Your Friday gift supports
- maktabs across rural Bangladesh
- 36maktabs across rural Bangladesh
- children enrolled
- 1,147children enrolled
- children in each maktab
- 40–50children in each maktab
Friday at a glance
Stage 1: Thursday night: al-Kahf and ṣalawāt
The Islamic day begins at sunset, so Friday begins at Maghrib on Thursday. From then until Maghrib on Friday is the time for its two acts of the night and day: reading Sūrah al-Kahf, and sending abundant blessings on the Prophet ﷺ.
Read Sūrah al-Kahf
The Prophet ﷺ said:
مَنْ قَرَأَ سُورَةَ الْكَهْفِ فِي يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ، أَضَاءَ لَهُ مِنَ النُّورِ مَا بَيْنَ الْجُمُعَتَيْنِ
Whoever reads Sūrah al-Kahf on Friday, light will shine for him between the two Fridays.
It is 110 verses, about twenty minutes of steady reading, and it can be read in parts through the night and day.
Send abundant ṣalawāt
The Prophet ﷺ said:
إِنَّ مِنْ أَفْضَلِ أَيَّامِكُمْ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ ... فَأَكْثِرُوا عَلَيَّ مِنَ الصَّلَاةِ فِيهِ، فَإِنَّ صَلَاتَكُمْ مَعْرُوضَةٌ عَلَيَّ
Among the best of your days is Friday … so send abundant blessings on me during it, for your blessings are presented to me.
The fullest form is the one he taught his Companions, the ṣalawāt recited in every prayer:
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ، كَمَا صَلَّيْتَ عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَعَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ، اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ، كَمَا بَارَكْتَ عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَعَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ
Allāhumma ṣalli ‘alā Muḥammadin wa ‘alā āli Muḥammad, kamā ṣallayta ‘alā Ibrāhīma wa ‘alā āli Ibrāhīm, innaka Ḥamīdun Majīd. Allāhumma bārik ‘alā Muḥammadin wa ‘alā āli Muḥammad, kamā bārakta ‘alā Ibrāhīma wa ‘alā āli Ibrāhīm, innaka Ḥamīdun Majīd.
O Allāh, send blessings on Muḥammad and the family of Muḥammad, as You sent blessings on Ibrāhīm and the family of Ibrāhīm; You are Praiseworthy, Glorious. O Allāh, bless Muḥammad and the family of Muḥammad, as You blessed Ibrāhīm and the family of Ibrāhīm; You are Praiseworthy, Glorious.
A short form for the rest of the day: Ṣalla ’llāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam, or Allāhumma ṣalli ‘alā sayyidinā Muḥammad.
Stage 2: Before you leave: ghusl and your best
Bathe for Jumu‘ah, clean your teeth with a siwāk, wear your best clean clothes and, for men, put on perfume. One ḥadīth gathers the whole of the morning, and what it earns:
لَا يَغْتَسِلُ رَجُلٌ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ، وَيَتَطَهَّرُ مَا اسْتَطَاعَ مِنْ طُهْرٍ، وَيَدَّهِنُ مِنْ دُهْنِهِ، أَوْ يَمَسُّ مِنْ طِيبِ بَيْتِهِ، ثُمَّ يَخْرُجُ فَلَا يُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ اثْنَيْنِ، ثُمَّ يُصَلِّي مَا كُتِبَ لَهُ، ثُمَّ يُنْصِتُ إِذَا تَكَلَّمَ الْإِمَامُ، إِلَّا غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ الْجُمُعَةِ الْأُخْرَى
No man bathes on Friday, purifies himself as well as he can, oils his hair or puts on perfume from his house, then goes out without pushing between two people, prays what is written for him, and listens in silence when the imām speaks, except that he is forgiven what is between that Friday and the next.
The Prophet ﷺ also said that were it not too hard on his people, he would have commanded them to use the siwāk at every prayer (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 887). Imām al-Bukhārī placed this ḥadīth in his chapters on Friday.
