Friday Reminder

Narrated by Ibn 'Abbas, radhiAllaahu 'anhu: Allaah's Messenger, sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, said:

"Whoever speaks on Friday while the Imam is giving the khutbah, he is like a donkey which carries books (1), and he who tells him to be quiet has no Jumu'a (2)"

[Reported by Ahmad with an acceptable chain of narrators]

Footnotes:

(1) Such a person resembles a donkey (i.e. a beast of burden) in that it derives no benefit out of carrying a loadful of books onto its back. Similarly, the person does not accrue any reward on his credit out of performing a Friday prayer.

(2) It is worth noticing that the Prophet, sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, never said that his prayer will not be accepted, but he is deprived of the reward of a Friday prayer. Hence, the scholars have stated, by deduction, that whoever engages himself in a conversation, shall indeed get credit for the prayer, but shall be deprived of the reward associated with the Friday prayer.

Bulugh al-Maram