A group of students praying Jumu'ah behind a person who is not a resident but has come to study and will return to his country: what is the ruling on his leading them in prayer?

The questioner : This brother, Abu 'Abdullah, one of the students in America, says to me that a group of students have questions for you, O honorable Shaykh. The first question is: A group of students are praying Jumu'ah behind a person who is not a resident but has come to study and will return to his country. What is the ruling on his leading us in prayer? May Allah reward you.

The Shaykh : Some scholars hold that a condition for leading the Jumu'ah prayer is that the imam be a settled resident of the town where the Jumu'ah is held. If he is not a settled resident—that is, if he is a resident or a traveler—then his leading the Jumu'ah prayer is invalid, because he is not among those for whom it is obligatory. This is the well-known position in the school of Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) among his followers.
The correct view is that this is not a condition, and that it is valid for a traveler or a student residing there to be the imam in the Jumu'ah prayer. Just as his Jumu'ah prayer is valid if he prays behind the imam who is leading the Jumu'ah, so too is it valid for him to be the imam in it. There is no evidence for this condition; that is, there is no evidence that it is required for the Jumu'ah imam to be a settled resident. The correct view is that it is valid for the Jumu'ah imam to be a traveler or a resident, and that he is like a settled resident. Accordingly, your Jumu'ah prayer behind this imam who is residing there for study is valid.

The questioner : May Allah bless you.