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Fatwa CenterWhy Friday prayer is only two Rak'ahs
Question
Salaam Alaikum, Why 2 rakats of Zuhar prayer are reduced on Fridays? Is it correct that it is done to accommodate Juma Khutba on Fridays. Jazak Allah
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
The Jumu’ah (Friday prayer) was prescribed as two Rak’ahs and it [Jumu’ah] is not a shortened form of Thuhr according to the correct opinion of the scholars 
. Indeed, it is confirmed that Ibn ‘Umar 
said: “...The Friday prayer is two Rak’ahs, it is complete without being shortened, as stated by the Prophet .” [An-Nasaa’i, Ibn Maajah and Al-Albaani classified it as Saheeh (authentic)]
Moreover, it is affirmed that acts of worship are Tawqeefiyyah (i.e. determined by text from the Book of Allaah or the Sunnah of the Prophet and not amenable to personal opinion), and that the Sharee’ah is what Allaah and His Prophet have legislated. Besides, Allaah ordained the prayer in His Noble Book without clarifying its time, its pillars and the number of its Rak’ahs, and it is the Sunnah which clarified this. Maalik Ibn Al-Huwayrith narrated that the Prophet said: “Pray as you have seen me praying.” [Al-Bukhari]
Moreover, the scholars stated that the prayer is among the religious rulings in which the wisdom of legislation does not seem to be more than the mere worship of Allaah, and they also stated that the wisdom of legislating acts of worship is to make people abide by them, and to test their submission and servitude to Allaah, so, asking about the determination of the number of Rak’ahs – if it is out of objecting to this – contains a sense of impoliteness towards the Law Maker [i.e. Allaah]. Rather, we should carry out the orders of Allaah and refrain from His prohibitions whether or not the wisdom of what He legislated is apparent to us.
In any case, if it is said that the wisdom from the Jumu’ah being two Rak’ahs is due to the two Khutbahs (speeches) which last – usually – longer than the two Rak’ahs that were dropped from it, then this is most likely. Besides, some scholars stated that the two Khutbahs are instead of the two Rak’ahs; Al-Mardaawi - from the Hanbali School of jurisprudence - said: “The correct opinion of our School is that it is a condition for the validity of the two Khutbahs to recite at least one verse of the Quran in each Khutbah; this is the opinion of most of the scholars of the School because the two Khutbahs are instead of the two Rak’ahs.”
Allaah Knows best.
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