How Long Should One Sit between the Two Friday Sermons?


Hanafi Fiqh

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

How long should the sitting between the two sermons be in Jumu’a? What if it was longer than the prescribed period?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

The sitting between the first and second sermons of Jumu’a is an emphasized sunna. It is meant to be a separation between the two sermons, so it is a brief sitting. [Tahtawi/Shurunbulali, Hashiya ‘ala Maraqi al-Falah]

The scholars mentioned that it should be around the length of time that it takes to recite three verses of the Quran. [Ibid.]

If one sits less than this or more, it does not affect the validity of the sermons. If one unnecessarily delays the second sermon excessively, this is prohibitively disliked.

The Sitting of Jumu’a

It is the time when the Imam sits between the two sermons that is known to be an auspicious time in which supplications are readily accepted. [Nawawi, al-‘Adhkar]

Hope this helps
Allah knows best

[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.