(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would attend it with Al-Hajjaj and his likes, and it was not heard from anyone among them that they refrained from it. 'Abd Allah ibn Abi al-Hudhayl said: We discussed Friday prayer during the days of Al-Mukhtar, and their consensus was to attend it, for upon him is his own falsehood. And because the Friday prayer is one of the manifest signs of the religion, and the Imams or those appointed by them oversee it, thus abandoning it behind one with this description leads to its cessation. A man came to Muhammad ibn al-Nadr al-Harithi and said: I have neighbors who are from the people of desires (innovators), so I used to criticize them and belittle them. They came to me and said: Why do you not come out to remind us? He said: What do they say? He said: The first thing I say to you is that they do not see the Friday prayer [as mandatory]. He said: That is enough for you. What is your view on one who refuted Abu Bakr and 'Umar, may Allah have mercy on them? He said: I said, an evil man. He said: What is your view on one who refuted the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)? He said: I said, a disbeliever. He remained silent for a while, then said: What is your view on one who refuted the Ali-Highest (Allah)? Then he fainted. He remained silent for a while, then said: They refuted Him, by Allah! Allah the Almighty says: "O you who have believed, when the call is made for the prayer on the day of Jumu'ah, hasten to the remembrance of Allah." He said it, by Allah, while he knew that the Banu Abbas would hold it. If this is established, then it is repeated behind one behind whom other prayers are repeated. It was narrated from Abu 'Abd Allah another report that it is not repeated, and we have mentioned that in what has passed. The apparent state of the Companions, may Allah have mercy on them, is that they did not use to repeat it, for it has not been reported from them.

282 - Issue: He said: (When they finish the Adhan, he delivers the sermon to them while standing)

The entirety of this is that the sermon is a condition for the Friday prayer; it is not valid without it. This is what was said by 'Ata', Al-Nakha'i, Qatadah, Al-Thawri, Al-Shafi'i, Ishaq, Abu Thawr, and the People of Reason (Ahl al-Ra'y). We know of no dissenter regarding this, except Al-Hasan, who said: It suffices for them all, whether the Imam delivers the sermon or does not, because it is an 'Eid prayer, so the sermon is not a condition for it, like the 'Adha prayer. Our evidence is the saying of Allah the Almighty: "Hasten to the remembrance of Allah." And the remembrance is the sermon. Furthermore, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) never abandoned the sermon for the Friday prayer in any situation, and he said: "Pray as you have seen me praying." And from 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: "The prayer was shortened for the sake of the sermon." And the statement of 'A'isha is similar to this. Sa'id ibn Jubayr said: The Friday prayer was four [rak'ahs], so the sermon was made in place of the two rak'ahs. His saying: "He delivers the sermon to them while standing" implies that he intended the condition of standing during the sermon, and that whenever he delivers the sermon sitting without an excuse, it is not valid. The words of Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, allow for this. Al-Athram said: I heard Abu 'Abd Allah being asked about the sermon while sitting, or sitting during one of the two sermons? He did not like it and said: Allah the Almighty said: "And they left you standing." And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to deliver the sermon while standing. Al-Haytham ibn Kharija said to him: 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz used to sit during his sermon. He showed disapproval of that. This is the school of Al-Shafi'i. The Qadi said: It is sufficient for him to deliver the sermon while sitting. Ahmad has explicitly stated this, and it is the school of Abu Hanifa, because it is a remembrance whose condition is not facing the Qibla, so standing is not obligatory for it, like the Adhan. The position of the first [view] is what Ibn 'Umar narrated, that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to deliver two sermons while standing, separating between them by sitting. It is agreed upon. Jabir ibn Samura said: Indeed...