Is it permissible to pray the Friday prayer before the sun declines from its meridian (Dhuhr), and what is its prescribed legal time?

The majority of scholars hold that the Friday prayer is not valid before zawal (the sun's declination from its zenith), citing the hadith (definition) of Anas and Salamah ibn al-Akwa' that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used to pray it after the sun had declined, and that this was the practice of the Prophet and the caliphs after him. However, the Hanbalis are of the view that the beginning time for the Friday prayer is the same as the beginning time for the Eid prayer. They argue based on the hadith of Jabir and Salamah ibn al-Akwa' that they used to pray and then depart before or at the time of zawal. Nevertheless, Al-Nawawi believes that these ahadith are to be interpreted as emphasizing the hastening of the prayer immediately after zawal. The most preponderant view is that of the majority, which is that the time for the Friday prayer, like the Dhuhr prayer, begins with the sun's zawal.