The Imam will then get up and give a sermon called a Khutbah and recite prayer and scripture from the Quran in Arabic.[5] The sermon is given in the local language and Arabic or completely in Arabic depending on the context.[8]

The imam performs the following:

Greets the congregation with a formal greeting in Arabic then sit down while the Adhan is recited.[9]
Stands up and recites The Sermon for Necessities.[10]
Recites verses from the Quran to invoke a sense of taqwa or piety[8]
Recites a supplication called a Dua.
Starts the khutbah and then at a certain point stop and ask Allah for forgiveness.[11]
Sits down to leave space for the congregation to seek forgiveness from Allah.[12][13]
Stands, praises Allah and Muhammed and then finishes the last part of the sermon.
Recites additional dua and Salawat.
Invites the congregation to line up for Jumu'ah prayer.[14]

According to the majority of Shiite and Sunni doctrine, the sermon must contain praise and glorification of Allah, invoke blessings on Muhammad and his progeny, and have a short quotation from the Quran in Arabic called a surah. It must also give the participants a sense of taqwa, admonition and exhortation.[8]
Jumu'ah prayer
The different postures of Rak'a or ritual prayer.[15]

Juum'ah prayer consists of two rak'ats or prayer segments.[16] Shia and Sunni sects of Islam prescribe slight differences in this pattern but the following is a general outline of the steps of the prayer cycle.[17]

A raka'ah begins when the worshipper begins by saying the Takbir or Glorification of God and pronounces the words "Allah is Greater", (Allah-Hu-Akbar).[5]
In the second part of the raka'ah, the worshipper makes another Takbir and bows to a 90-degree angle, placing their hands on their knees with their feet kept shoulder-width apart, with their eyes focused in between their feet or around the area and bowing in humble submission as if awaiting God's command. During this position the words, "Glory be to Allah the most Magnificent" are uttered silently as a form of ritual praise.[18]
The third movement of the raka'ah is to return from bowing to the standing position before, while saying the Takbir, then descending into full prostration on the ground.[19] In prostration, the worshipper's forehead and nose is flatly placed on the floor with the palm of their hands placed shoulder-width apart to the right and left of their ears.[19] During this position the words, "Glory be to Allah the Almighty" are repeated with contemplation as a form of ritual praise.
The fourth movement is for the worshipper to return from prostration into a sitting position with their legs folded flatly under their body.[19]

According to Shi'ite doctrine, two qunut (raising one's hands for supplication during salat) is especially recommended during salatul Jum'ah. The first Qunut is offered in the 1st rak'at before ruku' and the second is offered in the 2nd rak'at after rising from ruku'.[20] According to Shiite doctrine, it is advisable (Sunnat) to recite Surah al-Jum'ah in the first rak'at and Surah al-Munafiqun in the second rak'at, after Surah al-Hamd.[20]
Religious significance
A representation of Jannah or paradise.
Of the day Friday

Although Friday is not a sabbath in Islam it is recognized as a superior and holy day.[21] According to the Islamic scholar Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya there are 32 reasons that Friday is special.[21][22] Some of the reasons include a belief that Friday was the day when Adam was created, entered into, and expelled from Jannah.[23] It is also the day of the week when the Day of Judgment will occur and the world will end.[23] There is also a belief that Allah is more likely to forgive and bless on Fridays.[23] It is also believed to be the day that Islam was revealed to be perfected.[21]
Obligation

There is consensus among Muslims regarding the Friday prayer (salat al-jum'ah) being wajib – required – in accordance with the Quranic verse, as well as the many traditions narrated both by Shi'i and Sunni sources. According to the majority of Sunni schools and some Shiite jurists, Friday prayer is a religious obligation,[24] but their differences were based on whether its obligation is conditional to the presence of the ruler or his deputy in it or if it is wajib unconditionally. The Hanafis and the Twelver Imamis believe that the presence of the ruler or his deputy is necessary; the Friday prayer is not obligatory if neither of them is present. The Imamis require the ruler to be just ('adil); otherwise his presence is equal to his absence. To the Hanafis, his presence is sufficient even if he is not just. The Shafi'is, Malikis and Hanbalis attach no significance to the presence of the ruler.[25]

