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Reading Surah Al-Kahf in group on Jumuah

Question

In our praying room, after the fajr prayer of Friday a group of people sit together and read Surah al Kahf in a group - each person reading two or three verses until they finish the Surah and they hope from Allah that Allah will give each of them the reward for reading the whole surah. I know that reading Surah al Kahf on Friday is authentic, but reading like this in groups, is it bidah? Or is it prescribed by our noble Prophet (S.A.W) or practiced by our rightly guided pious predecessors?

Answer

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
Reciting Surat Al Kahf is, as you mentioned, a Sunnah. But it was not reported from the Prophet that he used to read it with his companions in group nor was this reported to have been done by any of his companions. If the reciting, you mentioned, is for studying Qur'an and if its timing is chosen only because of its appropriateness for those who recite it, not for its sacredness, and if they do not believe that reciting it in this way is a Sunnah and if they do not always recite it in groups (if all these conditions are met) they could recite in the manner you described. Know, however, that sticking to a given manner and a given time for reciting the Qur'an was not reported from the Prophet.
So, if these people want to comply with the Sunnah they should change the appointed time for this reciting from a given time to another time. They should also read the Qur'an in group sometimes and at other times read it individually. If they do what is described here, their reciting is not considered as an innovation.
Allah knows best.

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