If a traveler wishes to pray Jumu'ah with the Muslims, is the Jumu'ah bath obligatory for him?

The questioner : May your eminence, if a traveler wishes to pray Jumu'ah with the Muslims, is the bath obligatory or not?

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. The answer to this question is based first on whether the Jumu'ah bath is obligatory or a confirmed sunnah. The scholars have three opinions on this.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : The first opinion is that it is obligatory absolutely.
The second opinion is that it is a sunnah absolutely.
The third opinion is to distinguish: if a person has a lot of dirt on him and it is feared that its smell will rise in this large gathering, then it is obligatory for him to bathe to remove the nuisance; otherwise, the bath is a sunnah for him.
What becomes clear from the evidence of the Shari'ah is that it is obligatory absolutely, because it is established in "al-Sahihayn" and others from the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: So consider the word from whom did it come? And by what was it surrounded? This word came from the most eloquent of creation and the most knowledgeable of what he says and the most sincere in what he intends, and he is the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). There is no doubt that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) knows the meaning of the word , so if he did not intend obligation by it, the expression would be misleading. It is known that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) does not use a misleading expression intending the opposite of its apparent meaning, but rather he does not use an expression except that he intends what is derived from the apparent meaning of the wording, because he is the most eloquent of creation and the most knowledgeable of what he says and the most sincere to the servants of Allah.
Furthermore, this word is surrounded by what indicates that the intended meaning is obligatory compulsion, which is his saying: meaning upon every adult, because adulthood is a description that necessitates the obligation of the addressed person with what is directed to him, so it is a description suitable for the cause of obligation.
Accordingly, there is no way to avoid saying that the bath is obligatory for whoever intends Jumu'ah and comes to it. This is indicated by the fact that the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), was delivering the sermon on Friday when Uthman entered, and he asked him: why were you delayed? He said: By Allah, O Commander of the Faithful! I did nothing more than perform wudu', meaning then he came. So 'Umar said to him while he was preaching to the people: And wudu' as well? And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: .
Accordingly, whoever leaves the Jumu'ah bath is sinful for leaving the obligatory, but the prayer is valid because this bath is obligatory without a state of ritual impurity, so it does not prevent the validity of the prayer. At that point, the answer to the questioner's question becomes clear: if he is a traveler and attends Jumu'ah, is the bath obligatory for him? We say: Yes, the bath is obligatory for him, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): . However, if it is difficult for him because he does not find water, or he does not find anything but cold water in the days of winter and he fears for himself from the cold, then there is no sin on him in this case, because Allah the Exalted says: and He says, Glorious is His mention: and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: .
From these texts, the scholars derived a very useful rule for the student of knowledge, which is that there is no obligation with inability, just as there is no prohibition with dire necessity, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted: . Yes.

The questioner : May Allah bless you. The listener says.