Is There a Merit in Reciting Specific Surahs After the Friday Prayer?

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: Assalam alaykum

I have read that one should recite the following chapters 7 times after the Friday prayer and one will be protected from evil from one Friday to the next. The surahs are Al Fatiha, Al Ikhlas, Al Falaq and An Nas.

Is there a valid hadith to back this up?

Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

Yes, there would be nothing wrong in reciting the Fatiha, and chapters: al-Ikhlas, al-Falaq and al-Nas, after the Friday Prayer (jumu’a) because there are a number of traditions (hadith) which affirm the merit of doing so.

It is reported that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Whoever recites “Say, ‘He is God the One,’” [112] “Say [Prophet], ‘I seek refuge with the Lord of daybreak,’” [113] and “Say, ‘I seek refuge with the Lord of people,’” [114] seven times after the Friday Prayer, Allah will protect him from harm until the following Friday.” [Ibn al-Sunni, as related by Nawawi in his Adhkar (291)]

Corroborating traditions are found with the addition of the Fatiha [1] in Ibn Abi Shayba’s Musannaf, Bayhaqi’s Shu’ab al-Iman and elsewhere.

Please also see: Is Acting on Weak Hadiths an Innovation? and: Should I Act on a Weak Hadith?

And Allah Most High alone knows best.

wassalam,
[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Tabraze Azam holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Leicester, where he also served as the President of the Islamic Society. He memorised the entire Qur’an in his hometown of Ipswich at the tender age of sixteen, and has since studied the Islamic Sciences in traditional settings in the UK, Jordan and Turkey. He is currently pursuing advanced studies in Jordan, where he is presently based with his family.