Jumma
Sala

Now we know that in mosques prayers are made at five different times every day,

with Dzuhr Sala being made just after mid-day.

Every day except Friday, that is,

when the Dzuhr Sala turns into something else entirely,

the Jumma Sala.

Each Friday, the Messenger would make a special kind of mid-day prayer

which was quite different from the usual Dzuhr Sala,

as it had less than the usual number of rakas

and it included a sermon

where he spoke of aspects of the muslim way of life

that he felt were important for all the community to hear.

This could relate to new revelations that needed to be explained,

or how to deal with important events happening in the community,

what might be seen as the politics of the time,

and people made a special effort to go to the mosque to hear what he had to say.

Now even at the time of the Messenger, there were local mosques

to make it easier for people to come together to pray Sala,

and it became customary for mosques to be built close enough

that everyone was always able to hear the call to prayer.

But there were always larger mosques,

big enough to hold as many of the community as possible.

These mosques

in which the whole community came together

were known as Jumma mosques,

the Arabic word Jumma meaning "coming together".

And because people gathered in a crowd for this prayer,

it was traditional that before going to the mosque for the Jumma prayer

people would make Ghusl,

wash all over,

and wear clean clothing,

making themselves pleasant for others to be around.

And to give people extra time to prepare for the Sala,

the call to prayer was made twice, just as it is today.

And when people arrive at the mosque

they will often make two rakas to greet the mosque,

then sit and listen to the imam

or some learned person

talk about how Islam relates to matters of the day.

Eventually, when it is time to make the Sala, someone will make a second Azan

and people will usually make two sunna rakas

before the two rakas of the main prayer,

along with which

following the tradition of the Messenger,

the imam will give a sermon known as a Khutbah.

Now to make it easier for everyone to see him,

the Messenger would stand at the top of a small set of steps, known as a Mimbar,

and in the same way since then large mosques will have a Mimbar beside the Qibla

so that the person giving the Khutba can climb up to be seen,

though by tradition none will climb all the way to the top step,

that in his day would have been used by the Messenger.

As the muslim community grew through history,

and the Jumma mosques became huge,

the Mimbar could become quite tall and richly decorated

a feature of the mosque,

the extravagance of which was a sign of earthly power,

a sign of the way that the Khutba was often used

to spread a political ruler's view of Islam.

In the same way, it is common in muslim countries nowadays

for khutbas not to be allowed local variation,

but a sermon written and issued by a department of central government

will be distributed to mosques for all to read the same thing.

And some religious organisations will do similarly.

Some even require the Khutba to be read out in Arabic,

even when the congregation don't speak the language,

making the Khutba meaningless for them,

the same language but quite a different experience

to those who were lucky enough to listen to the Messenger.

Nowadays the Khutba is usually given in two parts,

the first part relating to the nature of Islam

and how it relates to the community,

and after a short break the second part will be about the Messenger,

his sayings, his practice and his life.

Then at the end of the prayer,

the people disperse

and return to their work or their homes.

Friday in the world of Islam is not like the Sabbath of Jews and Christians.

It is not a day of rest.

When not attending the Sala people carry on about their business

as they would on any other day of the week,

though after the prayer they have the content of the Khutba to discuss through the week

until the Jumma Sala on the following Friday.