His statement, “or harm to himself”: this is the sixth category of those excused from missing the Friday and congregational prayers. It is when he fears harm to himself from one of the matters mentioned by the author—for example, if there is a vicious dog by his house and he fears that, if he goes out, the dog will attack him. In that case, he may pray in his house, and there is no blame upon him.

Likewise, if it is assumed that there is something on his way to the mosque that would harm him—for instance, he has no footwear and the entire road is covered with thorns or shards of glass—this would harm him, so he is excused from missing the congregational and Friday prayers.

Similarly, if he has wounds and fears that an odor will aggravate his wounds, he is excused from missing the Friday and congregational prayers.

His statement, “or from a ruler,” means that if he fears for himself because of a ruler—for example, an unjust governor is seeking him and searching for him, and he fears that, if he goes out, he will seize and imprison him, impose a financial penalty on him, harm him, or the like—then he is excused from missing the Friday and congregational prayers, because this entails harm to him. But if the ruler seeks to take him for a rightful cause, then he has no right to stay behind from either the congregational prayer or the Friday prayer. For if he stays behind, he causes two rights to be neglected: Allah’s right with respect to the congregational and Friday prayers, and the right for which the ruler is seeking him.

His statement, “or the pursuit of a creditor when he has nothing with which to pay”: this is the seventh category of those excused from missing the Friday and congregational prayers. It is when he has a creditor who demands payment from him and persistently follows him, while he has no money. This is an excuse, due to the harm caused by the creditor’s persistent pursuit of him. But if he has something with which he is able to pay