Fardiyat al-Jumua wa Sabab Tasmiyatiha - ضمن «Athar al-Muallimi»
- Author died
- 1386 AH
- Editions
- Dar Alam al-Fawa'id lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi'
Fardiyat al-Jumu‘ah wa-Sabab Tasmiyatiha (The Obligation of Friday and the Reason for Its Naming) is a short research treatise by Abd al-Rahman al-Muallimi al-Yamani (d. 1386 AH / 1966 CE) examining the legal obligation of the Friday prayer, the dating of Surat al-Jumu‘ah's revelation, and the historical origin of the day's name.
Manuscript and Composition
The work survived as eight disparate manuscript pages in al-Mu‘allimi’s handwriting preserved in the Library of the Holy Mosque in Mecca (Maktabat al-Haram al-Makki, MS 4691). These pages were penned across different periods rather than as a single continuous draft. The first four pages, whose opening is missing, cover the revelation of Surat al-Jumu‘ah and the interpretation of the verse وَآخَرِينَ مِنْهُمْ لَمَّا يَلْحَقُوا بِهِمْ ("And [to] others among them who have not yet joined them"). On page five, al-Mu‘allimi notes that he had dedicated an independent inquiry to clarifying that most of Surat al-Jumu‘ah was likely revealed less than a year prior to the conversion of Abu Hurayrah.
Pages five and six represent a second draft written on different paper and in a different hand regarding the naming of Friday, while pages seven and eight form a third draft on the same topic, with page eight crossed out.
Contents and Critical Discussions
The treatise analyzes several related exegetical, hadith, and historical issues:
- Revelation of Surat al-Jumu‘ah: Al-Mu‘allimi analyzes the narrations concerning when the chapter was revealed, evaluating the transmission of Abd al-Aziz al-Darawardi in Sahih Muslim and preferring the narration of Sulayman ibn Bilal over it due to al-Darawardi's poor memory and sole-citation status. He critiques comments made by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Fath al-Bari regarding the timing of the revelation of the command to attend the Friday prayer.
- The Name of Friday: The work examines historical and linguistic reports regarding the day’s pre-Islamic name, al-‘Arubah, and the differing views on when and why it was designated al-Jumu‘ah. Al-Mu‘allimi critiques discussions by grammarians and commentators, such as al-Farra’ and Ibn Hajar, regarding whether Ka'b ibn Lu'ayy was the first to name it or whether weekday names were altered across pre-Islamic times and early Islam.
- Exegetical Chains: The notes include an investigation into the composite transmission chain frequently encountered at the beginning of Quranic commentaries: Asbat from al-Suddi from Abu Malik and Abu Salih from Ibn Abbas, and from Murrah al-Hamdani from Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud and other Companions, examining its structural origin and meaning.
Publication
The text was edited by Muhammad Uzair Shams from the Mecca manuscript and published as the ninth treatise within volume 16 of the multi-volume collection Athar al-Mu‘allimi.
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