Stage 3: Go early to the masjid
The reward of Jumu‘ah depends on when you arrive. The Prophet ﷺ said that whoever goes in the first hour is like one who offers a camel in charity, the second hour a cow, the third a ram, the fourth a hen and the fifth an egg. When the imām comes out, the angels are present, listening to the reminder (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 881).
Walk if you can, and enter with your right foot, saying:
اللَّهُمَّ افْتَحْ لِي أَبْوَابَ رَحْمَتِكَ
Allāhumma ’ftaḥ lī abwāba raḥmatik.
O Allāh, open for me the doors of Your mercy.
Sit where there is space, close to the front if you can, without stepping over people’s shoulders. Until the imām comes out, fill the time with Qur’ān, ṣalawāt and du‘ā’.
Stage 4: The khuṭbah: listen in silence
Once the imām begins, give the khuṭbah your full attention. Even a word to quieten someone else breaks it. The Prophet ﷺ said:
إِذَا قُلْتَ لِصَاحِبِكَ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ أَنْصِتْ، وَالْإِمَامُ يَخْطُبُ، فَقَدْ لَغَوْتَ
If you say to your companion on Friday, “Be quiet,” while the imām is delivering the khuṭbah, you have spoken idly.
Worth knowing
That includes your phone. Put it on silent before you sit down, and leave it in your pocket until the prayer is finished.
Stage 5: The hour of du‘ā’
Hidden inside every Friday is a short window in which du‘ā’ is answered. The Prophet ﷺ said:
فِيهِ سَاعَةٌ لَا يُوَافِقُهَا عَبْدٌ مُسْلِمٌ وَهُوَ قَائِمٌ يُصَلِّي يَسْأَلُ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى شَيْئًا إِلَّا أَعْطَاهُ إِيَّاهُ
In it there is an hour: no Muslim servant finds it, standing in prayer and asking Allāh for something, except that He gives it to him.
Its exact time was not fixed for us. The two best-known opinions each rest on a ḥadīth. The first:
هِيَ مَا بَيْنَ أَنْ يَجْلِسَ الْإِمَامُ إِلَى أَنْ تُقْضَى الصَّلَاةُ
It is between the imām sitting down and the prayer being finished.
The second places it at the very end of the day, before Maghrib:
فَالْتَمِسُوهَا آخِرَ سَاعَةٍ بَعْدَ الْعَصْرِ
So seek it in the last hour after ‘Aṣr.
Worth knowing
You do not have to choose between them. Make du‘ā’ quietly in your heart while the imām sits between the two khuṭbahs, then keep the last hour before Maghrib free for du‘ā’ as well. Write your list before Jumu‘ah so the hour does not pass while you think of what to ask.
Stage 6: Give on the best of days
A good deed on the best of days is a good way to end it. As-Subah Fridays sends every Friday gift to one place: our maktabs in rural Bangladesh, where families want their children to learn the Qur’ān but there is no teacher near enough and no money to pay one. Children come every day to learn to read the Qur’ān correctly, and the basics of their faith, from a qualified teacher in their own village.
- maktabs across rural Bangladesh
- 36maktabs across rural Bangladesh
- children enrolled
- 1,147children enrolled
- children in each maktab
- 40–50children in each maktab
Your gift pays the teachers’ monthly salaries, Qur’ān copies and learning materials, classroom supplies, snacks and first aid for the children, and the yearly Qur’ān competitions. A small amount that comes every week keeps a teacher paid and a child in their place.
أَحَبُّ الْأَعْمَالِ إِلَى اللَّهِ تَعَالَى أَدْوَمُهَا وَإِنْ قَلَّ
The deeds most loved by Allāh are those done regularly, even if they are small.
Choose an amount once, and it is given for you every Friday in the last hour before Maghrib. You can pause, skip a week or stop at any time. Or give a single gift today.