Fiqh-us-Sunnah - 2.144
Hadith 2.144.1
Offering the salah in a crowded area
Ahmad and al-Baihaqi relate from Sayyar that 'Umar was giving an address and said: "The Messenger of Allah built this mosque and we were with him [i.e., the emigrants and the helpers], and if it becomes very crowded, a person among you is to make the prostration on the back of his brother." When, he saw some people praying in the street, he said to them: "Pray in the mosque."
Hadith 2.144.A
Nawafil before and after salatul Jumu'ah
It is a sunnah to pray four rak'at or two rak'at after al-Jumu'ah: Abu Hurairah reports that the Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam said: "Whoever is to pray after the Jumu'ah should pray four rak'at." This is related by Muslim, Abu Dawud, and at-Tirmidhi.
Ibn 'Umar says: "The Prophet would pray two rak'at in his house on the day of Jumu'ah." This is related by the group.
Ibn al-Qayyim says: "After the Prophet finished the Jumu'ah, he would enter his house and pray two rak'at, and he ordered those who prayed the Jumu'ah to pray four rak'at after it.
Our sheikh Ibn Taimiyyah says: 'When he prayed in the mosque, he would pray four [rak'at], and when he prayed in his house, he would pray two rak'at.' I say: this is what the hadith is pointing to. Abu Dawud records from ibn 'Umar that when he prayed in the mosque, he would pray four rak'at, and when he prayed in his house, he would pray two rak'at. Also, in the two Sahihs it is reported from ibn 'Umar that the Prophet would pray two rak'at in his house after the Friday salah."
If one prays four rak'at, then, according to some, he is to pray them all connected, while others hold that he is to pray two rak'at, make the taslim, followed by another two rak'at. It is preferred to pray them in one's house.
If one prays them in the mosque, he should change his place of prayer after the Friday salah.
Concerning any sunnah prayer before the Friday salah, Ibn Taimiyyah writes: "The Prophet sallallahu alehi wasallam never offered any salah after the adhan and before the Friday salah, and no one has ever related such an act from him. During the Prophet's time, there was only one adhan and that was made when the Prophet sat upon the pulpit. Bilal would make the adhan and then the Prophet would give the two khutbahs. Next, Bilal would make the iqamah and the Prophet would lead the people in salah. It is not possible that the Prophet would have made a salah after the adhan nor anyone else among the Muslims who prayed with the Prophet could have done so. And we have no evidence to show that the Prophet, sallallahu alehi wasallam, prayed in his house before going out to the mosque on Friday. He did not specify any time for any salah before the Friday salah. What he said was meant to exhort those going early to the mosque on Friday to engage themselves in prayer. He said: 'Whoever goes out early and walks and does not ride to the mosque and prays what has been prescribed [by Allah] for him...' That has been related from the Prophet's companions. When they would reach the mosque on Friday, they would pray whatever amount was easy for them. Some of them prayed ten rak'at and some prayed twelve and some only eight and others less than that. For this reason most of the scholars are of the opinion that there is no sunnah prayer with a specified number of rak'ah or time, before aljumu'ah, for there is nothing either in the actions or statements of the Prophet to support or confirm it.
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