Thus, the correct view is that when there is a severe cold wind that causes people hardship, it is an excuse for missing the Friday and congregational prayers. Indeed, it is a stronger excuse than the harm caused by rain, as anyone who has experienced it knows. Moreover, the hardship of cold is accompanied by another difficulty: in cold weather, people generally need to urinate frequently, which tires them. When they perform ablution, doing so in the cold becomes difficult—especially in earlier times, when there were no heaters to warm the water, and sometimes the water would be extremely cold. Therefore, we say: so long as hardship is the effective cause, hardship is present in a severe cold wind. As for a light, ordinary wind or a hot wind, it involves no hardship.

Note: His statement, “on a dark night,” cannot be a condition with respect to the Friday prayer. This supports what we have mentioned: that a dark night is not a condition. And Allah knows best.

Question: Is a person excused because the imam makes the prayer excessively long?

Answer: He is excused by the imam’s lengthening it if it exceeds the sunnah.

The evidence for this is that the Prophet ﷺ did not rebuke the man who left the prayer when Mu'adh began reciting Surah al-Baqarah; rather, he rebuked Mu'adh (1). If no other mosque is available, then the obligation of congregational prayer is waived for him.

Question: Is a person excused by the imam’s haste?

Answer: This is even more deserving of being an excuse than the imam’s excessive lengthening.