• Congregation: Friday sermon in Arabic
It is a common belief among Muslims in a non-Arabic speaking country that the sermon given before Friday prayers must be in Arabic, saying that it is not permissible for any language other than Arabic to be used on the pulpit. What imams do, therefore, is to give a sermon in the local language prior to Friday prayer. When the time for Zuhr is called, this is concluded and the imam gives a short khutbah in Arabic. I shall be grateful for your comments .
Friday prayer is the one obligatory prayer which we must offer in congregation. It is offered at midday on Friday, and preceded by a sermon given by the imam. This sermon is meant to discuss the situation of the Muslim community and its problems. Moreover, its purpose is to make worshippers aware of their obligations towards their Lord and to remind them of the hereafter so that they may be more conscious of their duties. It has, therefore, a dual purpose; social and religious. It stands to reason, therefore, that it should be given in the language which is commonly understood by the worshippers.When we say that something is forbidden or not permissible, we must have a basis for our statement. That evidence can only be a statement given in the Qur'an or by the Prophet. I can say without any fear of ever being contradicted that there is nothing in the Qur'an or in the Sunnah which states that to use any language other than Arabic on the pulpit or minbar, is forbidden. Whoever makes this assertion cannot substantiate his claim in any way. We have to remember here that there is no sanctity for any language as such. It is true that the Qur'an is in Arabic and the Hadith is also in Arabic. That does not make the Arabic language sacred. It has been honored by the fact that Allah has chosen it for His message, but to say that the words of the language have any sanctity is to make a wild claim.
Moreover, Allah tells us in the Qur'an that He sent messengers to different people. Every messenger addressed his people in their language. No one used a language which was not understood by his people. How can we expect, then, an imam to speak to a congregation of worshippers in a language which they do not understand?
If the congregation is composed largely of people who do not speak Arabic, then the imam must give the khutbah or sermon in the language which they speak. When he quotes from the Qur'an or the Hadith, he may give that quotation in Arabic and add its translation. Nothing more is required. The practice which you have mentioned has become widely common in certain parts in the Muslim world. There is no need or basis for it. I recognize, however, that it will be very difficult to change such a habit, unless knowledge of Islam in that part of the world spreads much more widely.
• Congregation: Joining it from the neighboring house
We live very close to a mosque and we can hear the Imam reciting the Qur'an and announcing every new action in the prayer. Is it acceptable that my wife joins the congregation staying at home?
What scholars say about such questions as joining the congregation at a distance is that there should be an easy access for a person who joins his congregation to reach the imam. If it was his intention to go to the Imam then he should be able to walk to him without any serious barrier. They give the example of a congregation at one side of a river and a group of people on the other side. Can they join the same congregation? The answer is that if they joined the congregation, their prayer is valid, but it is not particularly encouraged to have such a congregation. It will probably be more appropriate for the people on the other side of the river to have a congregation of their own.
Inside your home, with probably staircases to go down and then go out of the building to reach the mosque, the impediments are more serious than that of a medium-size river. If a congregation is not advisable on both sides of such a river, it is more so for a person in his home joining the congregation in the mosque. Indeed, if we were to say that it is appropriate, then it would be appropriate for the whole neighborhood to join the congregation from within their homes. The Imam would then be offering the prayer with a fewer people in the mosque and with more people joining him in their flats and apartments in surrounding buildings. That is not the purpose of the congregational prayer. Congregational prayer serves a very important social purpose. It would be missed if people were to stay in their homes and join the congregation in their separate flats. The proper congregation is when they come to the mosque and join together. If women are keen to join the congregational prayer, they should also go to the mosque where a place should be provided for them. The Prophet says: "Do not prevent female servants of God from going to God's mosques."
I went late into the mosque for Friday prayer. The congregation had started. I joined them, but I soon realized they had already finished the major part of the prayer. When I stand up for completing my prayer, how many rak'ahs should I offer?
When you join a congregation which has already started, a rak'ah is counted complete for you if you join before the imam stands up after bowing i.e. rukoo'. If you join immediately after rukoo', then that rak'ah is not counted for you. It is preferable, however, to join it even with the parts which will not be counted.
For joining Friday prayer with the imam, you must at least catch up with one full rak'ah of it. In other words, you must join before the imam has raised his head after rukoo' of the second rak'ah. If you join him after that, i.e. having missed both rak'ahs with him, then you offer four rak'ahs after he has finished. These four rak'ahs are counted as Dhuhr prayer, which becomes obligatory if you have missed Friday prayer.
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