What is the ruling on leaving the Friday prayer?
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The questioner : The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) [collected] firewood, and there was not, for example, anything to heat water with, like the heaters known now. He would take a bath with cold water in the severe cold. Likewise, for example, the issue of... many matters in which Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, [commanded] following the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and these are matters of this world.The Shaykh : This is an ignorant man; his cure is knowledge. This is if there is nothing more than ignorance, and we set aside reason and thought, and then [consider] withdrawal. I do not think that withdrawal is practically possible unless we imagine that the man, or someone else, has gone beyond his limit. For example, he does not pray Friday or the congregation?
The questioner : He does not pray the congregation at home; he prays Friday.
The Shaykh : This contradicts the Qur'an and the Sunnah, and therefore he should be taught. If there is a legal ruling to be enforced, he deserves discretionary punishment. But where are those who rule with the fixed Qur'anic punishments, let alone discretionary rulings? Therefore, one should be gentle with him to explain his deviation from following his Prophet (peace be upon him), under the claim that he follows him even in what is not prescribed to follow him in, and contradicts him in what he is obligated to follow him in. This contradiction arises only from ignorance. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), as it came in Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim, said: meaning the night prayer. If the Messenger (peace be upon him) was about to burn the houses of those who lagged behind in the Friday prayer? No, the congregation. So Friday is even more so. What is the matter with this person who claims to follow the Messenger even in these things that expose his self to destruction? And it came in the hadith of 'Amr ibn al-'As that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) had sent him on a military expedition, and the time for the dawn prayer arrived while he was in a state of major ritual impurity, so he performed dry ablution. His companions complained about him, saying that he led them in prayer while in a state of major ritual impurity, meaning he had not taken a bath. When he reached the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he said to him: He said: "O Messenger of Allah, the night was cold and I feared for my life, so I performed dry ablution." The one with peace and blessings upon him laughed, which is an indication of his satisfaction with what he did. If he left the bath from major ritual impurity with cold water to preserve his self, then preserving the self is one of the components of life. Therefore, Islam strives with all effort for Muslims to care for their health, even by being lenient in some of the obligatory rulings, let alone what is less than that. So this person, due to his ignorance, turned the legal rulings upside down. In fact, he has no cure except teaching, if he accepts teaching; otherwise, discipline and discretionary punishment. Is there anything else? What do you have?
The questioner : He does not pray the congregation at home; he prays Friday.
The Shaykh : This contradicts the Qur'an and the Sunnah, and therefore he should be taught. If there is a legal ruling to be enforced, he deserves discretionary punishment. But where are those who rule with the fixed Qur'anic punishments, let alone discretionary rulings? Therefore, one should be gentle with him to explain his deviation from following his Prophet (peace be upon him), under the claim that he follows him even in what is not prescribed to follow him in, and contradicts him in what he is obligated to follow him in. This contradiction arises only from ignorance. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), as it came in Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim, said:
I was about to order a man to lead the people in prayer, then order men to gather firewood, then I would go to people who claim to pray with the congregation and burn their houses over them. By Him in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, if one of them knew that there were two good lumps of fat in the mosque, he would attend it.
لقد هممت أن آمر رجلا فيصلي بالناس ثم أمر رجالا فيحطبوا حطبا ثم أخالف إلى أناس يدعون الصلاة مع الجماعة فأحرّق عليهم بيوتهم والذي نفس محمد بيده لو يعلم أحدهم أن في المسجد مرماتين حسنتين لشهدهاI led the people in prayer while in a state of major ritual impurity.
صليت بالناس جنبا
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.
