Surah al-Jumah was revealed in Madinah and it has 11
Ayahs. This surah basically revolves around “The Unity” of Allah and the
importance of the Jumah Congregation in Islam. If we look at a different angle,
this surah addresses the other aspects e.g. the prayers of all and every
creatures of Allah, the purpose of the prophet hood of the Messenger of Allah
(s.a.w.a.s.) to educate and enhance the morals of humanity, warnings to the
Muslims not to be distracted from the principles of Islam as the Jews were
distracted from their original Message, the general laws of the death being the
window towards the permanent abode, strict directives about the attendance in
the Jumah Congregation and suspension of all other activities during the Jumah
prayer and the sermon by the imam of prayers.
According to a
tradition of the Messenger of Islam (s.a.w.a.s.), who said: “Whoever recites
Surah al-Jumah, Allah will grant him the virtues equal to ten times the number
of the Muslims who attended the Jumah congregations and even those who did not
attend the congregation.”
In yet another
tradition it is stated that if a person recites this surah daily, he will be
safe from every dangerous and frightening thing.
The reason of the
advent of the Messenger of Islam is elaborated in Ayah 2 which says: “He it is
Who sent amongst the unlettered ones a Messenger from among themselves to
recite unto them His Ayahs, to foster them and absolved them of polytheism and
discord, and teach them the Heavenly Book and Wisdom. And indeed, they had been
formerly in manifest error.”
As for the Blessings of Allah, as referred in Ayah 4,
there is tradition that once the not so wealthy Muslims approached the
Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) and complained that unlike the wealthy people who can
perform Hajj, they did not have resources to go for Hajj, unlike the wealthy,
who can pay to liberate the slaves, they cannot do that. The Messenger said: “a person who recites “Allah-o-Akbar” 100 times is
more blessed than the one who gets the release of a slave, one who recites
“SubhanAllah” 100 times is more blessed than the one who arranges for 100
horses for Jihad, and the one who recites “La Ilaha Illallah” 100 times is more
blessed than the virtuous deeds of all the people on that day.”
Referring to the Jews, Allah says that their carrying
Torah but not practicing it is like burdening books on a donkey. And if Jews
thought that they were the friends of Allah, and then should wish for death but
because of the deeds they had sent to Allah, they will not wish for death.
The call for Jumah prayer is expressly mentioned in Ayah
9 to 11: “O you who believe! When the call is proclaimed for the Friday prayer,
hasten toward the remembrance of Allah and leave off the business. That is
better for you if you did know. Then when the prayer is ended, you are free to
disperse through the land and seek Allah’s Bounties and remember Allah much
that you may be saved. And when they see some merchandise or some amusement,
they disperse headlong to it and leave you standing (while reciting your sermon).
Say, that which Allah has (of Bounties and Blessings) is better than any
amusement or merchandise! And Allah is the best of the providers.”
Prayer
in congregation gives the Muslims both worldly and spiritual benefits as stated
below:
1.
Islamic
Unity: In the congregation, rich and poor, high and low, all stand shoulder
to shoulder. This destroys the haughtiness of the rich and creates self-respect
in the poor.
2. Unity: In the congregation prayer, all
have one niyyah (intention), one language and identical actions.
3. Love and Co-operation: People meet one
another in the congregation prayers. They know the hardships and worries of
each other and try to help. New things are known, mutual love develops and
circle of friendship is widened resulting in an opportunity to learn from
other’s experience and mould their lives accordingly.
4. Discipline: We stand in rows follow the
imam of jama’ah and practice obedience to commands.
5. Prestige of Islam: Our mosques thrive
due to the congregation of prayers. It enhances the prestige of Islam and the
unity of Muslims affects greatly the enemies of Islam.
6. Limitless Reward: The Messenger of
Islam (s.a.w.a.s.) said: “If there are only 2 people in a congregation, every
rak’at gets the reward of 150 prayers. The reward is increased by the increase
in the number of people praying. Thus in a jama’ah prayer of 3 persons, every
rak’at gets the reward of 600 prayers. With each increase of the number of
people, the reward doubles. Hence, if there are 10 persons, every rak’at gets
the reward of 72, 800 prayers. If there are more than 10 people, then nobody
can estimate its reward, except Allah.
Sources
used: Fawaid-e-Qur’an by Sayyid Mustafa
Musawi,
Elements of Islamic Studies by Allama Saeed Akhtar Rizvi
Enlightening
Commentary of Light in Qur’an
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