62. Al-Jumu'ah (The Congregation)
Medina Period [110]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
يَا أَيُّهَا
الَّذِينَ
آمَنُوا...
62: 9. O ye who believe!
... إِذَا نُودِي لِلصَّلَاةِ مِن يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ ...
when the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday (the Day of Assembly),
C5461. 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 Khutbah, in which the Imam (or Leader) reviews the week's spiritual life of the Community and offers advice and exhortation on good living.
Notice the gradations of social contact for Muslims if they followed the wise ordinances of their Faith.
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 in every week there is a local meeting in the central mosque of each local centre,-it may be a village, or town, or ward of a big city.
3. At the two 'Ids 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 assemblage of the world, in the centre of Islam, at the Makkan Pilgrimage.
A happy combination of decentralization and centralization, of individual liberty and collective meeting, and contact at various stages or grades. The mechanical part of this ordinance is easy to carry out. Are we carrying out the more difficult part? -the spirit of unity, brotherhood, mutual consultation, and collective understanding and action? (R)
... فَاسْعَوْا إِلَى ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَذَرُوا الْبَيْعَ ...
hasten earnestly to the Remembrance of Allah, and leave off business (and traffic):
C5462. The idea behind the Muslim weekly "Day of Assembly" is different from that behind the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday) or the Christian Sunday.
The Jewish Sabbath is primarily a commemoration of Allah's ending His work and resting on the seventh day (Gen. 2:2; Exod. 20:11):
we are taught that Allah needs no rest, nor does He feel fatigue ( 2:255). The Jewish command forbids work on that day but says nothing about worship or prayer (Exod. 20:10);
our ordinance lays chief stress on the remembrance of Allah. Jewish formalism went so far as to kill the spirit of the Sabbath, and call forth the protest of Jesus: "the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath" (Mark. 2:27).
But the Christian Church, although it has changed the day from Saturday to Sunday, has inherited the Jewish spirit: witness the Scottish Sabbath; except in so far as it has been secularized.
Our teaching says: 'When the time for Jumuah Prayer comes, close your business and answer the summons loyally and earnestly, meet earnestly, pray, consult and learn by social contact; when the meeting is over, scatter and go about your business'.
... ذَلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ ﴿٩﴾
that is best for you if ye but knew!
C5463. The immediate and temporal worldly gain may be the ultimate and spiritual loss, and vice versa.
فَإِذَا
قُضِيَتِ الصَّلَاةُ
فَانتَشِرُوا
فِي الْأَرْضِ
وَابْتَغُوا
مِن فَضْلِ
اللَّهِ ...
62: 10. And when the Prayer is finished, then may ye disperse through the land, and seek of the Bounty of Allah:
وَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا لَّعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ﴿١٠﴾
and celebrate the Praises of Allah often (and without stint): that ye may prosper.
C5464. Prosperity is not to be measured by wealth or worldly gains. There is a higher prosperity,-the health of the mind and the spirit.
وَإِذَا
رَأَوْا تِجَارَةً
أَوْ لَهْوًا
انفَضُّوا
إِلَيْهَا
وَتَرَكُوكَ
قَائِمًا ...
62: 11. But when they see some bargain or some amusement, they disperse headlong to it, and leave thee standing.
... قُلْ مَا عِندَ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ مِّنَ اللَّهْوِ وَمِنَ التِّجَارَةِ ...
Say:
"The (blessing) from the Presence of Allah is better than any amusement or bargain!
... وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ ﴿١١﴾
And Allah is the Best to provide (for all needs)."
C5465. Do not be distracted by the craze for amusement or gain. If you lead a righteous and sober life, Allah will provide for you in all senses, better than any provision you can possibly think of.
Asad’s Version:
62:9 O YOU who have attained to faith! When the call to prayer is sounded on the day of congregation, 10 hasten to the remembrance of God, and leave all worldly commerce: this is for your own good, if you but knew it.
(62:10) And when the prayer is ended, disperse freely on earth 1 1 and seek to obtain [something] of God's bounty; but remember God often, so that you might attain to a happy state!
62:11 Yet [it does happen that] when people 12 become aware of [an occasion for] worldly gain 13 or a passing delight, they rush headlong towards it, and leave thee standing [and preaching]. 14 Say: "That which is with God is far better than all passing delight and all gain! And God is the best of providers!"
[[Asad’s notes - 10 I.e., on Friday, when the congregational prayer at noon is obligatory. Nevertheless, as the sequence shows, Friday is not a day of compulsory rest in Islamic Law.
1 1 I.e., "you may devote yourselves to worldly pursuits".
12 Lit, "they".
13 Lit, "trade" or "a bargain
14 Sc, "O Prophet" - thus alluding to an historical incident, when most of the congregation, on hearing that a long-expected trade caravan had come from Syria, rushed out of the mosque in the midst of the Prophet's Friday-sermon. In a wider, timeless sense, the above verse contains an allusion to an all-to-human weakness against which even true believers are not always immune: namely, the tendency to overlook religious obligations for the sake of a transitory, worldly advantage.]]