Men Whom Neither Trade Nor Sale Distracts: The Companions, the Market and the Call to Prayer

The men of Qur'an 24:37 are believers whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah, the prayer and zakah. They were not men without trade. Al-Bukhari placed the verse at the head of a chapter on trade, with the words of Qatada: they bought and sold, but when a right of Allah came, trade did not keep them from it.

This page tells what the sources say about the Companions and the market at prayer time: the verse, the reports the commentators gathered on it and how far they can be relied on, and two moments the sources record when trade did pull at them. Every hadith here was read on sunnah.com.

The Verse in Surah an-Nur

The verse before it speaks of places "in mosques which Allah has ordered to be raised and that His name be mentioned therein", where He is glorified morning and evening (24:36). Then it describes the people inside them:

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رِجَالٌۭ لَّا تُلْهِيهِمْ تِجَٰرَةٌۭ وَلَا بَيْعٌ عَن ذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ وَإِقَامِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ وَإِيتَآءِ ٱلزَّكَوٰةِ ۙ يَخَافُونَ يَوْمًۭا تَتَقَلَّبُ فِيهِ ٱلْقُلُوبُ وَٱلْأَبْصَٰرُ

[Are] men whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah and performance of prayer and giving of zakah. They fear a Day in which the hearts and eyes will [fearfully] turn about

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The next verse gives what waits for them: that Allah may reward them for the best of what they did and give them more from His bounty (24:38).

Notice what the verse does not say. It does not praise men who have nothing to sell. It names commerce and sale, and praises the men they fail to distract.

Men of the Market, Not Men Who Left It

Al-Bukhari read it that way. In the Book of Sales of his Sahih, a chapter on trade, «باب التجارة في البر», opens with this verse, then with the words of Qatada ibn Di'ama, a scholar of Basra from the generation after the Companions:

"The people bought and sold and traded, but when a right among the rights of Allah came to them, neither trade nor sale distracted them from the remembrance of Allah until they had fulfilled it for Allah."

The Companions were people of the market. Sahih al-Bukhari 2048, sahih by al-Bukhari's own standard, tells how Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, newly come to Medina as an emigrant, asked: "Is there any marketplace where trade is practiced?" He was told: "The market of Qainuqa'", and he "went to that market the following day".

Ibn Kathir, in his commentary on the verse, quotes the Companion Abu al-Darda' from Ibn Abi Hatim.

He said that he had stood on this step, trading on it and earning 300 dinars a day, and had attended the prayer in the mosque every day. "I do not say that this is not lawful," he added, "but I love to be among those of whom Allah said: men whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah."

The Day the Shops Closed

Ibn Kathir gives a second report, through Amr ibn Dinar al-Qahramani, from Salim, from Abdullah ibn Umar. Ibn Umar was in the market when the iqamah of the prayer was called. The people closed their shops and went into the mosque, and Ibn Umar said: "It was about them that it was revealed", then recited the verse.

Ibn Kathir names Ibn Abi Hatim and Ibn Jarir al-Tabari as those who recorded it.

A word on how far these two reports go: Ibn Kathir gives the words of Ibn Umar and Abu al-Darda' without a grade. The report of Ibn Umar passes through Amr ibn Dinar al-Qahramani, whom Ibn Hajar grades weak in Taqrib al-Tahdhib, so its chain is weak. This page found no grading of the chain of Abu al-Darda's words.

Both are told here as the commentators tell them: words of Companions about the verse, not sayings of the Prophet ﷺ, and not offered as sound hadith.

Ibn Kathir's own reading does not rest on them. This world and its adornment, he writes, do not distract such men from the remembrance of their Lord, and they are those who know "that what is with Him is better for them and more useful than what is in their hands, for what they have runs out, and what is with Allah remains."

The Friday the Caravan Came

The sources do not turn the Companions into men who never wavered. Jabir ibn Abdullah narrates: "While we were praying (Jumua Khutba & prayer) with the Prophet (p.b.u.h), some camels loaded with food, arrived (from Sham). The people diverted their attention towards the camels (and left the mosque), and only twelve persons remained with the Prophet." (Sahih al-Bukhari 936)

In Sahih Muslim 863 the same Jabir says the Prophet ﷺ was delivering the Friday sermon standing, and that no one was left but twelve men. Both collections are sahih by their own standard. Then this verse was revealed:

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وَإِذَا رَأَوْا۟ تِجَٰرَةً أَوْ لَهْوًا ٱنفَضُّوٓا۟ إِلَيْهَا وَتَرَكُوكَ قَآئِمًۭا

But when they saw a transaction or a diversion, [O Muhammad], they rushed to it and left you standing.

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The verse goes on: what is with Allah is better than diversion and than a transaction. Two verses earlier, the order for Friday is plain: "when [the adhan] is called for the prayer on the day of Jumu'ah [Friday], then proceed to the remembrance of Allah and leave trade" (62:9).

And once the prayer is over, the next verse sends them back out to seek the bounty of Allah, remembering Him often (62:10).

The reports read here do not name those who went out to the caravan, and this page does not guess. What they show is the Qur'an teaching real people, in their own city, on a Friday.

When Umar Said the Market Kept Him Busy

Even Umar ibn al-Khattab said it of himself. Abu Musa al-Ash'ari asked leave to come in, was not given it, and went back. Called back, he said that this was what they had been commanded to do. Umar asked for proof. Abu Musa asked the Ansar, and the youngest of them, Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, confirmed it.

Umar said: "Has this order of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) been hidden from me? I used to be busy trading in markets." (Sahih al-Bukhari 2062, sahih by al-Bukhari's own standard)

In Arabic his words are «أَلْهَانِي الصَّفْقُ بِالأَسْوَاقِ», and alhani is the verb of the verse's la tulhihim, "does not distract them". The narrator explains: he meant going out to trade. This was a hadith he had not heard, not a missed prayer. Yet Umar named the pull of the market plainly, and took the knowledge he had missed from a younger man.

What the Verse Asks of You Today

Most of us have a market of our own: a shift, an inbox, a shop counter, a phone full of offers. The verse does not ask you to leave it. It asks that when the time of the prayer comes, the trade waits for the prayer.

One step for this week: at the next adhan, finish the sentence you are typing, not the task, and go. In Ibn Umar's report the people of the market closed their shops; yours may be a laptop lid. Our guide to praying on time at work or school has the steps, and the words of the adhan are worth knowing by heart.

If the adhan does not reach you where you work, Deeny's reminders for the five prayers are free and tell you when each prayer comes in.

Friday asks the most of a working week: the Jumu'ah guide covers the prayer that 62:9 tells you to leave trade for. And if the caravan feels close to home, it is a good reason to build consistency one prayer at a time, as the Qur'an taught those who heard it.

Frequently Asked Questions

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