The fallacy of the Friday prayer

[Original post @ peoplestrustmalaysia]

The Gregorian calendar is internationally the most widely used civil calendar

The Gregorian calendar was a reform of the Julian calendar. It was instituted in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by papal bull Inter gravissimas dated 24 February 1582.[4] The motivation for the adjustment was to bring the date for the celebration of Easter to the time of year in which it was celebrated when it was introduced by the early Church. Although a recommendation of the First Council of Nicaea in 325 specified that all Christians should celebrate Easter on the same day, it took almost five centuries before virtually all Christians achieved that objective by adopting the rules of the Church of Alexandria.- Wiki

In conjunction with the system of months there is a system of weeks. A physical or electronic calendar provides conversion from a given date to the weekday, and shows multiple dates for a given weekday and month.

The days of the week were originally named for the classical planets. This naming system persisted alongside an “ecclesiastical” tradition of numbering the days, in ecclesiastical Latin beginning with dominica (the Day of the Lord) as the first day. The Greco-Roman gods associated with the classical planets were rendered in their interpretatio germanica at some point during the late Roman Empire, yielding the Germanic tradition of names based on indigenous deities.

So much for the Gregorian calendar

The Hijri

Overview of the Islamic Calendar

Muslims measure the passage of time using the Islamic (Hijrah) calendar. This calendar has twelve lunar months, the beginnings and endings of which are determined by the sighting of the crescent moon. Years are counted since the Hijrah, which is when the Prophet Muhammad migrated from Makkah to Madinah (approximately July 622 A.D.).

The Islamic calendar was first introduced by the close companion of the Prophet, Umar ibn Al-Khattab. During his leadership of the Muslim community, in approximately 638 A.D., he consulted with his advisers in order to come to a decision regarding the various dating systems used at that time. It was agreed that the most appropriate reference point for the Islamic calendar was the Hijrah, since it was an important turning point for the Muslim community. After the emigration to Madinah (formerly known as Yathrib), the Muslims were able to organize and establish the first real Muslim “community,” with social, political, and economic independence. Life in Madinah allowed the Muslim community to mature and strengthen, and the people developed an entire society based on Islamic principles.

The Islamic calendar is the official calendar in many Muslim countries, especially Saudi Arabia. Other Muslim countries use the Gregorian calendar for civil purposes and only turn to the Islamic calendar for religious purposes.

The Islamic year has twelve months that are based on a lunar cycle. Allah says in the Qur’an:

“The number of months in the sight of Allah is twelve (in a year) – so ordained by Him the day He created the heavens and the earth….” (9:36).

The Friday Prayer

The “weekly” ritual of congregating in the mosques on Friday is not from the Quran itself but rather a concoction and manipulation of the verse in surah Al-Jumu’ah, the 62nd Surah of the Quran:

The Arabic word Jumuah means congregate. The day and time is not specified in this verse or anywhere else in the Quran. The words within brackets in the above translation are insertions by the translator and are not present in the original Arabic text.

The Islamic calendar is the official calendar in many Muslim countries, especially Saudi Arabia. Other Muslim countries use the Gregorian calendar for civil purposes and only turn to the Islamic calendar for religious purposes. – ThoughtCo.Com

The above verse asked the followers to congregate in the remembrance of God and does not point specifically to Salat (prayers). Even if the devotees chose prayers as remembrance of God, it still does not specify the day.

As the Hijrah calendar is lunar based on the moon cycles, the days in a month have 29/30 days and the days are named by the numbers 1 – 30. The seven day week system is NOT applied in the Hijrah.

The current Friday Prayer being practiced is clearly not in the Quran, and given the Hijrah as it is there is no such a day as Friday.

The prevailing Friday Prayer ritual is being performed on the Friday of the Gregorian calendar surely contradict the claims that the Muslims follow the Islamic calendar for religious purposes. The Haj pilgrimage and the fasting in Ramadan are however, in accordance with their Hijrah calendar, but (again) not in accordance with the Quran. That's another topic for another day.

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