Friday Prayer Guidelines


As-Salaam Aleikum Wah Rahamatullahi Wa Barakatahu,

I pray that the Merciful One brings peace and blessings to us all. This is not a general notice to MSA. This message is for those that are interested in being a khatib and/or have been a khatib in the past. The message is also being fwd to the members of the MSA officers board.

Many of you are familiar with these points, but please go through them again, b/c they are VERY important.

  1. Time of Prayer

    Please keep in mind that the timing of the Friday prayers is meant to accommodate as many of the muslims on campus who can attend given that our schedules are all different. It has been the experience of previous MSA groups that the 12-12:30 block is the best time to have prayer given the current schedules of terms 1-4 med and 1-6 vet.

  2. Length of Khutbah

    Please keep in mind that a Khutbah is not a lecture. The purpose of the Khutbah is to remind the people about their religion and insha Allah inspire people to better themselves. The khatib is there to give advice to himself and the rest of the congregation. It is in the tradition that the Prophet (may Allah's peace be upon him) would not give a khutbah longer than 15 minutes.

    Please have respect for those brothers and sisters who had a very exhausting morning of Friday anatomy lab, and those who have to rush to class afterwards. Let us keep the Khutba short, concise, and focused. Once again, please keep the over-all time constraints in mind.

  3. Content of Khutbah

    Please realize what was stated above, the khutbah is a short piece of advice. Its better for the khutbah to not be the forum for preaching about controversial issues or hot political issues and references. It should be inspiring and motivational.

    The Khutbah should be in two parts. After finishing the first part the Imam should sit down for a short while (enough so that Subhan Allah can be recited 3 times). The first part should be the topic chosen by the khatib. The second Khutbah should end with peace and blessings on the Prophet and his companions and with du'a for all the people.

    There is something that should be REALLY stressed here. Realize that we have those who come to Jummah that may not normally attend either here or at home for many reasons. Al hamdu lillah for all those who attend and become involved in MSA. We also have non-muslims that sometimes attend our prayers to see how we worship. Lack of foresight or rashness in our dealings may serve to drive these people away and/or drive away first termers and potentially alienate non-muslims from Islam. So please bear in mind that the Friday Prayer can be a great way to make Da'wa or, if the khutba is inappropriate, turn people off from seeking The Almighty.

    The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) did not treat people the same. He addressed people in their capacity. He addressed the desert Arabs quite differently than the city Arabs of Makkah or Medina. Allah (SWT) gave him the wisdom to judge the needs of a people and respond accordingly in order to bring them closer to the truth.

    We have people in our congregation that have been conditioned, for whatever reason, to disconnect themselves when they don't feel part of the larger group, or feel their needs and sensitivities aren't being addressed. We have non-muslims that have been conditioned by what they see in the media that muslims are angry and irrational. Insha Allah let us use wisdom in our dealings, so we bring people closer to Islam.

  4. Supplication (Duah)

    If one wants to make a supplication for muslims in various parts of the world, here is a suggestion: simply ask Allah (SWT) to give help to all those who righteously struggle in His way against injustice. Please leave out words that are commonly misunderstood by muslims and non-muslims alike (Jihad, Mujahadeen, etc.).

  5. Procedure of Jummah

    It better to adhere to a constant format. The first call to prayer (Adhan) should be at 12 or afterwards as soon as the prayer area is ready for the Salaat al Sunnah. There should be 5-10 minutes for people to pray 2 or 4 rakaats. At this time the khatib should NOT be praying or sitting in FRONT of the congregation. Once the Sunnah is done, the khatib will approach the Prayer rug in the front, turn to the congregation and give the greeting of peace. He will then sit down on the prayer rug, and the Muazzin will give the call to prayer.

    After the second call, the khatib can stand up and start the khutbah first by giving praise to Allah by saying "Al hamdu lillah" saying the declaration of faith (two shahadah), peace and blessing upon the Prophet (salaat and salam) and then proceeding with their khutba.

    At the end after the khutba is finished the Iqamat al Salah (call for starting of the prayer) is said and the prayer performed. Again please be mindful of the time constraints so that by around 12:30 the prayer is finished. Ending earlier is fine but please do not exceed the time by more than 5 min while keeping the prayer itself short as that is the best way to ensure the focusing on prayer and not let the minds of all wander off about worldly affairs.

    PLEASE be familiar with this format BEFORE you give the Khutbah that Friday. These guidelines are to make the Friday prayer consistent, run smoothly and to decrease confusion and ambiguities.

    Jazakallah Khair (may Allah reward your good deeds), may the Lord of the Universe bless us, and guide us all.