Unusual statements by scholars regarding the conditions for the validity of the Friday prayer

The Shaykh : And here, in very strange and wondrous details, some scholars stipulate that for the Friday prayer to be valid, it must be held in a "masr jami'"—meaning a capital city. According to this school of thought, the Friday prayer is not valid in any country other than the capital. Some of them added to this condition that the prescribed legal punishments (hudud) must be carried out there. However, unfortunately, they were quickly forced to abandon this condition when they found that some Muslim rulers were lenient in carrying out the prescribed legal punishments. Did they invalidate the performance of the Friday prayer because this condition was not met? So, some of the independent jurists (mujtahids) in the school—and this is a later technical jurisprudential term—said that it is sufficient if the ruler, if it becomes feasible for him to carry out the prescribed legal punishments, does so. That is, they do not stipulate that they must actually be carried out, but rather that if it becomes feasible for him, he should do so. And, with great regret, the fatwa evolved with the passage of time, and they said that it is necessary that it be in a Muslim country and that the Muslim ruler has permitted the establishment of the Friday prayer. Glory be to Allah, just as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , these jurists—or rather, those who have delved into jurisprudence—evolved against their will and followed the Sunnah, because they found that they had no way to implement the rulings of the Shari'ah except in accordance with the Sunnah. But as they say, "after the destruction of Basra."