Jummah Salah in universities and hospitals

CategoriesSalaah [864]

Fatwa ID: 01367

Answered by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Question:

Does Jumuah prayer have to be performed in a masjid because sometimes you may have to pray in universities or hospitals as you cannot go to the mosque because they do not let you or you don't have enough time and would it be valid to pray in these places? 

Shukran wa jazakAllah khayran".

Answer:

Bismillah

In the name of Allah, the most Beneficent, the most Merciful.

The following conditions must be met in order for Jummah Salah to be obligatory:

  1. To be male
  2. To be within the boundary of a town (Muqeem)
  3. To be healthy (physically able to perform Salah)
  4. The road should be safe
  5. Not to be physically handicapped.                                  

(Kitabul Fiqh p.603 v.1)

The following conditions are necessary for the Jummah Salah to be correct:

  1. A large town

The Jummah Salah will not be valid unless it is held in large towns or cities.  To hold Jummah Salah in small villages is not permissible.  Saaiduna Ali raḍyAllāhu 'anhu (may Allāh be pleased with him) has said “The Jummah and Eid prayers cannot be held except in large towns.”   (Mussanaf Abdur Razzaq)

A large town is where the number of males upon whom the Jummah Salah is compulsory is so large that no mosque in the town could accommodate all of them together.   (Ilmul Fiqh p.146 v.2)

Another definition of Mufti Mahmood Saheb raḥimahullāh (may Allāh have mercy upon him) is that the village is such that there are shopping malls, basic necessities can be found and the local population is between three and four thousand.   (Fatawa Mahmoodiyah p.301 v.1)

  1. Time of Zuhr prayer
  2. The Khutbah
  3. Congregation

There are three people besides the Imam (four Muslims) at your workplace which will constitute the congregation.  The presence of females or minors only is not enough.   (Raddul Muhtar p.24 v.3)

  1. Izn Aaam (general call for the prayer)

With regards to your question, if the aforementioned conditions are found which is necessary for the Jummah Salah, then to hold Jummah Salah at universities or hospitals will be correct. It is not necessary to hold it in a Masjid.

Only Allah Knows Best

Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

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