The condition of settlement for performing the Friday prayer
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Praise be to Allah alone, and peace and blessings be upon the one after whom there is no prophet, Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah, and his family and his Companions. After that: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed what
was sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from His Excellency the Saudi Cultural Attaché in New Zealand : 'Abd al-Salam ibn Musa al-Shaykh , and referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars, with number (658) and date 5/5/1431 AH. His Excellency asked a question, the text of which is as follows: We are your sons, the staff of the Cultural Attaché's office in Auckland in the Republic of New Zealand . Since the labor regulations in this country stipulate that Friday is a working day, the Friday prayer comes upon us while we are in our offices, and the Friday mosques are far from us. We are many employees, some of whom are assigned to work for years, and some of whom are settled in this country. When it became difficult for us to go to the Friday prayer, and it led to the dispersal of the employees, we took the place where we pray the midday prayer every day for the Friday prayer. It is a large hall below the building of the Attaché's office. We appointed one of the settlers in this country to lead us in the Friday prayer, as that was easier for us and more orderly for work. However, some of those with us found it difficult that the number did not reach forty men, and others found it difficult that the condition of settlement was met in a case like ours. Shaykh 'Abd al-Majid ibn Ghaith al-Ghaith and Shaykh Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Haqil , members of the Dawah (calling) department at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Dawah, and Guidance, visited us on an official mission for Dawah,
and we informed them of the place we had designated as a prayer area. They suggested that we write to Your Eminence about it to obtain a fatwa that clarifies the ruling and resolves the disagreement. We hope Your Eminence will inform us of this.
After the Committee studied the inquiry, it answered that if the mosques are far from you, at a distance that makes it impossible to attend the Friday prayer without hardship, and there are among you settlers from the people of the country as you mentioned, then it is permissible for you to pray the Friday prayer in the Attaché's office in the place designated for that purpose; based on the saying of Allah the Exalted:[At-Taghabun 64:16]. As for the number required for the establishment of the Friday prayer, we do not know of a text that indicates a specific number. The correct view is that it is established with three settled men; based on His saying the Exalted: , and this is a plural, and its minimum is three.
was sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from His Excellency the Saudi Cultural Attaché in New Zealand : 'Abd al-Salam ibn Musa al-Shaykh , and referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars, with number (658) and date 5/5/1431 AH. His Excellency asked a question, the text of which is as follows: We are your sons, the staff of the Cultural Attaché's office in Auckland in the Republic of New Zealand . Since the labor regulations in this country stipulate that Friday is a working day, the Friday prayer comes upon us while we are in our offices, and the Friday mosques are far from us. We are many employees, some of whom are assigned to work for years, and some of whom are settled in this country. When it became difficult for us to go to the Friday prayer, and it led to the dispersal of the employees, we took the place where we pray the midday prayer every day for the Friday prayer. It is a large hall below the building of the Attaché's office. We appointed one of the settlers in this country to lead us in the Friday prayer, as that was easier for us and more orderly for work. However, some of those with us found it difficult that the number did not reach forty men, and others found it difficult that the condition of settlement was met in a case like ours. Shaykh 'Abd al-Majid ibn Ghaith al-Ghaith and Shaykh Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Haqil , members of the Dawah (calling) department at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Dawah, and Guidance, visited us on an official mission for Dawah,
and we informed them of the place we had designated as a prayer area. They suggested that we write to Your Eminence about it to obtain a fatwa that clarifies the ruling and resolves the disagreement. We hope Your Eminence will inform us of this.
After the Committee studied the inquiry, it answered that if the mosques are far from you, at a distance that makes it impossible to attend the Friday prayer without hardship, and there are among you settlers from the people of the country as you mentioned, then it is permissible for you to pray the Friday prayer in the Attaché's office in the place designated for that purpose; based on the saying of Allah the Exalted:
So fear Allah as much as you are able
فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْSo hasten to the remembrance of Allah
فَاسْعَوْا إِلَى ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.