Bismillahi Al-Rahmani Al-Rahim

The Time For Salat Al-Juma`

Taha Abdul-Basser asks:
What is the position of the Madhhab on the hukm of the performance of khutba and salah of Jumu`a before the beginning of the time for Dhuhr?
[end]

According to the Hanbali mathab, the time for Salat Al-Juma` enters at the same time as Salat Al-`Id. The evidence for this is that it is related from a number of Companions (Allah be well pleased with them). While this is a ruling in the mathab, it is rare to find it applied. One of my sheikhs points out that a risk of an entire city using this position is that it might prevent travellers from attending the prayer since they wouldn't know that it was being done "early". Nevertheless, the official position of the mathab is as previously stated. I hope that in the regions where this ruling is being used--regardless of the mathab--that people attend the prayer for the sake of Muslim unity and for the sake of the Juma` prayer itself, and then prayer Thuhr on their own if they feel the need.