Moreover, it has been stated that Jum'ah is not obligatory for old men, children, women, slaves, travellers, the sick, blind and disabled, as well as those who are outside the limit of two farsakhs.[26][page needed]
In Islamic texts
Quran

It is mentioned in the Quran:

O you who have faith! When the call is made for prayer on Friday, hurry toward the remembrance of God, and leave all business. That is better for you, should you know. And when the prayer is finished, disperse through the land and seek God's grace, and remember God greatly so that you may be successful.
— Qur'an, Surah Al-Jumu'ah (62), Ayahs 9–10[27]

Hadith

Narrated Abu Huraira: Muhammad said, "On every Friday the angels take their stand at every gate of the mosques to write the names of the people chronologically (i.e. according to the time of their arrival for the Friday prayer) and when the Imam sits (on the pulpit) they fold up their scrolls and get ready to listen to the sermon."
— Collected by Muhammad al-Bukhari, Sahih al-Bukhari[28]

Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj an-Naysaburi relates that Muhammad used to read Surah 87 (Al-Ala) and Surah 88, (Al-Ghashiya), in Eid Prayers and also in Friday prayers. If one of the festivals fell on a Friday, Muhammad would have made sure to read these two Surahs in the prayers.

Muhammad is quoted as saying "The best day the sun rises over is Friday; on it Allah created Adam. On it, he was made to enter paradise, on it he was expelled from it, and the Last Hour will take place on no other day than Friday." [Ahmad and at-Tirmithi].

Aws ibn Aws, narrated that Muhammad said: "Whoever performs Ghusl on Friday and causes (his wife) to do ghusl, then goes early to the mosque and attends from the beginning of the Khutbah and draws near to the Imam and listens to him attentively, Allah will give him the full reward of fasting all the days of a year and observing night-vigil on each of its nights for every step that he took towards the mosque." [Ibn Khuzaymah, Ahmad].

There are many hadiths reported on the significance of Jum'ah. The Muhammad has been reported saying:

"The Jum'ah is the pilgrimage of the poor".[29]
"Whoever misses three Jum'ah, being indifferent to them, Allah seals his heart".[30]
"Any Muslim who dies during the day or night of Friday will be protected by Allah from the trial of the grave." [At-Tirmithi and Ahmad].
Also, hadith related by Al-Bukhari, quoted the Prophet saying that: "In the day of Friday, there exists an hour that if a worshipper asks from Allah, anything he wishes in this hour, Allah will grant it and does not reject it, as long as he or she did not wish for bad".[31]
"Friday has 12 hours, one of which is hour where dua are granted for Muslim believers. This hour is thought to be in the afternoon, after asr prayer".[32]

In Sunni Islam
Jum'ah prayer at the Imperial Mosque of Pristina

The Jum'ah prayer is half the Zuhr (dhuhr) prayer, for convenience, preceded by a khutbah (a sermon as a technical replacement of the two reduced rakaʿāt of the ordinary Zuhr (dhuhr) prayer), and followed by a congregational prayer, led by the imām. In most cases the khaṭīb also serves as the imam. Attendance is strictly incumbent upon all adult males who are legal residents of the locality.[33]

The muezzin (muʾadhdhin) makes the call to prayer, called the adhan, usually 15–20 minutes prior to the start of Jum'ah. When the khaṭīb takes his place on the minbar, a second adhan is made. The khaṭīb is supposed to deliver two sermons, stopping and sitting briefly between them. In practice, the first sermon is longer and contains most of the content. The second sermon is very brief and concludes with a dua, after which the muezzin calls the iqāmah. This signals the start of the main two rak'at prayer of Jum'ah. [citation needed].
In Shia Islam
Friday prayer (Tehran, 2016), Ayatollah Jannati as the Imam of Friday Prayer

