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Can We Offer Friday Prayer at Home to Avoid Coronavirus?

18 March, 2020
Q As more mosque leaders are encouraging people to pray Zhuhr at home instead of coming to Jumuah (Friday Prayer) at the mosque to avoid Coronavirus, could we pray Friday Prayer at home in the following suggested format: 1- A Jumuah speech would first be given by the local imam, using live stream via the internet; 2- When the Imam's talk ends, in each Muslim household (or building ...), the leader would read a standard khutbah to comply with the basic conditions for the validity of Jumuah; 3- Then the leader would lead the household in 2 rakahs for Friday prayer?

Answer

Dr. Jasser Auda
18 March, 2020

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. 

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

In this fatwa:

1- Offering Jumuah Prayer via the internet, TV or phone is not valid except if the congregation is in the vicinity of the mosque and/or the Imam.

2- Muslims could also make their own Jumuah at home if there’s enough number from the same family or residence.

Answering your question, Dr. Jasser Auda, Professor and Al-Shatibi Chair of Maqasid Studies at the International Peace College South Africa, states:

I do not agree to the prayer of Jumuah via the internet, TV or phone, except if the congregation is in the vicinity of the mosque and/or the Imam.

If the person who follows the Jumuah is far from the mosque, then they should pray Zhuhr and not the 2 Rakahs of Jumuah.

“Near” or “far” is relative and up to the specific setups and individual judgements. Personally, I prefer the opinion that Muslims could also make their own Jumuah at home if there’s enough number from the same family or residence. Estimates of numbers differ, but I think 2 people could make Jumuah.

Scholars of the past endorsed a number of opinions about numbers, including two persons. But neighbors should not gather in one of the homes under these circumstances because of the possibility of infection and hence defeating the purpose.

Almighty Allah knows best.

Offering prayer time at home due to coronavirus required number for Friday prayer COVID-19 Fiqh & Fatwas
About Dr. Jasser Auda
Jasser Auda is a Professor and Al-Shatibi Chair of Maqasid Studies at the International Peace College South Africa, the Executive Director of the Maqasid Institute, a global think tank based in London, and a Visiting Professor of Islamic Law at Carleton University in Canada. He is a Founding and Board Member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, Member of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, Fellow of the Islamic Fiqh Academy of India, and General Secretary of Yaqazat Feker, a popular youth organization in Egypt. He has a PhD in the philosophy of Islamic law from University of Wales in the UK, and a PhD in systems analysis from University of Waterloo in Canada. Early in his life, he memorized the Quran and studied Fiqh, Usul and Hadith in the halaqas of Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo. He previously worked as: Founding Director of the Maqasid Center in the Philosophy of Islamic Law in London; Founding Deputy Director of the Center for Islamic Ethics in Doha; professor at the University of Waterloo in Canada, Alexandria University in Egypt, Islamic University of Novi Pazar in Sanjaq, Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies, and the American University of Sharjah. He lectured and trained on Islam, its law, spirituality and ethics in dozens of other universities and organizations around the world. He wrote 25 books in Arabic and English, some of which were translated to 25 languages.