Ruling on Sitting Between the Two Friday Sermons
✍ Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
❖ Sitting Between the Two Khutbahs
It is narrated from Ḥaḍrat Jābir bin Samurah (رضي الله عنه) that:
كان رسول الله ﷺ يخطب قائما ويجلس بين الخطبتين
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to deliver the sermon standing and would sit between the two sermons.”
[Muslim: 862 | Abu Dāwūd: 1094 | Ibn Mājah: 1105 | Nasā’ī: 3/109 | Aḥmad: 5/90]
❖ Opinions of the Scholars
◈ Imam Shāfiʿī (رحمه الله):
☞ Sitting between the two Khutbahs is wājib (obligatory),
as the Prophet ﷺ consistently practiced this without omission.
◈ The Majority (Jumhūr):
☞ It is not obligatory,
because a mere consistent action does not by itself prove obligation unless accompanied by a clear command.
[al-Majmūʿ: 4/384 | al-Umm: 1/342 | Badā’iʿ al-Ṣanā’iʿ: 1/262 | al-Mabsūṭ: 2/26 | al-Hidāyah: 1/83 | al-Ikhtiyār: 1/82]
✅ Stronger View (Rājih):
✔ The majority view is stronger,
as there is no explicit evidence making the sitting between the sermons obligatory (farḍ or wājib).
✔ It is, however, Sunnah Mu’akkadah (a highly emphasized Sunnah) due to the Prophet’s ﷺ consistent practice.
[Nayl al-Awṭār: 2/556]
