It is narrated that the people of Medina were afflicted by hunger and severe inflation. Dihyah ibn Khalifah came with a trade of oil from Syria while the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, was delivering a sermon on Friday. They stood up to him, fearing that they would miss out on it, and there remained with him only a few. It was said: eight, eleven, twelve, and forty. The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "By the One in Whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, if they had all gone out, Allah would have ignited the valley against them." [Thus it was mentioned by Al-Wahidi from the exegetes. Al-Thalabi and then Al-Baghawi mentioned it from Al-Hasan without a chain. The wording of Al-Hasan was narrated by Abdul Razzaq from Ma'mar from him who said: "The people of Medina were afflicted by hunger and inflation. A caravan arrived while the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, was standing and delivering the sermon on Friday. They heard about it and went out to it while the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, was still standing and delivering the sermon. So Allah, the Exalted, revealed: 'And they left you standing.' He said: 'If the last of them had followed the first of them, the valley would have been ignited against them.'" In the narration of Abu Sufyan mentioned by Ibn Hibban, it is similar, he said: "By the One in Whose hand is my soul, if you had continued until there remained no one among you, the valley would have flowed with fire upon you: 'This verse was revealed.'" The specification of Dihyah in his saying: "They feared that they would precede him" was narrated by Al-Tabari in a summarized form from the narration of Al-Suddi from Ibn Malik, who said: Dihyah ibn Khalifah came with a trade of raisins from Syria while the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, was delivering the sermon on Friday. When they saw him, they stood up, fearing that they would precede him, and the verse was revealed: 'And when they saw a trade...' Al-Bazzar narrated from the path of Ikrimah from Ibn Abbas who said: "The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was delivering a sermon on Friday when Dihyah came to sell a commodity. No one remained in the mosque except a few, while the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, was standing. So the verse was revealed. The origin of this story is in the two Sahihs from the narration of Husayn from Salim ibn Abu Al-Ja'd from Jabir who said: "The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was standing while delivering the sermon on Friday when a caravan from Syria arrived. The people turned away until only twelve men remained with him. So it was revealed." In the wording of Muslim: "Among them were Abu Bakr and Umar." In another narration of his: "I am among them." In the narration of Al-Bukhari: "While we were praying with the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, a caravan approached." Al-Bayhaqi said: The meaning of his saying 'we were praying' is that we were listening to the sermon, reconciling between the two narrations. It was also narrated by Ibn Hibban from the narration of Abu Sufyan from Jabir likewise. Its wording is: "While the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, was delivering the sermon on Friday, a caravan from Syria arrived in Medina, and the companions of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, rushed to it until only twelve men remained with him." This is supported by the hadith of Ka'b ibn 'Ajrah in Muslim: "He rebuked Abdul Rahman ibn Um Al-Hakam for delivering the sermon while sitting. He said: 'Look at this one delivering the sermon while sitting. And Allah says: 'And they left you standing.'" It also indicates that he was in the sermon what was narrated by Abu Dawood in the mursal from the narration of Bakr ibn Ma'roof from Muqatil ibn Hayyan who said: "The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, used to pray on Friday before the sermon until one day he was delivering the sermon and had prayed the Friday prayer when a man entered and said: 'Dihyah has arrived.' When he arrived, they would receive him with drums, and the people left. They did not think that there was anything wrong with leaving the sermon, so Allah revealed the verse. The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, began the sermon on Friday and delayed the prayer." Note: I have not come across a narration that they were eight or eleven, while the narration of twelve is the well-known authentic one. The narration of forty was narrated by Al-Daraqutni from the path of Ali ibn Asim from Husayn: and he said: No one from the companions of Husayn said forty except Ali ibn Asim. And all said: twelve men.

And likewise, Abu Sufyan said about Jabir as previously mentioned in Ibn Hibban. They would receive the caravan with drums and clapping when it approached, and this is what is meant by amusement. And from Qatadah: They did this three times with every caravan that arrived. If you say: If the people disperse from the imam during the Friday prayer, what should he do? I say: If he remains alone or with less than three, according to Abu Hanifah: he should begin the Dhuhr prayer if they dispersed before the bowing. And according to his two companions: if he has begun while they are with him, he should continue in it. And according to Zafar: if they dispersed before the testimony, it is invalidated. If you say: How did he say 'to it' when he mentioned two things? I say: The meaning is if they see trade, they disperse to it, or if they are amused, they disperse to it: one of them was omitted because the mentioned one indicates it. Likewise, the reading of whoever recited: 'disperse to it.' And the reading of whoever recited: 'amusement or trade, disperse to it.' And it was read: 'to both of them.'

From the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: 'Whoever recites Surah Al-Jumu'ah will be given a reward of ten good deeds for each person who attends the Friday prayer and for each person who does not attend it in the cities of the Muslims.' This was narrated by Al-Thalabi, Ibn Mardawayh, and Al-Wahidi with their chains to Abu Ibn Kab, may Allah be pleased with him.