Guides

The Friday prayer: its order and etiquette

Friday is the best day of the week, and the Friday prayer has its own sunnahs. Here is how it goes and what the Prophet ﷺ taught about it, each point with its evidence.

Last updated: October 19, 2026 · 6 min read

The best day of the week

خير يوم طلعت عليه الشمس يوم الجمعة فيه خلق آدم وفيه أدخل الجنة وفيه أخرج منها

“The best day on which the sun rises is Friday. On it Adam was created, on it he was admitted to Paradise, and on it he was sent out of it.”

Muslim 854

The Friday prayer (Jumu’ah) takes the place of the midday prayer. Allah commanded it in the Qur’an (62:9), and the Prophet ﷺ said for whom it is an obligation:

الجمعة حق واجب على كل مسلم في جماعة إلا أربعة عبد مملوك أو امرأة أو صبي أو مريض

“The Friday prayer is a duty on every Muslim, in congregation, except four: a slave, a woman, a child and a sick person.”

Abu Dawud 1067, graded sahih by al-Albani

The order in brief

1. Before: ghusl, clean clothes, for men some perfume, then off to the mosque early.
2. In the mosque you first pray two rak’ahs, then voluntary prayers as much as you like until the imam comes.
3. The imam climbs the pulpit (minbar) and sits down, then the call to prayer is made.
4. The imam gives the first khutbah standing, sits briefly and gives the second.
5. Then comes the prayer of two rak’ahs, and after it you pray the sunnah prayers.

The evidence for the parts of the khutbah is in How a khutbah is structured. This guide is about what you do yourself.

Ghusl, cleanliness and perfume

غسل يوم الجمعة واجب على كل محتلم

“Ghusl on Friday is a duty on everyone who has reached puberty.”

al-Bukhari 879, Muslim 846

من توضأ يوم الجمعة فبها ونعمت ومن اغتسل فهو أفضل

“Whoever only makes wudu’ on Friday has kept to what is allowed, and that is good. But whoever makes ghusl, that is better.”

Abu Dawud 354, graded hasan by al-Albani

The scholars differ on whether ghusl on Friday is obligatory. Some of them take the word “duty” in the first hadith literally. The majority see it as a strongly recommended sunnah, relying on the second. So do not leave it out if you can manage it.

لا يغتسل رجل يوم الجمعة ويتطهر ما استطاع من طهر ويدهن من دهنه أو يمس من طيب بيته ثم يخرج فلا يفرق بين اثنين ثم يصلي ما كتب له ثم ينصت إذا تكلم الإمام إلا غفر له ما بينه وبين الجمعة الأخرى

“When a man washes on Friday, purifies himself as well as he can, puts on some of his oil or some of the perfume of his house, then goes out, does not separate two people sitting together, prays what has been written for him and keeps silent when the imam speaks, he is forgiven what lies between that Friday and the other.”

al-Bukhari 883

For women going to the mosque, perfume is different:

إذا شهدت إحداكن المسجد فلا تمس طيبا

“When one of you (women) comes to the mosque, she should not put on perfume.”

Muslim 443

Coming early

إذا كان يوم الجمعة وقفت الملائكة على باب المسجد يكتبون الأول فالأول ومثل المهجر كمثل الذي يهدي بدنة ثم كالذي يهدي بقرة ثم كبشا ثم دجاجة ثم بيضة فإذا خرج الإمام طووا صحفهم ويستمعون الذكر

“On Friday the angels stand at the door of the mosque and write down those who arrive, one after the other. The one who comes early is like someone who offers a camel, then like someone who offers a cow, then a ram, then a hen, then an egg. When the imam comes out, they fold up their pages and listen to the remembrance.”

al-Bukhari 929, Muslim 850

So whoever only arrives once the imam has come out is no longer written on those pages. Coming early also means you find a seat at the front, close to the imam, without pushing through.

Not stepping over people

If you come later, look for a free space and do not push to the front. Once a man stepped over the people sitting during the khutbah. The Prophet ﷺ said to him:

اجلس فقد آذيت

“Sit down, you have caused (people) harm.”

