Is it permissible to perform the Friday prayer with ten people?
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The questioner : Is it permissible to perform the Friday prayer with ten people? I hope you will provide me with information on this?
The Shaykh : The questioner wants to know if the Friday prayer is valid with ten people?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Our answer to this is to say: This is a matter of disagreement among the scholars. Some said that the Friday prayer is not valid with fewer than forty people. Some said it is not valid with fewer than twelve men. And some said it is valid with three men. The correct view is that it is valid with three men, and with four, and with five, and with ten, and whatever is more, provided they are residents in this village. In that case, they establish the Friday prayer, because three constitute a congregation: there is an imam who delivers the sermon, a mu'adhdhin who calls to prayer, and a ma'mum who follows. The imam steps forward and prays with the two men, and likewise for any number greater than that. This is the stronger position in this issue: that the Friday prayer is valid with three or more, provided they are residents in a town, whether it is large or small.
The questioner : This listener, Ahmad Mutayri, asks: If one recites Surat Yasin...
The Shaykh : You might say: How can they be residents in a large town if they are only three? We say: Yes, this is possible if the town is a town of disbelief and these three are Muslims, with no others present, and they are among those for whom migration is not obligatory due to their inability to do so, or because they are able to establish the rituals of their religion in this town. In this case, they establish the Friday prayer, even if they are only three, even if the town is large.
The questioner : The listener, Abdul Hadi Saif from Yemen, says.
The Shaykh : The questioner wants to know if the Friday prayer is valid with ten people?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Our answer to this is to say: This is a matter of disagreement among the scholars. Some said that the Friday prayer is not valid with fewer than forty people. Some said it is not valid with fewer than twelve men. And some said it is valid with three men. The correct view is that it is valid with three men, and with four, and with five, and with ten, and whatever is more, provided they are residents in this village. In that case, they establish the Friday prayer, because three constitute a congregation: there is an imam who delivers the sermon, a mu'adhdhin who calls to prayer, and a ma'mum who follows. The imam steps forward and prays with the two men, and likewise for any number greater than that. This is the stronger position in this issue: that the Friday prayer is valid with three or more, provided they are residents in a town, whether it is large or small.
The questioner : This listener, Ahmad Mutayri, asks: If one recites Surat Yasin...
The Shaykh : You might say: How can they be residents in a large town if they are only three? We say: Yes, this is possible if the town is a town of disbelief and these three are Muslims, with no others present, and they are among those for whom migration is not obligatory due to their inability to do so, or because they are able to establish the rituals of their religion in this town. In this case, they establish the Friday prayer, even if they are only three, even if the town is large.
The questioner : The listener, Abdul Hadi Saif from Yemen, says.