The number of worshippers required for the validity of the Friday prayer

Q: We work in a mountainous area where there are no mosques, and the nearby mosques are difficult to reach due to our work conditions. We are a small group, so what is the number of worshippers required for the validity of the Friday prayer?

A: It is obligatory for you to strive to attend the Friday prayer, because you hear the call to prayer and are able to respond on foot or by car. The Friday prayer is a gathering that brings together the people of the village and the people of the locality. Therefore, it is obligatory for you to go to it and pray with the Muslims in the village where you are. You do not have the right to take a dispensation and establish a Friday prayer on your own, unless the distance is far. In that case, you must seek a fatwa and submit your case to the Department of Ifta if you are in the Kingdom. The Department of Ifta will examine the matter and write to the court in your area to ascertain the truth, and then issue a ruling on the matter. However, whenever a believer is able to strive to attend the Friday prayer and participate with his brothers in the Friday prayer, that is a great good. He has a great reward in his steps and the expiation of his sins. He should participate in the good and strive to attend the Friday prayer, even if it is far, for the sake of the great reward, for gathering with his brothers, for increasing their numbers, for learning about their conditions, and for getting to know them, so that everyone can cooperate in righteousness and piety and help one another in what is good. If there is clear hardship, there is no harm in sending a request for a fatwa to the Department of Ifta to examine the matter, if Allah wills.