stronger still, because the congregational prayer is repeated five times a day. If he is exempted from what is obligatory once a week, then he is all the more exempted from what is obligatory five times a day. Conversely, if we deem the congregational prayer obligatory upon him, then Friday Prayer is all the more so.

His statement: “legally accountable.” This is the third condition. In the terminology of the scholars, a legally accountable person is one who possesses two qualities:

The first is maturity.

The second is sound intellect.

The evidence is the Prophet’s ﷺ statement: “The pen has been lifted from three: from the child until he reaches maturity, from the insane person until he regains awareness, and from the sleeping person until he awakens.” (1) However, Friday Prayer is valid when performed by a child, whereas it is not valid when performed by an insane person, because the insane person has no intellect. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Actions are only by intentions.” (2) Whoever has no intellect has no intention, unlike a discerning child, who does have an intention.

But is a child instructed to perform it?

The answer is that he is instructed to do so at the age of seven and disciplined for neglecting it at the age of ten, as he falls under the generality of the Prophet’s ﷺ statement: “Instruct your children to perform it at seven, and discipline them for it at ten.” (3)

His statement: “Muslim.” This is the fourth condition.

Its opposite is the disbeliever. Friday Prayer is not obligatory upon the disbeliever; indeed, it is not even valid from him. The evidence for this is: