Q&A: Friday Prayer without the Sultan by Sheikh Ata� Abu Rashtah

The following is the translation of an Arabic Q&A from the website of the noble mujtahid and mufassir Sheikh `Ata� Ibn Khalil Abu Rashtah (Allah preserve him).

Question:

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�In [our] discussion with someone, there is a person who prays on time but does not pray the Friday Prayer (jumu`ah) with the people. Instead, he prays the Afternoon (zuhr) Prayer. When I objected to what he was doing he replied that one of the conditions of validity for the Prayer is the existence of the Khalifah. Did any of the jurists hold such an opinion? What is the Party�s view on this?  May Allah reward you with good�

Answer:

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�The Friday Prayer is obligatory regardless of whether there is a khalifah or not. The evidences for this are well known such as Allah�s statement: {O you who have believed, 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. That is better for you, if you only knew}�[TNQ 62:9] 

And al-Hakim has in his Mustadrak on the authority of Abu Musa from the Prophet (saw) who said: �The Friday Prayer is an obligation on every Muslim except for four people: a slave, a woman, a child and the ill.� A l-Hakim said: �the narration is sahih (rigorously authenticated) according to the conditions of Bukhari and Muslim although neither reported it�. al-Nasa�i narrates on the authority Ibn `Umar from Hafsa the wife of the Prophet (saw) that he said: �Going to the Friday Prayer is an obligation in every Muslims who reaches puberty�. 

These narrations are what the opinion of three of the Madhahbs is based on (i.e. Malik, Shafi`i and Ibn Hanbal). As for the Ahnaf [s: Hanafis], they mention as one of the conditions of the Friday Prayer: �The permission of the Sultan, or his attendance or the attendance of someone officially appointed to represent him because this is how it was at the time of the Messenger of Allah (saw) and the Rightly Guided Khulafa�. This would be the case if there was an Imam or his official representative in that land where the Prayer is being offered. If neither is present due death, some tribulation or something like that, and the time of the Friday prayer entered, then the people may put someone forward to lead them in the Prayer�. The opinion that the Sultan is a condition therefore is not the strongest opinion according to us based on the evidences previously mentioned.

In summary then, the Friday prayer is an individual obligation regardless of whether there is an actual khalifah or when there is no khalifah present.�

[And Allah knows best].

Arabic Source