Nasai

Hadith Commentary:
(1)
Warning someone during the sermon about a harmful animal or guiding a blind person is not included in this prohibition; however, it is better even in such situations to act as much as possible through gestures.
(2)
"Laghw" means to be engaged in meaningless or futile activity.
(3)
A person who speaks during the sermon can be stopped by gesture as well; therefore, stopping verbally is a futile and useless act.
In the hadith, there is a strict prohibition against silencing someone who talks or converses during the sermon. Thus, the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said that whoever instructs someone to be silent, his Friday (Jumu‘ah) is not established.
Hafiz Ibn Hajar (rahimahullah) has written that such a person is deprived of the reward of Jumu‘ah, however, the obligation (fard) will still be considered fulfilled.
(Fath al-Bari: 2/533)

Hadith Commentary: Benefits and Issues: Although, according to eloquent and common language, this chapter is from "nasara yansuru," yet the dialect of Abu Hurairah radi Allahu anhu is supported by the Noble Qur'an, because in the Qur'an it is mentioned that the disbelievers said: Do not listen to the Noble Qur'an, rather, ﴿وَالْغَوْا فِيهِ﴾—make vain talk in it, create noise and commotion. So, if it were from "nasara," then there should have been a dammah (u) on the letter ghayn, whereas in the Qur'an there is a fathah (a).

Hadith Commentary:
Vocabulary of the Hadith:
Laghawt:
The root is deficient and is from nasara,
and in another hadith, "laghayta" is used; this is from "lagha yalghu (sīn),"
the meaning of both is the same:
to speak unnecessarily,
to say something false or rejected, or to do something purposeless,
to engage in futile activity.

Benefits and Issues:
When the imam arrives and the sermon (khutbah) begins after the call to prayer (adhan), it is necessary to listen to it attentively and with focus.
So much so that if someone is conversing in opposition to this, it is not even correct to stop him.
This too is an incorrect action; this is the position of the four imams (a’immah arba‘ah). Thus, if a person cannot hear the voice of the sermon, then according to the majority (jumhur), remaining silent is still necessary.
According to one opinion of Imam Ahmad rahimahullah and Imam Shafi‘i rahimahullah, in such a situation, silence is not necessary.

English Commentary:
1:
That is, he did not attain the virtue of Jumu‘ah (Friday prayer), rather he was deprived of it.
This does not mean that his prayer itself was not valid, because there is consensus on the fact that his Jumu‘ah prayer will be considered performed.
However, he will be deprived of the virtue of Jumu‘ah.
From this hadith, it is understood that the Friday sermon (khutbah) should be listened to with full concentration and attention,
and during the sermon, no inappropriate action should be done.

1112. Commentary:
During the sermon, one should listen to the preacher, and it is the preacher’s responsibility to observe the people and to fulfill the duty of enjoining good and forbidding evil (amr bil ma‘ruf wa nahi ‘anil munkar). Silencing someone, although it is enjoining good, is not permitted for the listener. Except in the case where the preacher is not attentive to this matter or is negligent, then the listener may silence the person by means of a gesture; if the person does not understand the gesture, then he may prohibit him with extremely brief words. [كذا فى عون المعبود]

1578. Commentary: This hadith pertains to the Friday sermon (khutbah al-Jumu‘ah), as is explicitly mentioned in some narrations with the specification of the day of Jumu‘ah. However, here Imam sahib rahimahullah’s reasoning is based on the generality of the phrase (wal-imam yakhṭub) “and the imam is delivering the sermon.” It appears that, according to him, the sermon of the ‘Eid prayer is akin to the Friday sermon, and thus listening to it is also necessary. However, in hadith 1572, permission is reported regarding listening or not listening to the ‘Eid sermon. Therefore, to analogize the ‘Eid sermon to the Friday sermon, or to consider them equivalent, is an invalid analogy (qiyas ma‘ al-fariq), because listening to the Friday sermon is obligatory (wajib), and it is not correct to analogize a non-obligatory act to an obligatory one. ‘Allamah Sindhi rahimahullah has attempted to answer this, the gist of which is that whoever wishes to leave may do so, but for those who remain seated, listening to the ‘Eid sermon is necessary, and speaking during the sermon is not permissible. However, this reconciliation is questionable, because the principle is that if a text is absolute (mutlaq), it is interpreted in light of the restricted (muqayyad) text, and this is the case here, because in one version of this very hadith, the restriction of the day of Jumu‘ah is present, from which it is understood that silence is only necessary during the Friday sermon, and the warning mentioned in the hadith is also related only to the Friday sermon. However, there is no difference of opinion that listening to the ‘Eid sermon with attention and focus is recommended (mustahabb). And Allah knows best. For details, see: (Dhakheerat al-‘Uqba Sharh Sunan al-Nasa’i: 17/205)

