The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "There is an hour on Friday during which no Muslim, while engaged in prayer asking Allah for something good, will fail to receive what he asks." Abu Hurairah indicated with his hand that it was a brief moment.When Abu Hurairah died, I said to myself, "By Allah, I should go to Abu Saeed and ask him about this hour, in case he has some knowledge of it."So I went to him and found him straightening palm-branch stems. I said, "Abu Saeed, what are these palm stems I see you straightening?"He replied, "These are palm stems in which Allah has placed a blessing for us. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to love them and lean on them as a staff, so we would straighten them and bring them to him. Once he saw some spittle on the wall facing the qiblah inside the mosque, and he had one of these palm stems in his hand. He scraped it off and said, 'When one of you is in his prayer, let him not spit in front of him, for his Lord is before him. Let him spit to his left or beneath his foot. And if he cannot,'" Siraj added, "'find a place to spit, then into his garment or his sandal.'Then that night the sky stirred up a storm. When the Prophet ﷺ came out for the final night prayer, a flash of lightning lit up the area, and he saw Qatada bin Numan. He asked, 'What brings you out at this hour, Qatada?'Qatada replied, 'Messenger of Allah, I knew that those attending the prayer would be few, so I wanted to be among them.'The Prophet said, 'When you finish praying, stay in place until I give you instructions.'When he had finished, the Prophet handed him the palm stem and said, 'Take this. It will give you light for ten paces in front of you and ten paces behind you. When you enter your house and see a dark shape in the corner of the room, strike it before it can speak, for it is a devil.' So he did, and that is why we love these palm stems."I said, "Abu Saeed, Abu Hurairah told us about the hour on Friday. Do you have any knowledge of it?"He said, "I asked the Prophet ﷺ about it, and he replied, 'I had been informed of it, then I was made to forget it, just as I was made to forget Laylat al-Qadr.'"Then I left him and went in to see Abdullah bin Salam.
حدثنا يونس وسريج قالا حدثنا فليح عن سعيد بن الحارث عن أبي سلمة قال كان
عن رسول الله ﷺ أنه قال إن في الجمعة ساعة لا يوافقها مسلم وهو في صلاة يسأل الله خيرا إلا آتاه إياه قال وقللها أبو هريرة بيده قال فلما توفي أبو هريرة قلت والله لو جئت أبا سعيد فسألته عن هذه الساعة أن يكون عنده منها علم فأتيته فأجده يقوم عراجين فقلت يا أبا سعيد ما هذه العراجين التي أراك تقوم قال هذه عراجين جعل الله لنا فيها بركة كان رسول الله ﷺ يحبها ويتخصر بها فكنا نقومها ونأتيه بها فرأى بصاقا في قبلة المسجد وفي يده عرجون من تلك العراجين فحكه وقال إذا كان أحدكم في صلاته فلا يبصق أمامه فإن ربه أمامه وليبصق عن يساره أو تحت قدمه فإن لم قال سريج لم يجد مبصقا ففي ثوبه أو نعله قال ثم هاجت السماء من تلك الليلة فلما خرج النبي ﷺ لصلاة العشاء الآخرة برقت برقة فرأى قتادة بن النعمان فقال ما السرى يا قتادة قال علمت يا رسول الله أن شاهد الصلاة قليل فأحببت أن أشهدها قال فإذا صليت فاثبت حتى أمر بك فلما انصرف أعطاه العرجون وقال خذ هذا فسيضيء أمامك عشرا وخلفك عشرا فإذا دخلت البيت وتراءيت سوادا في زاوية البيت فاضربه قبل أن يتكلم فإنه شيطان قال ففعل فنحن نحب هذه العراجين لذلك قال قلت يا أبا سعيد إن أبا هريرة حدثنا عن الساعة التي في الجمعة فهل عندك منها علم فقال سألت النبي ﷺ عنها فقال إني كنت قد أعلمتها ثم أنسيتها كما أنسيت ليلة القدر قال ثم خرجت من عنده فدخلت على عبد الله بن سلام