(Then when the prayer is concluded) - meaning, it has been performed and finished - (then disperse through the land) to establish your interests. (And seek the bounty of Allah) - meaning, profit, according to what has been said. Makhul, al-Hasan, and Ibn al-Musayyib said: What is commanded to be sought is knowledge. Ibn Marduyah recorded from Ibn Abbas that he said: They were not commanded to seek anything of worldly affairs; rather, it refers to visiting the sick, attending a funeral, and increasing a brotherly bond for the sake of Allah the Exalted. Ibn Jarir recorded the like from Anas in a marfu’ (elevated) report.

The command here is for permissibility, according to the more correct view. Thus, after the prayer is concluded, sitting in the mosque is permissible, and exiting is not obligatory. This was narrated from al-Dahhak and Mujahid. al-Kirmani mentioned in his commentary on al-Bukhari that there is a consensus on this, but this is debatable, as al-Sarakhsi narrated a view that it is for obligation. It was also said: it is for recommendation.

Abu Ubayd, Ibn al-Mundhir, al-Tabarani, and Ibn Marduyah recorded from Abdullah ibn Yusr al-Harrani, who said: "I saw Abdullah ibn Busr al-Mazini, a companion of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, when he performed the Friday prayer, he would go out and walk in the market for a while, then return to the mosque and pray what Allah the Exalted willed him to pray. It was said to him: 'Why is this?' He replied: 'I saw the Master of Messengers, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, do likewise,' and he recited this verse: (Then when the prayer is concluded), etc."

Ibn al-Mundhir recorded from Sa'id ibn Jubayr who said: "When you leave on Friday, go to the door of the mosque and bargain for something, even if you do not buy it." The view of it being a recommendation was also transmitted from him, which is the most likely and most consistent with His saying, the Exalted: (And remember Allah often) - meaning, abundant remembrance, and do not restrict His remembrance, may He be exalted, to the prayer - (that you may succeed) - so that you may attain the good of both abodes.

From what we have mentioned, the weakness of using this verse to argue that a command coming after a prohibition implies permissibility is known.

The verse was used as evidence for the precedence of the sermon over the prayer, and likewise for the lack of recommendation for the sunnah prayer following it within the mosque. However, there is no evidence in it to negate a subsequent sunnah. The outward speech of some eminent scholars suggests that some people have denied that there is any sunnah for Friday prayer absolutely. It is possible, though remote, that they sensed a negation of the subsequent sunnah from the command to disperse and seek bounty. As for denying the preceding sunnah, they relied on what was reported in the Sahih, which has been mentioned, that the call at his time, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was when he sat on the pulpit. It is known that when he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, finished the adhan, he began the sermon, and when he finished it, he began the prayer. So when would they pray the sunnah?

The response to this is that his going out, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was necessarily after the sun's meridian (zawal). Therefore, it is permissible that it was after he had prayed the four rak'ahs, and it is obligatory to judge that the prayer occurred based on this possibility, due to the generality of what is authentic: that he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would pray four when the sun passed the meridian. The same applies to them, because they also knew the meridian just like the mu'adhin, or rather, they might have known it by the entry of the time, in order to perform the adhan.

The statement of the Exalted, (When the call is made), etc., was used as evidence by those who said that attending Friday prayer is only obligatory from a place where the call can be heard. This is a matter of disagreement; Ibn Umar, Abu Hurayrah, Yunus, and al-Zuhri said: It is obligatory to attend from six miles. It was also said: from five. Rabi'ah said: from four; this was also narrated from al-Zuhri and Ibn al-Munkadir.

Malik and al-Layth said: From three. In Abu Hayyan’s al-Bahr, it states: Abu Hanifah and his companions said: It is obligatory for anyone in the city, whether they heard the call or not, but not for anyone outside the city, even if they heard the call. From Ibn Umar, Ibn al-Musayyib, al-Zuhri, Ahmad, and Ishaq, it is for anyone who heard the call. From Rabi'ah, it is for anyone who, if they heard it and left their house walking, would catch the prayer.

Likewise, those who argued for the obligation of attending it, regardless of whether the permission was general or not, and regardless of whether a ruler or his deputy performed it or someone else, used this as evidence, because the Exalted linked the obligation of striving to the call absolutely. Such is what has been said, and the detailed investigation of all of this is in the lengthy books of furu’ (jurisprudence).