Did Imam Malik Not Pray Friday and Congregational Prayers in the Mosque
Content of the doubt:
Recently, the secularists and deniers of the Sunnah have come out and started mocking Imam Malik, claiming that he did not pray the congregational and Friday prayers in the mosque, but rather prayed alone at home for 25 years!
Response to this ridiculous suspicion:
Firstly:
Imam Malik was one of the people who most strongly recommended the Friday and congregational prayers. He narrated entire chapters that discuss Friday prayers, the time of its prayer, the recommended etiquette on Friday, the etiquette of the sermon, and other things…
The following is stated in Imam Malik’s Muwatta:
Yahya said: Malik said: If the imam stops in a village where Friday prayer is obligatory, and the imam is traveling, and he delivers the sermon and leads them in the congregational prayer, then the people of that village and others will join him in the congregational prayer .
Here ☝️ Imam Malik ordered the Friday prayer to be performed in congregation behind the imam…
secondly:
No, no, no, there is no correct, explicit evidence that Imam Malik abandoned Friday and congregational prayers. For example:
The enemies of Islam cite a narration narrated by Al-Dhahabi in his book (Siyar A’lam Al-Nubala) , and this narration is as follows:
On the authority of Ismail al-Qadi, who said: I heard Abu Mus’ab say: Malik did not witness the congregational prayer for twenty-five years. So he was asked: What prevents you?
He said: For fear that I might see something wrong and need to change it.
- And it was also mentioned by the author Ibn Abdul Hadi in his book (Classes of Hadith Scholars) as follows:
Abu Bakr al-Shafi’i said on the authority of Ismail al-Qadi: I heard Abu Mus’ab say: Malik did not witness the congregation for twenty-five years. So he was asked: What prevents you? He said: For fear that I might see something reprehensible and need to change it.
But these two narrations☝️ are weak and neither of them is authentic due to the break in the chain of transmission between Ismail Al-Qadi and Imam Al-Dhahabi, and there is also a break in the chain of transmission between Abu Bakr Al-Shafi’i and Ibn Abd Al-Hadi…
Let me simplify the idea for you more:
The first narration was attributed by Al-Dhahabi to the narrator Ismail Al-Qadi , but the narrator Ismail Al-Qadi was born in 199 AH and died in 288 AH; that is, Ismail Al-Qadi lived in the third century AH.
As for Imam Al-Dhahabi , he was born in 673 AH and died in 748 AH. That is, Al-Dhahabi lived in the seventh and eighth centuries AH.
How did Al-Dhahabi obtain this narration, even though it was not mentioned at all in the ancient books that preceded Al-Dhahabi?!
So it becomes clear to us that this story is not true at all.
Likewise, the second narration was attributed by the author Ibn Abd al-Hadi to the narrator Abu Bakr al-Shafi’i , but the narrator Abu Bakr al-Shafi’i was born in the year 260 AH and died in the year 354 AH; that is, Abu Bakr al-Shafi’i lived in the third and fourth centuries AH .
As for the author Ibn Abd al-Hadi , he was born in 704 AH and died in 744 AH; that is, Ibn Abd al-Hadi lived in the eighth century AH.
How did Ibn Abd al-Hadi obtain this narration, even though it was not mentioned at all in the ancient books that preceded it?!
Hence, it becomes clear to us that these two narrations are not authentic at all, especially since they contradict the conduct and jurisprudence of Imam Malik.
Here the lie attributed by the deniers of the Sunnah to Imam Malik is shattered.
★ Since one thing reminds you of another, I will respond to the rest of the myths attributed to Imam Malik.
Al-Dhahabi mentioned the following narration:
Al-Husayn ibn al-Hasan ibn Muhajir al-Hafiz said: I heard Abu Mus’ab say: After Malik was absent from the mosque, he would pray in his home in a group who would follow his prayer. He also used to pray the Friday prayer in his home alone.
As usual, this previous narration ☝️ is not authentic at all; it is a weak narration with an interrupted chain of transmission ; the narrator Al-Hussein bin Al-Hasan bin Muhajir lived approximately in the third century AH, while Al-Dhahabi lived in the seventh and eighth centuries AH.
How did Al-Dhahabi obtain this narration, even though it was not mentioned at all in the ancient books that preceded Al-Dhahabi?!
Knowing that Al-Dhahabi was the first to mention this weak narration for which there is no evidence at all.
There is a final narration mentioned by the author Yahya bin Ibrahim Al-Salmasi in his book (The Mansions of the Four Imams) , which is as follows:
Al-Waqidi said: Malik used to come to the mosque, attend the prayers, Friday prayers, and funerals, visit the sick, fulfill their rights, and sit in the mosque. Then he stopped sitting in the mosque. He used to pray and then go home. He stopped attending funerals and used to visit their owners and offer his condolences. Then he stopped all of that. He did not attend the prayers in the mosque, nor the Friday prayers, nor did he visit anyone to offer his condolences, nor did he fulfill his rights. He only stayed behind from the mosque because he had incontinence . When he was dying, he said: I hated to come to the mosque of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, while I was not in a state of purity, for that would be an insult to the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him. I hated to tell people about my illness, for that would be a complaint against God Almighty.
The previous narration ☝️ is a narration narrated by Al-Waqidi , who is a lying narrator in the first place. Then there is a major break in the chain of transmission between Al-Waqidi , who lived in the second century and the beginning of the third century AH, and the author Yahya Al-Salmasi, who lived in the sixth century AH.
So where did the author Yahya Al-Salmasi get this novel from in the first place?!
By the way, the same applies to Ibn Khalkan , as he transmitted this narration and included it in his book (Deaths of Notable People) .
Even if we assume that the narration is correct, Imam Malik would still have an excuse for not attending Friday prayers and congregational prayers, because the narration states that he suffered from urinary incontinence, which would have caused him to urinate involuntarily in the Prophet’s Mosque, thus violating the purity of the Prophet’s Mosque and belittling the status of this noble mosque.
Other scholars said that Imam Malik had a hernia from which he would pass gas, which made him avoid praying in the mosque because his ablution had been invalidated, and the odor would also affect those praying in the Prophet’s Mosque.
Imam Malik could also pray congregational prayers at his home with his students who used to visit him to study knowledge with him, as long as he was sick and unable to go to the mosque.
So the conclusion: No, no, there is no ancient evidence in the books of the first centuries that indicates that Imam Malik abandoned Friday and congregational prayers. Rather, these weak stories were mentioned in later books with a weak chain of transmission that cannot be used as evidence.
As for Imam Malik’s isolation, this has nothing to do with abandoning Friday and congregational prayers. I personally know many secluded people who isolate themselves but go to Friday and congregational prayers and then return to their homes and isolation.
It seems that Imam Malik’s isolation was due to the torture he was subjected to by some rulers because he refused to follow their whims.
Finally:
Look at the secularists and the infidels who deny the Sunnah, who do not pray in congregation and do not even enter the mosques at all, whether on Friday or any other day… and therefore God spoke the truth when He said:
The mosques of Allah shall be maintained only by those who believe in Allah and the Last Day and establish prayer and give zakah and do not fear except Allah - it is those who are expected to be among the [rightly] guided. [At-Tawbah 18]
- Where are you, you secularists and deniers, from the words of God Almighty:
O you who have believed, when [the adhan] is called for the prayer on the day of Jumu’ah [Friday], then proceed to the remembrance of Allah and leave business. That is better for you, if you only knew. [Al-Jumu’ah 9]