Guidance on Changing One’s Seat if Drowsiness Overcomes During the Friday Sermon
✍ Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
❖ One Should Change Their Seat if Sleepiness Overcomes During the Sermon
It is narrated from Ḥaḍrat Ibn ʿUmar (رضي الله عنهما) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
إِذَا نَعَسَ أَحَدُكُمْ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ فَلْيَتَحَوَّلْ مِنْ مَجْلِسِهِ ذَٰلِكَ
“If one of you feels drowsy on the day of Friday (during the sermon), then let him change his place.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Ṣaḥīḥ Tirmidhī: 436 | Kitāb al-Ṣalāh: Bāb fī man yanʿasu yawm al-jumuʿah annahu yataḥawwal min majlisih | Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd: 1025 | Tirmidhī: 526 | Abū Dāwūd: 1119]
❖ Reason for Changing the Seat
The wisdom behind this instruction is:
✔ Movement helps to dispel drowsiness and restores attentiveness during the khutbah (sermon).
[Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī: 3/85 | Nayl al-Awṭār: 2/537]
