It is narrated from Qudamah bin Wabarah that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever misses the Friday prayer without an excuse should give in charity one dirham or half a dirham, or one sa' of wheat or half a sa'." These are the words of al-Anbari's hadith, and Shaykh Abu Bakr also mentioned it only as mursal.

Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Hanbal said: I heard my father (Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal) when he was asked about the narration of Hammam from Qatadah and the disagreement of Abu al-Ala' with him in it, and he said: In our view, Hammam has a stronger memory than Ayyub Abu al-Ala'.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that two men from the people of Iraq came to him and asked him whether the bath (ghusl) of Friday is obligatory. Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: Whoever takes a bath, that is better and purer. And I will tell you how the bath began. In the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the people were needy; they wore woollen clothing and watered the date palms carrying waterskins on their backs. The mosque was narrow and its roof was low. Once the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came out for Friday on an intensely hot summer day. His (peace and blessings be upon him) pulpit was small, consisting of only three steps. He (peace and blessings be upon him) addressed the people, and the people sweated in those woollen clothes, and the smell of sweat and wool began to rise from their bodies until they began to cause discomfort to one another. Then that smell reached the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) while he was on the pulpit, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O people! When it is this day, take a bath, and whoever of you has it should apply the best perfume or oil he has." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Bukhari, but the two Shaykhs did not record it.

Sayyiduna Abd al-Rahman bin Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I used to lead my father (Ka'b bin Malik) after he lost his sight. Whenever I took him out for the Friday prayer and he heard the adhan, he would supplicate and seek forgiveness for Abu Umamah As'ad bin Zurarah (may Allah be pleased with him). I remained with him for a long time, and whenever he heard the adhan of Friday he would do the same. I asked: Dear father! I see that whenever you hear the adhan of Friday you seek forgiveness for Abu Umamah; what is the reason for this? He said: O my son! He was the first person who led us in the Friday prayer in Madinah, at the place "Hazm" in the Harrah of Banu Bayadah, which is called "Naqi' al-Khadimat". I asked: How many of you were there that day? He said: Forty men. This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Muslim, but the two Shaykhs did not record it. It is a supporting narration (shahid) for the hadith that Imam Bukhari alone recorded: that the first Friday prayer in Islam after the Friday prayer in Madinah was held at "Juwatha", the village of Abd al-Qays.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Aws bin Aws (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), mentioning Friday, said: "Whoever washes (his head) and takes a bath, and goes (to the mosque) early, and draws near (to the imam) and listens attentively in silence, his sins from this Friday until the next Friday and three additional days will be forgiven. And whoever touches the pebbles (during the sermon) has engaged in idle talk (laghw)." Yahya bin al-Harith al-Dhimari and Hassan bin Atiyyah have narrated it from Abu al-Ash'ath. As for the hadith of Yahya bin al-Harith:

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Aws bin Aws al-Thaqafi (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever washes (his head) and takes a bath, then goes early, and sits close to the imam and listens attentively in silence, for him there is, for every step, the reward of a year's deeds: both its fasting and its night prayer."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Aws bin Aws al-Thaqafi (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Whoever washes (his head) and takes a bath on Friday, then goes very early, and draws near (to the imam) and listens, and does not engage in idle talk, for him there will be, for every step he takes, the reward of a year's deeds, that is, the reward of its fasting and its night prayer." This hadith is sahih (authentic) with these chains on the condition of the two Shaykhs, but they did not record it. I think the reason for this is a weak hadith, although chains like these authentic ones cannot be deemed defective by a narration of that kind. That hadith is this:

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever washes (his head) on Friday and takes a bath, and draws near to the imam and listens attentively in silence, for him there will be, for every step, the reward of a year's fasting and night prayer." This narration does not make the established authentic hadith defective, for several reasons: first, that Hassan bin Atiyyah has explicitly mentioned Sayyiduna Aws bin Aws hearing from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); second, that Thawr bin Yazid is of a lower rank than those narrators in being used as evidence; and third, that Uthman al-Shaybani is unknown (majhul).

Abdullah bin Abi Qatadah narrates: My father (Sayyiduna Abu Qatadah, may Allah be pleased with him) came in to me while I was taking a bath on Friday. He asked: Is this the bath for janabah (major ritual impurity) or for Friday? I said: It is the bath for janabah. He said: Take another bath, for I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Whoever takes a bath on Friday remains in a state of purity until the next Friday." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs, but they did not record it. Harun bin Muslim al-Ijli is an early shaykh of the people of Basrah, called al-Hinna'i, and he is trustworthy (thiqah); Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal and Ubaydullah bin Umar al-Qawariri narrated from him.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah and Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever takes a bath on Friday, uses the tooth-stick (miswak), wears his best clothes, and applies perfume if it is available to him, then comes (to the mosque) and does not step over the necks of the people, then prays as much as Allah wills, then remains silent when the imam comes out (for the sermon), this deed is an expiation for the sins until the next Friday." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Muslim, but the two Shaykhs did not record it. Isma'il bin Ulayyah has also narrated it from Muhammad bin Ishaq like the narration of Hammad bin Salamah, except that he specified it with Abu Umamah bin Sahl together with Abu Salamah: