Attend to what is better on Friday [62:9]

Today’s reflection is verse 9 from Chapter 62, Sura Juma, when Allah [swt] addresses the believers and says:

 

O you who believe! when the call is made for prayer on Friday, then hasten to the remembrance of Allah and leave off trading; that is better for you, if you know. [62:9]

 

4 important points are made in this verse:

1.    When the call for the Friday congregational prayers is made, rush to attend to it 

In other words, answer the call and join the congregation as soon as possible.

2.    Leave trading and other worldly distractions at this time

Trading and business are particularly mentioned as the time for Juma prayers in right in the middle of the work day and these are also the main distractions for those in the marketplace. Of course, it applies to other distractions as well which stop us from joining the congregation on time

3.    This is better for you

4.    If only you knew

Allah is reminding us that human beings are short sighted and are often unaware of the bigger picture or what lies beyond our immediate experience. Here the Creator is telling us that turning to Him in congregation has more benefit to us that what we immediately perceive in the profit of worldly business. The gain that we will get on a transcendent level [immediately and long term] is far greater than the monetary and material benefit of what is occupying our attention for the moment.

Due to the evolution of our knowledge about mindfulness, pausing and redirecting our attention to something bigger than us, and doing so as a collective, we can now see through scientific studies how this is true. 

Scholars tell us that the day of Friday was named al-Jum‘uah when a group of Muslims in Madīna, before the Prophet [saw] migrated there, decided to assign a day of the week to get together and remember Allah (swt) and thank Him.

The first congregational prayers were held at Masjid Quba, outside of Madina by the Holy Prophet [saw] when he migrated from Macca.  

 

It is interesting that unlike the Christian or Jewish Sabbath, Friday is primarily the Day of Assembly, the weekly meeting of the Congregation, when we show our unity by sharing in common public worship, preceded by a Khutba, in which the Imam (or Leader) reviews the week's life of the Community and offers advice on connection to the Creator and on living a moral life. 

 

The Friday congregation, while its primary purpose is worship, is very important in the social structure of Muslims and the interaction of and wellbeing of the Muslim Umma and fits in the gradations of social contact for Muslims with each other in this way: 

(1) Each individual remembers Allah for himself or herself five or more times every day in the home or place of business, or local mosque, or open air, as the case may be. 

(2) On Friday every week there is a local meeting in the central mosque of each local centre,-it may be a village, or town, or a big city. 

(3) At the two Eids every year, there is a large local area meeting in one centre. 

(4) Once at least in a lifetime, where possible, a Muslim shares in the vast international meeting of the Umma at the pilgrimage of Hajj.

 

By meeting in these expanding concentric circles, the Muslim expands his contact with other believers, find out what ails the Umma and gets introduced to the diversity within the faith. This is, what has been called a “happy combination of decentralisation and centralisation, of individual liberty and collective meeting, and contact at various stages or grades”. 

 

While we may be meeting in such small and larger congregations throughout our lives [and more so in the month of Ramadan], we need to remind ourselves that the spirit of such congregations is meant to nurture the spirit of unity, brotherhood, acceptance, mutual consultation, and collective understanding and action. 

 

When we take part in the congregation on Fridays, let us take with us this reminder: that the path to God is inseparable from our connection with, and concern for the wellbeing of, the Umma.