وَإِذَا رَأَوْا تِجَارَةً أَوْ لَهْوًا انفَضُّوا إِلَيْهَا وَتَرَكُوكَ قَائِمًا ۚ قُلْ مَا عِندَ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ مِّنَ اللَّهْوِ وَمِنَ التِّجَارَةِ ۚ وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ (11)
(62:11) Yet no sooner than they saw some trading or amusement, they flocked to it and left you standing by yourself. *19 Tell them: 'That which is with Allah is far better than amusement and trading. *20 Allah is the Best Provider of sustenance.' *21
*19) This is the incident because of which the commandments pertaining to the Friday congregational Prayer have been enjoined in the preceding verses. Its narrative as related in the collections of Hadith, on the authority of Hadrat Jabir bin 'Abdullah, Hadrat 'Abdullah bin `Abbas, Hadrat Abu Hurairah, Hadrat Abu Malik, and Hasan Basri, lbn Zaid, Qatadah and Muqatil bin Hayyan is as follows: A trade caravan from Syria arrived in Madinah right at the time of the Friday Prayer and its people started playing their drums to announce their arrival. The Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) at that time was delivering the Sermon, Hearing the drum the people in the congregation became impatient and rushed out towards Baqi where the caravan had halted, except for 12 men. The most authentic tradition in this narrative is of Hadrat Jabir bin 'Abdullah, which has been related by Imam Ahmad, Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu 'Uwanah, 'Abd bin Humaid, Abu Ya'la and others through reliable channels. The only diversity is that in some traditions it is stated that the incident took place when the Prayer was in progress; in others that it happened when the Holy Prophet was delivering the Sermon. However, what appears to be correct when the tradition of Hadrat Jabir and those of others are read together is that it happened during the Sermon. Where Hadrat Jabir says that it happened during the Friday Prayer, he in fact has used the word Friday Prayer for the combination of the Sermon and the Prayer. According to the tradition of Hadrat 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas, seven women had remained behind with 12 men. (Ibn Marduyah). Qatadah says that one woman remained with 12 men, (lbn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim). According to the tradition of Daraqutni 40 individuals remmained, of `Abd bin Humaid 7 individuals and of Farra 8 individuals. But all these are weak traditions. The tradition of Qatadah that sack a thing happened thrice is also weak. (Ibn Jarir) The authentic tradition in this regard is of Hadrat Jabir, according to which the number of those who remained behind is stated to be 12. Apart from one tradition of Qatadah, all traditions of the other Companions and their followers agree that this happened only once. When read together different traditions about those who remained behind show that they included Hadrat Abu Bakr, Hadrat 'Umar, Hadrat 'Uthman, Hadrat 'AIi, Hadrat 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud, Hadrat 'Ammar bin Yasir, Hadrat Salim (slave of Hudhaifah) and Hadrat Jabir bin 'Abdullah. The tradition related by Hafiz Abu Ya`la from Hadrat Jabir bin 'Abdullah says that when the people rushed out like that and only 12 Companions were left behind, the Holy Prophet addressed them, saying: "By Him in Whose hand is my life, if aII of you had left, and none had remained behind, this valley would have overflowed with fire. " A theme resembling this has been cited by Ibn Marduyah from Hadrat 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas and by Ibn Jarir from Qatadah.
The Shiite scholars have used this incident also for taunting and finding fault with the Companions. They say that abandoning the Sermon and the Prayer by such a large number of the Companions for the sake of worldly gain and amusement is a proof that they preferred the world to the Hereafter. But this is a misplaced objection that can be raised only if one keeps ones eyes closed to realities. As a matter of fact, this incident took place just after the migration. At that time, on the one hand, the collective training of the Companions was in the initial stages, and on the other, the disbelievers of Makkah had subjected the people of Madinah to a strict economic blockade because of which necessities of lift had become scarce in the city. Hadrat Hasan Basri says that the people at time were starving and the prices had risen abnormally high. (Ibn Jarir). Under such conditions when a trade caravan arrived, the people rushed out to buy things of daily need lest these were sold out before the Prayer was concluded. This was a weakness and error which became suddenly manifest due to insufficient training and severity of the conditions. But whoever sees the sacrifices made by the Companions for the cause of Islam afterwards and sees what piety and righteousness they displayed in the matter of worship and dedication and dealings can never dare bring against them the allegation that they preferred the world to the Hereafter unless he himself bears malice against the Companions.
However, just as this incident dces not support the critics of the Canpanions of the Holy Prophet, so it also dces not support the ideas of those people who cherish exaggerated notions about them and claim that they never committed any error, or if they committed some, it should not be mentioned, for making mention of their error and' calling it an error is derogatory and it reduces one's reverence and respect for them, and its mention goes against the verses of the Qur'an and the Hadith, which state that the Companions arc Allah's favourite people and have already been forgiven all their errors and mistakes. AlI this is exaggeration for which there is no basis in the Qur'an and he ,Hadith. Here, everyone can see for himself that AIlah Himself has mentioned the error that happened to have been committed by a large number of the Companions, in the Book that will be read by the entire Ummah till Resurrection, and in the same Book which speaks of their having been forgiven and being chosen people of AIIah. Then in the books of the Hadith and Commentary also details of this error have been described by aII scholars, from the Companions to the major scholars among the followers of the Sunnah. Does it mean that AIIah has made this mention in order to destroy the reverence for the same Companions whose reverence and esteem He wants to instil in alI our hearts? And dces it mean that the Companions and their followers and the traditionists and commentators have mentioned these details of this incident because they were unaware of the religious aspect of the matter which these zealots show and describe? And have the people who read Surah AI-Jumu 'ah and study its commentary really lost reverence and esteem for the Canpanions from their hearts? If the answer to each of these questions is in the negative, and it is surely in the negative, then all those exaggerated ideas and notions, which some people express and show in regard to the reverence of the Holy Prophet's Companions, arc erroneous.
The truth is that the Companions of the Holy Prophet were not supernormal beings: they were only human born in this very world. Whatever they attained, they attained through the persistent training imparted by the Holy Prophet `upon whom be Allah's peace) over many years. The method of this training as ve learn from the Qur'an and the Hadith was; Whenever a weakness appeared in them, Allah and His Messenger turned immediate attention to it, and a programme of education and training was established to overcome and eradicate it. In the matter of this very Friday Prayer we see that when the incident of the trade caravan occurred, Allah sent down this section of the verses of Surah AI-Jumu'ah to administer warning and teach the etiquette of the Friday Service. Along with this the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) impressed on the people the importance of the obligatory nature of the Service continuously in his Sermons as explained in E.N. 15 above. All these instructions are found in the Hadith in clear words. Hadrat Abu Sa'id Khudri says that the Holy Prophet said: "Every Muslim must have full bath on Friday, should clean his teeth, put on the best available clothes, and use perfume if possible." (Musnad Ahmad Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Da'ud, Nasa'i). Hadrat Salman Farsi says that the Holy Prophet said: "The Muslim who has bath on Friday, cleans and purifies himself as far as possible, applies oil to his hair, or uses perfume if available, and comes to the mosque and takes his place without disturbing others, then offers the (voluntary) Prayer that Allah has destined for him, then listens quietly when the Imam speaks, he will have his sins and errors committed since the previous Friday forgiven. " (Bukhari, Musnad Ahmad). Traditions containing almost the same theme have been reported by Hadrat Abu Ayub An'ati, Hadrat Abu Hurairah and Hadrat Nubaishat alHudhali also from the Holy Prophet. (Musnad Ahmad, Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Da'ud, Tirmidhi Tabarani). Hadrat 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas says that the Holy Prophet said: "The person who speaks when the Imam is delivering the sermon, is like the donkey loaded with books, and the person who tells him to keep quiet has also rendered his own Prayer void. " (Musnad Ahmad Hadrat Abu Huraira'. says that the Holy Prophet said: "If on Friday during the sermon you said to a person, 'keep quiet,' you too behaved wrong." (Bukhari, Muslim, Nasa'i, Tirmidhi, Abu Da'ud). Traditions closely resembling this have been related by Imam Ahmad Abu Da'ud and Tabarani from Hadrat `Ali and Hadrat Abu ad-Darda'. To the person delivering the sermon also the Holy Prophet instructed that he should not deliver a lengthy sermon to try the people's patience. His own practice on Friday was that he gave brief Sermons and Ied short Prayers. Hadrat Jabir bin Samurah says that the Holy Prophet would never give a lengthy Sermon: he was always very brief." (Abu Da'ud). Hadrat 'Abdullah bin Abi Aufa says: "The Holy Prophet's sermon used to be shorter than the Prayer, and the Prayer a little longer than the sermon." (Nasa'i), According to Hadrat Ammar bin Yasir, the Holy Prophet said: "The prolongation of the Prayer and the brevity of the sermon are a sign that the Imam has deep insight in religion" (Musnad Ahmad, Muslim Almost the same theme has Bazzar related from Hadrat 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud. AII this shows how the Holy Prophet taught the people the etiquette of the Friday congregational Service till it began w be performed in the unique manner unknown in the congregational worstup of any other people in the world.
*20) This sentence by itself shows what was the nature of the error committed by the Companions. God forbid, if it had been duc to any weakness of the faith, or duc to giving the world preference over the Hereafter, Allah's wrath and displeasure and reprimand would have been much severer. But since there was no such weakness, and whatever happened was only due to insufficient training, AIIah first taught the people the coquette of the Friday Service, then, after pointing out the error, promised them that the reward they would get with _ AIIah for listening to the Sermon and performing the Prayer would be much greater than worldly gains and amusements.
*21) That is, "Allah is by far the best of aII those providers who become a means of providing sustenance in the world, though only metaphorically." Sentences such as this have occurred at several places in the Qur'an, At some places AIIah has been called "the best of Creators," at others "the best of Forgivers", "the best of Rulers", "the best of those who show mercy", or "the best of Helpers". At aII these places the reference of providing, creating, forgiving, showing mercy and offering help to the creatures is metaphorical, and to AIIah real. It means that Allah is the best Provider, Creator, Forgiver, Helper and Bestower of Mercy of all those who appear to be giving you wages and means of sustenance, or who appear to be making things by their skill and workmanship, or who seem to be pardoning the errors of others, or showing mercy and helping other in this world.