Abu Dawud 1118, graded sahih by al-Albani

In the same way, you do not make anyone get up so that you can take his place:

نهى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أن يقيم الرجل أخاه من مقعده ويجلس فيه

“The Prophet ﷺ forbade that a man make his brother get up from his seat and then sit in it himself.”

al-Bukhari 911

Two rak’ahs on entering, even during the khutbah

Do not sit straight down when you enter the mosque. First pray two rak’ahs, even if the imam is already speaking, and keep them short. When a man sat straight down during the khutbah, the Prophet ﷺ sent him to pray and said:

إذا جاء أحدكم يوم الجمعة والإمام يخطب فليركع ركعتين وليتجوز فيهما

“When one of you comes on Friday while the imam is giving the khutbah, let him pray two rak’ahs and keep them short.”

Muslim 875; similar in al-Bukhari 930

Silence during the khutbah

Once the imam speaks, you listen in silence. No conversation, not even a short one:

إذا قلت لصاحبك يوم الجمعة أنصت والإمام يخطب فقد لغوت

“If you say to your neighbour on Friday, while the imam is giving the khutbah, ‘Be quiet!’, then you yourself have spoken idly.”

al-Bukhari 934, Muslim 851

من توضأ فأحسن الوضوء ثم أتى الجمعة فاستمع وأنصت غفر له ما بينه وبين الجمعة وزيادة ثلاثة أيام ومن مس الحصى فقد لغا

“Whoever makes wudu’ well, then comes to the Friday prayer, listens and keeps silent, is forgiven what lies between that Friday and the other, and three days more. And whoever touches the pebbles has done something idle.”

Muslim 857

Back then the floor of the mosque was covered with pebbles. What is meant is any fidgeting that distracts from listening, so today the phone as well.

The hour in which du’a is answered

فيه ساعة لا يوافقها عبد مسلم وهو قائم يصلي يسأل الله تعالى شيئا إلا أعطاه إياه

“On it there is an hour: no Muslim servant meets it while praying and asking Allah for something, without Him giving it to him.”

al-Bukhari 935, Muslim 852

The scholars hold different views on when exactly this hour is. Two are best known, each with evidence:

هي ما بين أن يجلس الإمام إلى أن تقضى الصلاة

“It is between the moment the imam sits down and the end of the prayer.”

Muslim 853

فالتمسوها آخر ساعة بعد العصر

“Seek it in the last hour after the afternoon prayer.”

Abu Dawud 1048, graded sahih by al-Albani

So ask within the prayer itself, for example in prostration and before the closing salam, and take time for du’a in the late afternoon before Maghrib.

Surat al-Kahf

من قرأ سورة الكهف في يوم الجمعة أضاء له من النور ما بين الجمعتين

“Whoever reads Surat al-Kahf on Friday, a light shines for him from this Friday to the next.”

reported by al-Hakim and al-Bayhaqi; graded sahih by al-Albani (Sahih al-Jami’ 6470)

Some scholars hold this report to be a saying of the Companion Abu Sa’id al-Khudri rather than of the Prophet ﷺ himself. Many scholars still recommend reading the surah on Friday.

Many blessings on the Prophet ﷺ

إن من أفضل أيامكم يوم الجمعة … فأكثروا علي من الصلاة فيه فإن صلاتكم معروضة علي

“Among the best of your days is Friday … So send many blessings on me on it, for your blessings are presented to me.”

Abu Dawud 1047, graded sahih by al-Albani

Best in the words the Prophet ﷺ taught himself, as in the prayer:

اللهم صل على محمد وعلى آل محمد كما صليت على إبراهيم وعلى آل إبراهيم إنك حميد مجيد

“O Allah, send blessings on Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as You sent blessings on Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim. You are the Praiseworthy, the Glorious.”

al-Bukhari 3370; similar in Muslim 406

After the prayer

إذا صلى أحدكم الجمعة فليصل بعدها أربعا

“When one of you has prayed the Friday prayer, let him pray four (rak’ahs) after it.”

Muslim 881

وكان لا يصلي بعد الجمعة حتى ينصرف فيصلي ركعتين

“And after the Friday prayer he did not pray until he had left; then he prayed two rak’ahs (at home).”

al-Bukhari 937, about the Prophet ﷺ

Questions

The verses of the Qur’an and the hadith are rendered here by meaning.

For questions about rulings, ask a scholar.