close to the Im?m. The more a man retreats from the Im?m the lower his rank will be in Jannah, though he will enter it’. (1)

Attending Jumu‘ah Sal?t so early was the habit of the righteous Salaf ( - ); Ab? Sh?mah said: ‘In the first century, streets would be crowded with people going to the mosques holding their lamps, at dawn; just like what happens on Eid days. This habit is no more taking place the thing which made scholars say that the first Bid‘ah to appear in Isl?m was going late to the mosque on Friday’. (2)

Im?m M?lik denied the act of going so early in the morning of Jumu‘ah Sal?t the thing which Ibn Al-Qayyim refuted saying: ‘Ash-Sh?fi‘? stated that ‘it would be better if one attends this Sal?t after dawn and before the sunrise’. Al-Athram also reported the same from Im?m Ahmad Ibn Hanbal who was asked regarding M?lik’s denial of attending the mosque early on Friday; Ahmad said: ‘This opinion contradicts the prophet’s ( - ) had?th’. (3)

Accordingly; going to the mosque on Friday in the early hours of the morning is greatly recommended. The hours mentioned in the had?th are the astronomical one.

Consequently, those who attend the mosque at the first part of the hour or at its end share the same reward -the camel, the cow or the sheep- but differ in its perfectness. All?h ( - عز وجل -) knows best. (4)

The righteous Salaf used to reproach themselves with great regret whenever they attend the mosque late or feel that they did not do their best to attend it early.