What is the ruling on performing the Friday prayer in the desert outside the town?

The questioner : Regarding the Friday prayer in a journey or in the desert, a journey or a desert. We went out from here, or we went out to the valley.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : Yes, is it permissible for us, if we are ten, to perform the Friday prayer?

The Shaykh : I do not see anything preventing that, based on the evidence of the Book and the Sunnah. Because some of the conditions set by some of the imams are merely conditions based on independent legal reasoning (ijtihad), for which there is no explicit text from the Book or the Sunnah. And I find, in addition to this, that there are some opinions that contradict what some of the scholars of the Salaf, indeed the imams of the Salaf and their righteous caliphs, used to hold. It is mentioned in many books of Islamic jurisprudence that the Bedouin nomads are not required to perform the Friday prayer.

The questioner : The Friday prayer.

The Shaykh : The Friday prayer.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.

The questioner : ... this is the settled resident.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : A settled resident. I say that one of the conditions of the Friday prayer is that one must be a settled resident.

The Shaykh : And one of the conditions of the Friday prayer is that the prayer is not valid except in a roofed mosque. So if it does not have a roof, the prayer is not valid.

The questioner : Where did they come from?

The Shaykh : Opinions and independent legal reasoning.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : We do not deny them personally; we deny their opinions which we are not religiously obligated to adhere to.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : The point is, so as not to take you too far afield, it is authentically reported from 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, the righteous caliph, that he wrote to some tribes that had settled in a valley or in a place for grazing, saying, "Establish the Friday prayer." In addition to this, and to the absence of any text restricting the generality of the saying of Allah the Exalted: , if a mu'adhdhin calls the adhan in any place for the day of Friday, He said - the Exalted - : . No condition was stipulated in the verse, nor in the Sunnah, except the congregation. And the congregation in the Friday prayer is stricter than the congregation in the congregational prayer. The congregational prayer is obligatory, but the jurists differed regarding whether, if one for whom the congregation is obligatory in the congregational prayer prays alone, his prayer is valid but deficient, or his prayer is invalid. The majority of scholars, from the Salaf and the Khalaf, are of the opinion that the prayer is valid, but he... Do you want to be patient with me, or are you your father's son?

The questioner : No, I...

The Shaykh: Hehehe.
The student : For it is my intention.

The Shaykh: Hehehe.
The student : It is my intention.

The Shaykh : The point is.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : The majority of scholars said that the prayer of the one who prays alone, and is not excused, if he prays alone and leaves the congregation, his prayer is valid, but he is sinful, and his reward is less than the reward of the one who prays in congregation, due to his saying - peace and blessings be upon him - : , and in another narration - and both are authentic - : . The other opinion considers that the prayer of the one who prays with the congregation, and has no excuse for leaving it, if he prays alone, his prayer is invalid. This is said by some of the scholars of knowledge, but we did not find in what he held any evidence that obligates us to adopt his opinion. And with this, the difference between the congregational prayer and the Friday prayer remains: the congregation in the Friday prayer is a condition of validity, whereas the congregation in the congregational prayer is a condition of perfection, not a condition of validity. And you have known the details regarding the congregational prayer. So if people go out from the town to the open space, to the desert, to the wilderness, and in some cases for the sake of recreation, renewing life and living, and the like, if it happens that a group goes out of the town and they do not go out as travelers, because the traveler is not required to perform the Friday prayer, then they may perform the Friday prayer, because there is no evidence that they must perform it in a place of residence.