In Iceland Friday is a working day and a school day like the others, and many people look forward most to the evening. For Muslims it is something more: the day the week turns on. In Arabic it is yawm al-jumuʿah, the day of gathering, because at midday the community comes together at the mosque.
The best day
خَيْرُ يَوْمٍ طَلَعَتْ عَلَيْهِ الشَّمْسُ يَوْمُ الْجُمُعَةِ فِيهِ خُلِقَ آدَمُ وَفِيهِ أُدْخِلَ الْجَنَّةَ وَفِيهِ أُخْرِجَ مِنْهَا وَلاَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ إِلاَّ فِي يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ
“The best day on which the sun rises is Friday. On it Adam was created, on it he was admitted to the Garden, and on it he was sent out of it. And the Hour will not come except on a Friday.”
So Friday is not a day of rest like the Sabbath or Sunday. It is a day to remember the beginning and the end, and to meet.
When the call is made
The Qur’an names the Friday prayer directly, in the surah that takes its name from it:
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ إِذَا نُودِيَ لِلصَّلَوٰةِ مِن يَوۡمِ ٱلۡجُمُعَةِ فَٱسۡعَوۡاْ إِلَىٰ ذِكۡرِ ٱللَّهِ وَذَرُواْ ٱلۡبَيۡعَۚ ذَٰلِكُمۡ خَيۡرٞ لَّكُمۡ إِن كُنتُمۡ تَعۡلَمُونَ
O you who have believed, when [the adhan] is called for the prayer on the day of Jumu'ah [Friday], then proceed to the remembrance of Allah and leave trade. That is better for you, if you only knew
فَإِذَا قُضِيَتِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةُ فَٱنتَشِرُواْ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَٱبۡتَغُواْ مِن فَضۡلِ ٱللَّهِ وَٱذۡكُرُواْ ٱللَّهَ كَثِيرٗا لَّعَلَّكُمۡ تُفۡلِحُونَ
And when the prayer has been concluded, disperse within the land and seek from the bounty of Allah, and remember Allah often that you may succeed
Notice the order: work, prayer, work. The verses do not ask for a day off but for one hour in the middle of the day. That fits an Icelandic working day well. The Friday prayer (jumuʿa) is held at the time of the midday prayer and takes its place: first a sermon (khuṭba), then two units of prayer together.
Getting ready
The Prophet ﷺ encouraged coming clean and coming early:
مَنِ اغْتَسَلَ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ غُسْلَ الْجَنَابَةِ ثُمَّ رَاحَ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَرَّبَ بَدَنَةً، وَمَنْ رَاحَ فِي السَّاعَةِ الثَّانِيَةِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَرَّبَ بَقَرَةً، وَمَنْ رَاحَ فِي السَّاعَةِ الثَّالِثَةِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَرَّبَ كَبْشًا أَقْرَنَ، وَمَنْ رَاحَ فِي السَّاعَةِ الرَّابِعَةِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَرَّبَ دَجَاجَةً، وَمَنْ رَاحَ فِي السَّاعَةِ الْخَامِسَةِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَرَّبَ بَيْضَةً، فَإِذَا خَرَجَ الإِمَامُ حَضَرَتِ الْمَلاَئِكَةُ يَسْتَمِعُونَ الذِّكْرَ
“Whoever bathes on Friday as one bathes after major impurity and then goes to the prayer is like one who offers a camel. Whoever goes in the second hour is like one who offers a cow; in the third hour, a horned ram; in the fourth hour, a hen; and in the fifth hour, an egg. When the imam comes out, the angels attend to listen to the reminder.”
The angels note who arrives, and when the sermon begins they close their records and listen. That is why there is silence while the imam speaks, even a short word to the person next to you:
إِذَا قُلْتَ لِصَاحِبِكَ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ أَنْصِتْ. وَالإِمَامُ يَخْطُبُ فَقَدْ لَغَوْتَ
“If you say to your companion on Friday, ‘Be quiet,’ while the imam is giving the sermon, you have spoken idly.”
Clean water, clean clothes, some scent if you have it, and the phone on silent. That is all the preparation there is.
