جمعہ میں اول وقت آنے کی فضیلت

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Hurayrah (RA) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “When the day of Jumu'ah comes, the angels stand at the door of the mosque. The person who comes to the mosque first, they write his name first, then after him the names of those who come next. The one who comes earliest to the Jumu'ah is like a person who offers a camel in sacrifice (which carries a very great reward); the one who comes after him is like a person who offers a cow; the one who comes after him is like one who offers a ram; and the one who comes after him is like one who gives an egg in charity. And when the imam comes (onto the pulpit for the sermon), they fold up their scrolls and listen to the sermon.” (Bukhari and Muslim)

The Jumu'ah prayer is an individual obligation (fard 'ayn), established by the Holy Qur'an, the blessed ahadith and the consensus of the ummah, and it is among the greatest symbols of Islam. Whoever denies its obligatory nature is an unbeliever, and whoever abandons it without a valid legal excuse is a sinner and transgressor.

The first part of the hadith means that on the day of Jumu'ah — whether from early morning, or from sunrise, or from the time of the sun's decline — the angels come and stand at the door of the mosque, and they record people's names in the order in which the worshippers arrive. Thus those who come to the mosque at the earliest time have their names written first, and they are the most excellent; those who come later have their names written later, and so are counted as having less merit than those who came early. These angels are other than the angels appointed to record the deeds of the servants.

The real aim and purpose of the hadith is to encourage coming early to the Jumu'ah prayer, and the Prophet ﷺ explained the difference in reward and rank of those who come one after another by the parable of sacrifices of different grades.

May Allah make us among those who attain this merit. Ameen!