➋ Forbidding with the tongue is prohibited because sometimes the noise of those trying to silence others exceeds that of the one speaking, therefore, one should use gestures so that tranquility is maintained during the sermon.

➌ “You have done a futile act,” meaning you have wasted the reward of your Friday, because engaging in idle acts during the Friday sermon nullifies the reward.

1402. Commentary:

➊ There is a large gathering in Jumu‘ah (Friday prayer). If even minor conversation were permitted, it would lead to noise and commotion; therefore, speech has been absolutely prohibited, to the extent that one should not even silence someone else verbally, because often the noise made by those silencing others exceeds that of those who are talking, and it becomes a case of “not just one, but two.” However, if absolutely necessary, one may silence someone by gesture.

➋ The Hanafis use this as evidence that if one cannot even say “be quiet,” then how can one perform prayer during the sermon? The answer is that this (speaking) is a vain act. Is prayer also vain? (We seek refuge with Allah.) Furthermore, prayer is recited quietly, so there is no noise. Speaking causes noise, and the narrations regarding prayer are explicit commands. Can such explicit narrations be rejected by such general arguments?

➌ “Engaged in vain talk,” thus its reward is lost, meaning the obligation has been fulfilled, but the virtue of Jumu‘ah has not been attained. It is as if one has performed the Zuhr prayer. This does not mean that even the obligation has not been fulfilled, because the sermon is not identical to the prayer itself. And Allah knows best.

Benefits and Issues:
➊ The sermon (khutbah) should be listened to in complete silence.

➋ It is prohibited to talk to anyone or to respond to someone’s speech during the sermon.

➌ If, during the sermon, someone among the attendees needs to say something necessary to the imam, it is permissible. For example, a person came during the sermon and requested the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) to supplicate for rain, and on the following Friday, during the sermon, a request was made to supplicate for the cessation of rain. (Sahih al-Bukhari, al-Jumu‘ah, Chapter: Seeking rain during the sermon on Friday, Hadith: 933) Similarly, the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) spoke to Sulayk al-Ghatafani (radi Allahu anhu), as will be mentioned in the next chapter. However, to keep the listeners attentive, repeatedly asking them questions and having them respond collectively in a loud voice or chanting slogans is not correct.

Hadith Authentication (Takhrij al-Hadith):
[وله لون آخر فى الموطأ رواية أبى مصعب : 437، ● و أخرجه النسائي فى المجتبيٰ 188/3، ح 1578، من حديث عبدالرحمٰن بن القاسم عن مالك، و أبوداود 1112، من حديث مالك به، ورواه البخاري 934، و مسلم 851، من حديث شهاب به]
Jurisprudential Understanding (Tafaqquh):
➊ During the sermon (khutbah), it is not permissible for the listeners to speak to one another, but it is permissible to speak to the imam if there is a necessity, as is established by other evidences.
➋ Whoever arrives during the sermon (khutbah) must perform two units (rak‘ahs) of prayer. See: [صحيح بخاري 931، 930، 1166، و صحيح مسلم 875]
➌ According to Hakam ibn ‘Utaybah and Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman, after the arrival of the preacher (khatib) on the day of Jumu‘ah, it is permissible to greet (say salam) and to reply to it, and to say “alhamdulillah” upon sneezing and to reply to it. See: [مصنف ابن ابي شيبه 120/2 ح 5260 و سنده صحيح]
● And in light of the statement of Ibrahim al-Nakha‘i, it is also permissible not to reply to salam in this situation. See: [مصنف ابن ابي شيبه 121/2 ح 5268 وسنده صحيح]
➍ For further details, see: [الموطأ حديث 333، و مسلم 851]

