prayed, then sat down, with nothing keeping him seated but the prayer, he is considered to be in a state of prayer." Narrated by Ibn Majah (56). In this context, "standing" (qiyam) means constancy and residence, as in the word of Allah Almighty: "...yet as long as you remained standing over him" [3:75] (57). From Anas, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), that he said: "Seek the hour that is hoped for on Friday, from after the 'Asr prayer until the sun sets." Recorded by al-Tirmidhi (58). It has been said: It is the period from when the Imam sits until he completes the prayer, based on what Abu Musa narrated, saying: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: "It is between the time the Imam sits until he completes the prayer." Narrated by Muslim (59). From 'Amr ibn 'Awf al-Muzani, he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) saying: "On Friday, there is an hour of the day during which no servant asks for anything but he is granted his request." It was asked: Which hour is it? He said: "From when the prayer is established until it is finished" (60). Al-Tirmidhi said: This is a hasan (good), gharib (strange) hadith. According to this interpretation, the hour varies, being at the time of each people's prayer. It has also been said: It is between dawn and sunrise, and from 'Asr until sunset. Others said: It is the third hour of the day. Ka'b said: If a person distributes his Fridays across other Fridays, he would eventually reach that hour (61). It is also said that it moves around throughout the day. Ibn 'Umar said: Seeking a need in one day is easy (62). It is also said that Allah Almighty concealed this hour so that His servants would exert effort in supplicating to Him throughout the day in search of it, just as He concealed the Night of Decree (Laylat al-Qadr) among the nights of Ramadan, and His awliya (allies) among the people, so that good thoughts are held toward all righteous people.

296 - Issue; He said: (And if they perform the Friday prayer before the meridian (zawal) in the sixth hour, it suffices them.)

In some manuscripts, it says: in the fifth hour. The correct version is in the sixth hour. The apparent meaning of the words of al-Khiraqi is that it is not permissible to perform it before the sixth hour. It was narrated from Ibn Mas'ud, Jabir, Sa'id, and Mu'awiyah that they performed it before the meridian. The Qadi and his companions said: It is permissible to perform it during the time of the Eid prayer. 'Abd Allah narrated this from his father, who said: We hold the view that it is like the Eid prayer. Mujahid said: There was no Eid for the people except in the early part of the day. 'Ata' said: Every Eid is when the forenoon (duha) extends; Friday, al-Adha, and al-Fitr, based on what was narrated from Ibn Mas'ud, who said: There was no Eid except in the early part of the day, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to perform the Friday prayer with us in the shade of the al-Hatīm (1). Recorded by Ibn al-Bakhtari (2) in his "Amali" with his chain of narration. It was narrated from Ibn Mas'ud and Mu'awiyah that they performed the Friday prayer during the forenoon (duha) and said: We only hastened out of fear of the heat for you. Al-Athram narrated the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud. And because it is an Eid, it is permissible at the time of the Eid, like al-Fitr and al-Adha. The evidence that it is an Eid is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "This is a day that Allah has made an Eid for the Muslims" (3). And his saying: