Aslam

Praise be to Allah.

The Sunnah is to do ghusl on Friday when getting ready

to go to Jumu’ah, and it is preferable to do that when one is about

to head for the mosque, because the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When any one of you

goes to Jumu’ah, let him do ghusl.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, al-Jumu’ah,

882 – this version was narrated by him; Muslim, al-Jumu’ah, 845).

If one does ghusl at the beginning of the day, that is

sufficient, because ghusl on Fridays is a confirmed Sunnah (Sunnah

mu’akkadah), and some scholars said that it is obligatory. So this

ghusl should be done regularly on Fridays, preferably when one is about

to set out for the mosque, as stated above, because this is more clean,

and more likely to put a stop to offensive odours. One should also take

care to apply perfume and wear nice clothes. When setting out for the

mosque one should take care to be solemn in one’s demeanour, and to

make his stride short, because each step wipes out a bad deed and Allaah

raises a person one degree thereby. So he should proceed in a solemn

and careful manner. When he reaches the mosque, he should enter with

his right foot first, send blessings and peace upon the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and mention the name of

Allaah, and say, “A’oodhu Billaah il-‘Azeem wa bi wajhih il-kareem

wa sultaanih il-qadeem min al-shaytaan il-rajeem; Allaahumma iftah li

abwaab rahmatika (Is seek refuge with Allaah the Almighty and in

His noble Face and His eternal Dominion, from the accursed Shaytaan;

O Allaah, open to me the gates of Your mercy).” Then he should pray

as much as Allaah wills he should pray. He should not push between two

people. After that he should sit and wait, either reading Qur’aan, or

reciting dhikr and prayers for forgiveness, or in silence, until the

imaam comes. He should listen attentively when the imaam gives the khutbah,

then he should pray with him. If he does that then he will have attained

a great deal of good. It says in a saheeh hadeeth that the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever does ghusl,

then comes to Jumu’ah and prays whatever Allaah wills that he should

pray, then listens attentively to the khateeb until he finishes the

khutbah, then prays with him, will be forgiven his sins between that

and the other Friday plus three days.” (Narrated by Muslim, al-Jumu’ah,

1418). That is because a good deed earns a tenfold reward.