The Ruling on the Friday Prayer for Students of Knowledge in a Non-Muslim Village

The questioner : A group traveled to seek knowledge. Ahmad, they traveled to seek knowledge and stayed in a village where there were no Muslims at all. They were two hundred in number, and they will remain in this village for five years to seek knowledge. So, is the Friday prayer obligatory for them or not?

The Shaykh : It is not obligatory for them. They reach two hundred.

Another questioner : And what about the others?

The Shaykh : Is it valid from them?

Another questioner : It is valid from them without [the condition].

The Shaykh : No, there is no one; the entire village is not Muslim.

Another questioner : It is not valid. It is not valid. Yes. The place of prayer and the Friday prayer are a greeting of weakness.

The Shaykh : Do you have anything to cite from the author’s words?

Another questioner : Yes, he stipulated that they must be residents.

The Shaykh : He stipulated that they be residents, and these are not residents, correct? But in another matter, as we mentioned to you, it is not a condition. As long as they gather in a village, it becomes obligatory for them, even if they are not residents. However, the school of thought holds that it is not obligatory for them. Based on this, students studying abroad in disbeliever lands, even if they reach two hundred or three hundred, if there are no residents with them—either forty according to the author’s statement, or three according to the second opinion—then the Friday prayer is not valid from them and it is not obligatory for them. Now, let us begin the new lesson. I say, the correct view, and I pause here, but if they gather, there is no harm, if Allah wills.