The hour
فِيهِ سَاعَةٌ لاَ يُوَافِقُهَا عَبْدٌ مُسْلِمٌ وَهْوَ قَائِمٌ يُصَلِّي، يَسْأَلُ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى شَيْئًا إِلاَّ أَعْطَاهُ إِيَّاهُ
The Prophet ﷺ spoke about Friday and said: “There is an hour in it which no Muslim servant meets while standing in prayer, asking Allah for something, without Allah giving it to him.” And he gestured with his hand to show how short it is.
When is the hour? Scholars give two answers, each resting on a sound report. One is that it runs from when the imam sits on the pulpit until the prayer ends (Muslim 853). The other is that it is the last hour before sunset, after the afternoon prayer (Abu Dawud 1048). Many people make use of both.
In Iceland in the dark months the afternoon is short. In December there are less than two hours between the afternoon prayer and sunset in Reykjavík, so it is easy to set aside a few minutes for duʿāʾ before it gets dark. There are more supplications on the duas page.
One hour a week when prayers are answered. It is worth looking for.
Al-Kahf and blessings on the Prophet
Many people read Surat al-Kahf, the eighteenth surah, every Friday. It rests on this report:
مَنْ قَرَأَ سُورَةَ الْكَهْفِ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ أَضَاءَ لَهُ مِنَ النُّورِ مَا بَيْنَ الْجُمُعَتَيْنِ
“Whoever reads Surat al-Kahf on Friday will have a light shining for him from one Friday to the next.”
The surah has 110 verses, about twenty to thirty minutes of reading, and it can be spread across the day. The Islamic day begins at sunset, so many people start on Thursday evening. It holds four stories: the young men in the cave, the man with the two gardens, Moses and al-Khidr, and Dhul-Qarnayn. Its first ten verses have a special standing; the Prophet ﷺ said that whoever memorises them is protected from the False Messiah (Muslim 809). The tenth verse is the young men’s prayer:
إِذۡ أَوَى ٱلۡفِتۡيَةُ إِلَى ٱلۡكَهۡفِ فَقَالُواْ رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحۡمَةٗ وَهَيِّئۡ لَنَا مِنۡ أَمۡرِنَا رَشَدٗا
[Mention] when the youths retreated to the cave and said, "Our Lord, grant us from Yourself mercy and prepare for us from our affair right guidance
And on Friday there is special encouragement to send blessings on the Prophet ﷺ:
إِنَّ مِنْ أَفْضَلِ أَيَّامِكُمْ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ … فَأَكْثِرُوا عَلَىَّ مِنَ الصَّلاَةِ فِيهِ فَإِنَّ صَلاَتَكُمْ مَعْرُوضَةٌ عَلَىَّ
“Among the best of your days is Friday … So send many blessings on me on it, for your blessings are presented to me.”
Friday in Iceland
The Friday prayer is an obligation for adult men who are at home. Women are welcome and many come, but a woman who prays at home prays the midday prayer as usual. Someone who is travelling, ill or unable to attend for a valid reason also prays the midday prayer, four units. But missing the Friday prayer again and again without a reason is something the Prophet ﷺ took seriously:
لَيَنْتَهِيَنَّ أَقْوَامٌ عَنْ وَدْعِهِمُ الْجُمُعَاتِ أَوْ لَيَخْتِمَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ ثُمَّ لَيَكُونُنَّ مِنَ الْغَافِلِينَ
“People must stop neglecting the Friday prayers, or Allah will seal their hearts and they will be among the heedless.”
A few practical points:
- In Reykjavík the midday prayer falls between about 13:10 and 13:45 all year, because the sun is highest there between one and two o’clock. The time for any given day is on the home page and on the mosques page, which also has the addresses of all three.
- The sermon and prayer often take about half an hour, and about an hour with travel. The most common arrangement is a longer lunch break on Fridays, with the time made up elsewhere. There is more on this in the guide for workplaces.
- Outside Reykjavík there is often no mosque. Where a few Muslims live together they can hold the Friday prayer themselves; ask the mosques for advice.
- Check the time of the sermon with your mosque, as it is not always the same as the start of the midday prayer.
Friday is also a good day to bring someone along: a new neighbour, a curious colleague, or a new Muslim who does not know anyone yet. The mosques welcome visitors.