Is it permissible for Muslims to pray the Friday prayer without a sermon if the imam is absent, or should someone who is not skilled in it go up?

Al-Halabi : He saysThe questioner : If the preacher is absent from the mosque, do the Muslims pray without a sermon, or does someone who is unable to do so go up, and perhaps he falls into great difficulty?

The Shaykh : I think the question is based on a misunderstanding, which is that the sermon has conditions, and that only a learned, cultured man can deliver a sermon. The sermon is an exhortation and a reminder, as the Lord of the Worlds said: to the end of the verse. So the purpose of the sermon is to remind those present of something. If we assume that the preacher of a certain mosque did not attend for some reason, and we assume that among these attendees—and this is a great misfortune—there is no one who can go up on the pulpit and remind them of a verse from the verses of Allah in the Noble Qur'an, or a hadith from the hadiths of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), or alert them to one of the mistakes people fall into, if there is not among them one person who performs this obligation, then the obligation falls off these people, which is the sermon. But the prayer has not fallen off them, so they pray Friday in two rak'ahs. But I imagine our problem is what we mentioned earlier: our distance from the Prophetic guidance and our following of traditions and ceremonies that have become part of the religion, while they are not part of the religion in any way. The sermon is an exhortation, and it is not necessary for a person to memorize dozens of verses and dozens of hadiths. It is not necessary for the sermon to be longer than the prayer. The prayer is five minutes and the sermon is a quarter of an hour or a third of an hour, and perhaps more than that. No, if he preaches for two or three minutes and prays the prayer in five minutes, may Allah reward him well, and he is a jurist. Is there no one in this society about which the question was asked, no person who can exhort the people with an exhortation in one or two minutes, then come down and lead the people in prayer? If that is not the case, then this is, unfortunately, a bad omen. But the Friday prayer does not fall off them, so they must pray it behind this imam. And this imam, do you think he is skilled at leading the people in prayer or not? I assume that there must be one. This imam preaches a sermon, he recites one or two verses from one or two surahs, and that is sufficient for the believers. The matter is easy, and there is no blame, no difficulty in it. Yes.

The questioner : Regarding this situation, it happened in our mosque here in the Zarqa camp. I arrived late, and the imam is skilled at recitation, and he memorizes a lot of the Qur'an, but he does not know how to exhort the people or explain a hadith or interpret a verse. The one who knows went up on the pulpit, but he fell into great difficulty, to the extent that I was distressed for him because of the severity of his difficulty.

The Shaykh : I felt sorry for him.

The questioner : Yes, I felt sorry for him. The question is that in such a case, and he may be able to do it, but he puts himself in very great difficulty, in this case, does he go up on the pulpit and rely on Allah and ask Allah for help, or does he not go up and only lead them in the Friday prayer?

The Shaykh : My answer: He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: What was the conclusion of this man? Did he preach or did he not preach?
Wafi: He preached.

The Shaykh : That is enough. Yes.

The questioner : Do we understand from that that the sermon is obligatory or a pillar?

The Shaykh : No, it is obligatory. Of course, if it were a pillar, the prayer would be invalid.