan (i.e. a statement, action, affirmation or attribute that is attributed to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, by a Companion or someone later).  As for reciting Al-Kahf at night as well, this is based on a report from Al-Dāramī, on the authority of Ibn Saʿīd, also marfūʿan: “Whoever recites it on the night of Friday, light shall shine forth for him between him and Al-Bayt Al-ʿAtīq [i.e. the Kaʿba]”.

[4] (tn): Ar. sāʿat.

[5] (tn): i.e. Al-Majmūʿ  Sharḥ Al-Muhadhdhab, Imam Al-Nawawī’s 27-volume fiqh book, which is the ultimate reference work for the Shāfiʿī school. Imam Ibn ʿAlān mentions that there are more than forty positions on the matter.

[6] (tn): See Kitāb Al-Ṣalāt ʿalā Rasūl Allah Ṣallā Allāhu ‘alayhi wa Sallam, p.105-108 of the same edition of Al-Adhkār.

[7] (tn): ‘The Sunnah is that one recite Sūrat Al-Jumuʿah [62] in the first rakʿa of the Friday Prayer and Al-Munāfiqūn [63] in the second. If one wants, they can recite “Glorify the Name of your Lord, the Most High” [Al-ʿAlā, 87] in the first and “Has the news of the Overwhelmer reached you?” [Al-Ghāshiyya, 88] in the second, as they are both Sunnah. Let one be wary of restricting oneself to only some of the sūrah in these situations. If one wants to go easy, let his recitation be gentle without any jabbering’. [Al-Adhkār, p.47, the Chapter on What to Say After the Taʿawwudh].

[8] (tn): ‘The Sunnah is that one recite in the first rakʿa of the dawn prayer on Friday “Alif, Lām, Mīm, The Revelation of the Book” Al-Sajda [32] and in the second “Has man ever known a point of time…” Al-Insān [76], and to read them both in their entirety. As for what some people do by only reciting some of them, this is contrary to the Sunnah’. [Al-Adhkār, p.47].

[9] (tn): Al-Ikhlāṣ 112:1.

[10] (tn): Al-Falaq 113:1.

[11] (tn): Al-Nās 114:1.

[12] (tn): Al-Jumuʿah 62:10.