Jumu’ah, The Friday Prayer

Jumu’ah (الجُمُعَة) is the Friday congregational prayer. It replaces Dhuhr on Friday: 2 fard rak’at, prayed Jahr , recite aloud in congregation, preceded by two khutbahs (sermons). You do not pray Dhuhr separately on a day you pray Jumu’ah.

Allah commanded it directly:

At a glance

Who must pray Jumu’ah

The Prophet ﷺ said:

“Jumu’ah in congregation is a duty (haqq wajib) upon every Muslim, except four: an owned slave, a woman, a child, or one who is sick.”

Sunan Abi Dawud

When Jumu’ah is prayed

Jumu’ah is prayed in the time of Dhuhr — after the sun passes its zenith ( zawal ). This is the practice across the Muslim world and the safest, agreed-upon time.

A Hanbali note: the madhhab of Imam Ahmad permits Jumu’ah to be prayed before zawal, from the early forenoon (the time the Eid prayer becomes valid), based on reports that the Salaf prayed and ate early on Fridays. Even so, the established practice everywhere, and the more cautious choice, is to pray it at Dhuhr time after zawal. If your masjid prays at the normal Dhuhr time, that is exactly right.

Its window closes when Dhuhr’s window closes (when an object’s shadow equals its length). If the time runs out before you have prayed it, you pray Dhuhr instead.

Preparing for Jumu’ah

Friday has its own etiquette, and the reward for preparing well and coming early is immense:

• Ghusl is strongly emphasized for Jumu’ah (see How to perform ghusl). The Prophet ﷺ said: “Ghusl on Friday is obligatory upon every adult.” (Bukhari, Muslim — most scholars read this as a strong recommendation.)
• Wear your best clean clothes, use miswak , and apply perfume (for men).
• Go early. The earlier you arrive, the greater the reward:

“Whoever takes a bath on Friday like the bath for janabah, then goes in the first hour, it is as if he sacrificed a camel; in the second hour, as if he sacrificed a cow; in the third, a horned ram; in the fourth, a hen; in the fifth, an egg. And when the imam comes out, the angels attend the remembrance.”

Bukhari, Muslim

• Recite Surat al-Kahf on Friday (its day or night). The Prophet ﷺ said whoever reads it is given light between the two Fridays (al-Hakim, al-Bayhaqi — graded sahih).
• Send abundant salawat on the Prophet ﷺ on Friday.
• Seek out the hour of response on Friday, an hour in which du’a is answered, especially the last hour before Maghrib.

At the masjid

When you arrive:

1. If the imam has not yet come out, pray tahiyyat al-masjid (2 rak’at greeting the mosque) and any voluntary prayer you wish, then sit and occupy yourself with dhikr, Qur’an, and salawat. There is no fixed sunnah rawatib before Jumu’ah like the four before Dhuhr — you simply pray nafl until the imam ascends the minbar .
2. If the imam is already giving the khutbah when you arrive, pray two brief, light rak’at of tahiyyat al-masjid and then sit and listen, even the khutbah does not waive this greeting of the mosque, but keep it short (per the hadith of Sulayk al-Ghatafani, Muslim).

The two khutbahs

The imam delivers two khutbahs from the minbar, sitting briefly between them, before the prayer (unlike Eid, where the khutbah is after). Listening to the khutbah attentively is wajib, and it is part of the worship of Jumu’ah.

Do not speak during the khutbah — not even to tell someone else to be quiet:

“When you say to your companion ‘Be quiet’ on Friday while the imam is delivering the khutbah, you have spoken idly (and lost the reward of that Jumu’ah).”

Bukhari, Muslim

So: no talking, no fiddling with your phone, no fidgeting with pebbles or objects. Face the imam and listen. (Whoever engages in idle play, even touching the pebbles, “has done a useless act,” per Muslim.)

How the prayer is performed

After the second khutbah, the iqama is called and the imam leads 2 rak’at aloud. You follow him exactly as in any congregational prayer (see The Three Modes of Praying): you do not recite a surah after Fatiha, you recite your own Fatiha quietly during his pauses, and you move only after the imam has reached each next position.

• Rak’ah 1: the imam recites Al-Fatiha aloud, then a surah aloud, then ruku, two sujood.
• Rak’ah 2: Al-Fatiha aloud, a surah aloud, ruku, two sujood, then the tashahhud (in iftirash, since Jumu’ah is a 2-rak’ah prayer) and tasleem.

The Prophet ﷺ often recited Surat al-Jumu’ah (62) in the first rak’ah and Surat al-Munafiqun (63) in the second, or Surat al-A’la (87) and Surat al-Ghashiyah (88) (Muslim). As a follower you simply listen.

If you arrive late

Jumu’ah has a special rule for the latecomer:

• If you catch at least one full rak’ah with the imam (you join and are settled in the ruku of his second rak’ah, or earlier), you have caught Jumu’ah. After his tasleem you stand and complete one more rak’ah, and your prayer is a valid 2-rak’ah Jumu’ah.
• If you catch less than one rak’ah (you join after the imam has risen from the ruku of the second rak’ah — for example, you reach him in the final tashahhud), you have missed Jumu’ah. Follow him to the end, then stand and pray it as Dhuhr (4 rak’at), with the intention of Dhuhr.

“Whoever catches a rak’ah of the prayer has caught the prayer.”

Bukhari, Muslim

For exactly how to join late and complete what you missed, see Joining the prayer late.

Sunnah prayers after Jumu’ah

There is no fixed sunnah before Jumu’ah, but there is a sunnah after it. The Prophet ﷺ said:

“When one of you has prayed the Jumu’ah, let him pray four rak’at after it.”

Sahih Muslim

You may pray 2 rak’at at home (as the Prophet ﷺ himself did, per Bukhari) or 4 rak’at in the masjid. Both are from the Sunnah; praying the two at home is excellent.

After the prayer

Stay for the post-salah adhkar as usual — see What to say after salah. Friday remains a day for abundant du’a, salawat, and seeking the hour of response.