Muhammad.com collection in 109 languages

140
141
CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER
CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER
week for Divine Service, such as the sabbath for the worship of
Allah, every day is a day of worship in Al-Islam. However, there
is a time set aside during the week when all members of the Muslim
community are required to observe a lecture and prayer. That time
is Friday afternoon. All over the world Muslims of all ranks, na-
tionalities and classes join together at the masjids in their respec-
tive communities for a special Friday (Jumu'ah) prayer service.199
Though the Friday prayer service is a congregational prayer per-
formed during the period for the Noon prayer, it differs from the
ordinary congregational prayer in several ways. A special feature
of the Friday service is the khutbah, a speech in two parts which is
delivered by the Imam before the prayer is performed. For or-
dinary congregational prayer only two persons are necessary, but
for the Friday service, it is the opinion of some scholars that at
least twelve adult males besides the Imam are needed.