In Shia Islam, Salat al-Jum'ah is Wajib Takhyiri (at the time of Occultation),[34][35] which means that there is an option to offer Jum'ah prayers, if its necessary, conditions are fulfilled, or to offer Zuhr prayers. Hence, if Salat al-Jum'ah is offered then it is not necessary to offer Zuhr prayer. It is also recommended by Shiite Scholars to attend Jum'ah as it will become Wajib after the appearance of Imam al-Mahdi and Jesus Christ (Isa).[36]

Shiite (Imamite) attach high significance to the presence of a just ruler or his representative or Faqih and in the absence of a just ruler or his representative and a just faqih, there exists an option between performing either the Friday or the zuhr prayer, although preference lies with the performance of Friday prayer.[25][clarification needed]
History of the practice

According to the history of Islam and the report from Abdullah bn 'Abbas narrated from the Prophet saying that: the permission to perform the Friday prayer was given by Allah before hijrah, but the people were unable to congregate and perform it. The Prophet wrote a note to Mus'ab ibn Umayr, who represented the Prophet in Madinah to pray two raka'at in congregation on Friday (that is, Jumu'ah). Then, after the migration of the Prophet to Medina, the Jumu'ah was held by him.[37]

For Shiites, historically, their clergy discouraged Shiites from attending Friday prayers.[38][39] According to them, communal Friday prayers with a sermon were wrong and had lapsed (along with several other religious practices) until the return of their 12th Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi.[39] However, among others, Shiite modernist Muhammad ibn Muhammad Mahdi al-Khalisi (1890–1963) demanded that Shiites should more carefully observe Friday prayers in a step to bridge the gap with Sunnis.[40] Later, the practice of communal Friday prayers was developed, and became standard there-afterwards, by Ruhollah Khomeini in Iran and later by Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr in Iraq. They justified the practice under the newly promoted Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists doctrine. When al-Sadr installed Friday prayer imams in Shia-majority areas—a practice not traditional in Iraqi Shiism and considered "revolutionary, if not heretical"[39]—it put him at odds with the Shia religious establishment in Najaf.[41] Under both Khomeini and al-Sadr, political sermons would be heard.[39]
Attendance rates
A Friday prayer at Baitul Mukarram in Dhaka.

The world's largest Muslim population can be found in Indonesia, where over 240 million Muslims live making up nearly 90% of Indonesia's total population. In the country, according to the World Values Survey conducted in the country in 2018,[42] 62.0% of Indonesians attend religious services at least once a week (including 54.0% of the population under the age of 30 and 66.1% of men). Most of these presumably would fall under the category of attending jumuah prayers. These numbers are stable from the same survey conducted in 2006,[42] where 64.5% of Indonesians attended religious services at least once a week (including 56.0% of the population under 30 and 64.3% of men).[citation needed]
Abbas Ali Akhtari giving a sermon in his first Friday Prayer in Semnan, 1981.

The number of regular attendees is somewhat lower in the next largest Muslim-majority country, Pakistan, which has over 210 million Muslims making up over 95% of the population. The 2018 World Values Survey[42] conducted there found that 46.1% of Pakistanis attended religious services at least once a week (including 47.0% of Pakistanis under the age of 30 and 52.7% of men). However, this was a large increase from the same survey conducted in 2012,[42] where it was reported that only 28.9% of Pakistanis attended religious services at least once a week (including 21.5% of Pakistanis under the age of 30 and 31.4% of men). This is a testament to increasing religiosity in Pakistan, especially among the youth, who have gone from attending jumuah at rates far below that of the total population to attending at rates higher than the total population.[citation needed]

A different pattern is seen in the Muslim-majority country of Bangladesh (which has over 150 million Muslims making up over 90% of the population).