Friday Sermon

The Ritual-Bath (ghusl) on Friday: What is it a Sunna for?


Hanafi Fiqh

Answered by Sidi Salman Younas

Question: What is the the ritual-bath (ghusl) on Friday a sunna for?

Answer: assalamu `alaykum wa rahmatullah

I pray you are well.

There are two opinions in the Hanafi school regarding the ritual-bath (ghusl) of Friday:

1. That it is a sunna for the Friday prayer itself,
2. That it is a sunna for the day of Friday.

The relied-upon position within the school is that the ritual bath is a sunna for the Friday prayer itself. The sunna is only fulfilled if one goes to the Friday prayer in a state of ritual-purity that was due to the the ritual-bath. Therefore, if one, for example, lost his or her state of ritual-purity attained through the ritual-bath, performed only the ablution (wudu), and then prayed the Friday prayer, the sunna would not be considered fulfilled because the state of purity here is from a subsequent ablution and not the ritual-bath itself. [Ibn `Abidin, Hashiya]

However, in cases of need it would be permitted to follow the position that the ritual-bath is a sunna for the day of Friday, such as for those who work on Fridays. According to this opinion, even if one does not pray the Friday prayer in a state of ritual-purity attained through ritual-bath the sunna is still fulfilled by merely doing ghusl for the day.

wassalam
Salman

Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani

و في الدر المختار : ( وسن لصلاة جمعة و ) لصلاة ( عيد ) هو الصحيح كما في غرر الأذكار وغيره .

و قال سيدي ابن عابدين في رد المحتار : ( قوله : هو الصحيح ) أي كونه للصلاة هو الصحيح ، وهو ظاهر الرواية . ابن كمال : وهو قول أبي يوسف . وقال الحسن بن زياد : إنه لليوم ، ونسب إلى محمد والخلاف المذكور جار في غسل العيد أيضا كما في القهستاني عن التحفة ، وأثر الخلاف فيمن لا جمعة عليه لو اغتسل وفيمن أحدث بعد الغسل وصلى بالوضوء نال الفضل عند الحسن لا عند الثاني قال في الكافي : وكذا فيمن اغتسل قبل الفجر وصلى به ينال عند الثاني لا عند الحسن ؛ لأنه اشتراط إيقاعه فيه إظهارا لشرفه ومزيد اختصاصه عن غيره كما في النهر