the khutbah, derived from bakurat al-thamara [the first fruit], which is its beginning. The other [interpretation] is better, because whoever comes at the beginning of the day necessarily attends the beginning of the khutbah. His saying "ghassala wa-ightasala" means he had intercourse with his wife, then performed ghusl. For this reason, he said in the other hadith: "Whoever performs ghusl on Friday like the ghusl for janabah" (15). Ahmad said: The interpretation of his saying "man ghassala wa-ightasala" with shaddah [on the s], is that he wants [the man] to make his wife perform ghusl. More than one of the Tabi'in, such as 'Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Aswad and Hilal ibn Yasaf (17), used to recommend that a man make his wife perform ghusl on Friday, and it is only on the basis that he should have intercourse. It was recommended as such because it makes him calmer and more able to lower his gaze on his way. This is also reported from Waki'. It was also said: The meaning is that he washed his head and performed ghusl on his body. This is narrated from Ibn al-Mubarak. His saying "ghusl al-janabah" according to this interpretation means: like the ghusl for janabah. As for the opinion of Malik, it is contrary to the reports [atharat], because it is recommended to perform the Friday prayer at the time of the meridian, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to go early to it. Whenever the Imam emerges, the scrolls are folded, and whoever comes to the Friday prayer after that is not recorded; so what merit is there for this? If he delays even more than that, he enters into the realm of prohibition and reproach, just as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to the one who came stepping over the people: "I saw you arrive late and cause harm" (18), meaning you delayed your coming. 'Umar said to 'Uthman when he arrived while he was delivering the khutbah: "What time is this?" in a manner of reproaching him. If he delays more than this, he misses the Friday prayer.