Kamal El-Mekki – The To-Do-List for the last Hour of Fridays

Inna alhamdulillah nahmaduhu wa nastaeenuhu wa nastaghfiruhu wa

na'udhu billahi min shururi anfusina wa min

sayyiati a'malina man yahdihi allahu fala mudhilla lah

waman yudhlil fala hadiya lah wa ashhadu an

la ilaha illallah wahdahu la sharika lah wa

ashhadu anna muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh ya ayyuha

allatheena aamanu attaqu allaha haqqa tuqatihi wa la

tamutunna illa wa antum muslimoon ya ayyuha allatheena

aamanu attaqu allaha wa quloo qawlan sadeeda yusbih

lakum a'malakum wa yagfil lakum dhunubakum waman yuta

'illaha wa rasulahu faqad faaza fawzan azeema amma

ba'd fa inna astaqal hadithi kitaabullah wa ahsana

al hadi hadi muhammadin sallallahu alayhi wasallam wa

sharr al umoor muhdathatuha wa kulla muhdathatin bid

'a wa kulla bid'atin dalala wa kulla

bid'atin finnaar brothers and sisters in islam

today our khutbah is about the last hour

on the day of friday the last sa

'ah the last hour of the day of

friday and we'll begin with this story from

this shaykh who says my entire life my

father he never accepted any invitation on friday

he never booked or planned any activity on

friday he said friday he would pray asr

in the masjid and he would sit from

asr until maghrib and he would make dua

to allah azza wa jal in the masjid

another story was a man who had all

kinds of debts and problems and he didn't

know what to do so he was advised

and he lived in mecca so they told

him go to the haram this was on

friday and they said pray asr there and

then don't leave just stay there making dua

until maghrib he says i prayed asr and

i made dua until maghrib and i stayed

there after maghrib and before isha came i

got a phone call someone offering me a

huge amount of money solving all my problems

so what is so special about this last

hour on the day of friday we have

a hadith mentioned in sa'eeh bukhari and

muslim about abu hurairah he said abu al

qasim said so this is abu hurairah narrating

from the prophet on friday on

the day of friday there is an hour

that there is no believing muslim who coincides

or happens to be asking allah subhana wa

ta'ala during this time for any of

the good of this world or the next

except that allah subhana wa ta'ala will

give it to them now the hadith also

says standing in prayer but the scholars explained

and this we'll see later on as explained

by the prophet doesn't mean that he's engaged

in prayer but the fact that you're sitting

in the musalla and the hadith the prophet

explained anytime you are sitting in the musalla

awaiting a prayer or sitting in the musalla

after a prayer it's considered salah so that's

what it means someone's in the musalla making

dua to allah azza wa jal so this

hadith is authentic in sa'eeh bukhari and

muslim and it says there's this hour on

the day of friday and it's a 12

hour day so there's within this day there

is an hour if you're asking allah for

anything you will get it so the question

is then what is and when is this

hour when is this specific time ibn al

qayyim rahimahullah he mentioned 19 different opinions on

when this time is and as a total

there are about 40 different opinions when is

this exact time but we're going to look

at the top 2 the top 2 one

of them is narrated by tirmidhi and ibn

majah and it's from abu burda abu burda

is a tabi'i he is the son

of the companion abu musa al ashari so

he meets with abdullah ibn umar ibn al

khattab and he says abdullah ibn umar so

abdullah ibn umar is now asking him did

you hear your father the companion abu musa

al ashari narrating anything from the prophet about

the hour of al jumu'ah and this

means the hour where your dua is accepted

i said yes yes so

he says yes i heard my father say

that he heard the prophet that this hour

where your dua is answered is from between

the time the imam sits meaning between the

2 khutbas until the prayer is over so

and there are other hadith saying the same

thing stating the same opinion but they all

range from weak to very weak so this

opinion also doesn't mean that you ignore the

khutba and you engage in dua the scholars

explain rather you listen to the khutba you

say ameen when the imam makes dua you

make dua between the 2 khutbas meaning when

the imam sits down you make dua and

you make dua in the prayer and before

the taslim so that's the first opinion as

to when is this hour or this specific

time the second opinion is the more popular

opinion and that is it is after asr

prayer on the day of al jumu'ah

and this is the opinion of companions of

the prophet including abdullah ibn salam abu huraira

radiallahu anhu from the scholars and imam ahmad

ibn hanbar rahimahumullah this is narrated by imam

ahmad rahimahumullah and abu saeed al khudri through

abu huraira radiallahu anhu the prophet sallallahu alayhi

wa sallam said so

the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is saying

on friday there is an hour there is

no believing servant or muslim servant who is

making dua to allah during this hour or

this time except that allah subhanahu wa ta

'ala will give it to him and then

he says it is after asr and there

is weakness in this narration but it is

supported by other many similar narrations in sunan

abu dawud and also narrated by al nasai

through jabir ibn abdullah the prophet sallallahu alayhi

wa sallam said the day of friday is

12 hours so

similar hadith to that one and then the

prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said seek out

this hour in the last hour after asr

meaning the last hour after asr before maghrib

comes in in the sunan of saeed ibn

mansoor from abu salama ibn abdulrahman the prophet

sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he is saying that

he says a group from the companions of

the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam gathered this

is after the death of the prophet sallallahu

alayhi wa sallam companions gathered together so they

mentioned that specific hour that is on the

day of friday so until they separated or

dispersed none of them had disagreed that it

is the last hour on the day of

friday the companions gathered together and not a