Hadith Authentication (Takhrij al-Hadith):
[وأخرجه أحمد 485/2، من حديث مالك به ورواه مسلم 851/12، من حديث ابي الزنادبه]

Jurisprudential Explanation (Tafaqquh):
➊ In [مصنف ابن ابي شيبه 126/2 ح 5309], it is narrated with an authentic chain from Isma'il bin Abi Khalid (trustworthy) that I saw Ibrahim al-Nakha'i rahimahullah speaking to a man on the day of Jumu'ah while the Imam was delivering the sermon.
● This action of Ibrahim al-Nakha'i is rejected due to its opposition to the hadith, or it is interpreted as being in an extremely severe state of necessity. And Allah knows best.
● It is narrated from Abu al-Haytham al-Muradi (truthful) that the Imam was delivering the sermon on the day of Jumu'ah when I greeted Ibrahim (al-Nakha'i) with salam, but he did not reply to my greeting. [مصنف ابن ابي شيبه 121/2 ح 5268 وسنده صحيح]
◄ It is understood from this that the action of Ibrahim al-Nakha'i of speaking on the day of Jumu'ah is abrogated.

➋ Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah radi Allahu anhu said: When the Imam is delivering the sermon on the day of Jumu'ah and someone says to another, "Be quiet," then that person has engaged in idle (invalid) speech. [ابن ابي شيبہ 126/2 ح 5308 وسنده صحيح]

➌ It is narrated from Tha'labah bin Abi Malik al-Qurazi rahimahullah that when (Sayyiduna) Umar radi Allahu anhu would stand to deliver the (Jumu'ah) sermon, we would become silent, and then none of us would speak. [الموطأ 103/1 ح 229 وسندہ صحيح، الزهري صرح بالسماع]

➍ Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar radi Allahu anhuma saw that the Imam was delivering the sermon on the day of Jumu'ah and two men were talking, so he threw pebbles at them so that they would become silent. [الموطأ 104/1 ح 231 وسندہ صحیح]
● It is understood from this that sometimes it is permissible to enjoin good and forbid evil with force, provided that the one using force is himself a sound-believing scholar and has the support of those in authority.

➎ Regarding the person who enters the mosque after the Imam has come out on the day of Jumu'ah, Hakam bin 'Utaybah and Hammad bin Abi Sulayman said: He should give salam and the people will reply. If he sneezes and says "Alhamdulillah," then the people will reply to him (by saying "Yarhamuk Allah"). [مصنف ابن ابي شيبه 120/2 ح 5620 وسنده صحيح، نحو المعنيٰ بتصرف يسير]
● It is better that the one coming from outside does not give salam during the sermon on the day of Jumu'ah, and if people do reply, they should do so by gesture. And Allah knows best.

➏ A man replied to a sneezer during the sermon on the day of Jumu'ah, so Sa'id bin al-Musayyib forbade him from doing so in the future. [الموطأ رواية الي مصعب الزهري 171/1 ح 442 وسنده صحيح، مصنف ابن ابي شيبه121/2 ح 5266 وسنده صحيح]

➐ For further jurisprudence of the hadith, see [الموطأ حديث: 13، و أبوداود 1112،، ورواه البخاري 934، و مسلم 851]

Takhrij:
«أخرجه أحمد:1 /230.* مجالد بن سعيد ضعيف من جهة سوء حفظه وحديث ((إذا قلت لصاحبك أنصت....)) أخرجه البخاري، الجمعة، حديث:934، ومسلم، الجمعة، حديث:851.»©

Explanation:
The narration reported from Ibn Abbas (radi Allahu anhuma) has been declared weak in its chain by our esteemed researcher. However, from other narrations it is established that those performing the prayer should listen to the Friday sermon (khutbah) with complete calm, tranquility, concentration, and attentiveness.
No kind of inappropriate action should be done; even if someone commits the folly of speaking or conversing, he should not be stopped.
Full attention to the contents of the sermon is obligatory.

Benefit:
From this hadith, it is established that speaking to the person sitting next to you during the Friday sermon is tantamount to forfeiting the reward of Jumu'ah; therefore, one should listen to the Friday sermon with full concentration and complete attention.