single one of them disagreed that it is

the last hour on the day meaning before

maghrib comes in of friday and likewise another

narration supporting this narrated by ibn majah this

is abdullah ibn salam he says i said

while the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was

sitting he was talking about the hour of

the jumaa where the dua is answered and

he said it is after asr or he

said there is an hour in the jumaa

so the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he

said he signaled to me or a little

less than an hour an hour or a

little less than that so i said sadaq

or a little less than that then i

asked him which hour is it and he

wants to pinpoint one is a specific time

so the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam it

is the last hour of the hours of

the day before Maghrib comes in so then

I said it is not from the time

of prayer because you're not allowed to pray

after Asr unless there's a reason janazah or

something like that but for no reason just

extra voluntary prayers you're not allowed to in

this time it's not a time of prayer

so then the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam

and this is the hadith we alluded to

earlier explained that when someone is sitting in

the musallah before or after the salah that

is considered salah so that's why we find

and we find other narrations by the way

in it in Sunan al-Tirmidhi narrated by

Anas radiallahu anhu and the

Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said so he's

saying seek out that hour where your dua

is answered from after Asr until the Sun

sets that's why you find great scholars such

as Saeed ibn Jubair rahimahullah they said that

Saeed when he would pray Asr he would

not talk to anyone he would just sit

until maghrib making dua to Allah so this

is the hour that we're supposed to seek

and this is the day we're in that

day where there is this hour and how

many Fridays have passed where perhaps we missed

out on this great opportunity ask Allah azzajal

for his forgiveness indeed those who ask for

his forgiveness shall prosper we

know that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala informs

us of the best of times and virtuous

times such as Ramadan and Laylatul Qadr and

the excellence of Friday so that we can

take advantage of these times otherwise what is

the point of telling us about the best

of times if there is nothing that we're

gonna do in the best of times so

it befits and behooves the believing man and

woman to free up their that hour and

that time of Friday I mean we understand

it's the weekend and families go out and

things happen and we're not saying you have

to miss out on that but we're gonna

mention the highest level the highest level is

to free yourself during this time and before

maghrib comes in to sit and make some

dua to Allah azzawajal then if not then

even if you're at a family outing or

some event you can stop or in your

car or just step aside and make some

dua to Allah azzawajal just to not miss

the greatness of this hour or the possibility

of this hour and if you can't do

it regularly at least take advantage of of

it during times of difficulty just like we

saw in the stories in the beginning maybe

I can't do this regularly but when I

have difficulty in my life I take advantage

of moments like this I take advantage of

the last hour of Friday and I'll conclude

with this true story that happened in our

times this old man and he has a

teenage son he says my son is always

out of the house he said sometimes he'll

be out for five days and I don't

see him so he's spending that in his

nights and times with his friends he said

I was so angry with him that I

was going to make dua against him and

some of my friends advised me they said

don't make dua against him said this is

the day of Friday and the last hour

of the day just go sit in the

masjid and make dua for him he said

I went and I made dua for him

until maghrib and then I prayed maghrib and

I came home he said when when I

was at home my son came to me

and he shook my hand and he kissed

my hand so that was the first thing

that was out of the ordinary then the

second thing he asked me if I want

coffee or tea that was the second thing

out of the ordinary and then he made

it and we sat down and we drank

together and we spoke and then we spoke

until isha and when isha came my son

said to me let's go and pray together

and I expected him after the salah to

say goodbye to me because he's going to

go out and hang out with his friends

until the early morning and what have you

he said he came back and he said

let's have dinner and we had dinner and

we had a long talk afterwards and there

are many success stories and many stories about

the excellence of this hour but the most

important thing brothers and sisters is don't do

this to test Allah Azza wa Jal don't

do it to test if Allah will give

you to test if this is true what

you heard in the khutbah works or doesn't

work ask as the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa

sallam said Ud'u Allaha wa antum muqinoona

bil ijabah ask Allah while you are certain

of the response coming from Allah Azza wa

Jal so ask Allah Azza wa Jal knowing

that he is ghafoor knowing that he's rahim

that he is merciful that he's forgiving knowing

that he's the one who answers dua not

to test if he will if it will

work or not with that without we ask

Allah Azza wa Jal to make us of

those who hear the truth as clear truth

and follow the best of it and to

make us of those who recognize falsehood as

clear falsehood and abstain from it Allahumma

arfa ma halla bi ikhwanina fi falistin, Allahumma

arfa ma halla bi ikhwanina fi falistin, Allahumma

arfa ma halla bi ikhwanina fi falistin, Allahumma

arfa ma halla bi ikhwanina fi falistin, Allahumma

arfa ma halla bi ikhwanina fi falistin, Allahumma

arfa ma halla bi ikhwanina fi falistin, Allahumma

arfa ma halla bi ikhwanina fi falistin, Allahumma

arfa ma halla bi ikhwanina fi falistin, Allahumma

arfa ma halla bi ikhwanina fi falistin, Allahumma

arfa ma halla bi ikhwanina fi falistin, Allahumma

arfa ma halla bi ikhwanina fi falistin, Allahumma

arfa ma halla bi ikhwanina fi falistin, Allahumma