If a woman performs the Zuhr Prayer before the imam leads the Friday Prayer, it is valid, because the Friday Prayer is not obligatory upon her.

“It is preferable to wait until the imam prays, and it is not permissible for one upon whom it is obligatory to travel on Friday after the sun has passed its zenith.”

His statement, “It is preferable to wait until the imam prays,” means that it is preferable for one upon whom the Friday Prayer is not obligatory to delay the Zuhr Prayer until the imam has prayed. Accordingly, we would say to women: on Friday, it is preferable that you do not perform the Zuhr Prayer until the imam has prayed. They said: perhaps his excuse may cease, enabling him to catch the Friday Prayer. But if this is the rationale, it does not apply to women, since a woman’s excuse cannot cease: a woman remains a woman. Therefore, we say to a woman: it is preferable for her to perform the Zuhr Prayer at the beginning of its time, even before the imam prays, because prayer at the beginning of its time is preferable to prayer at the end of its time.

Thus, if one upon whom the Friday Prayer is not obligatory is someone whose excuse may be expected to cease, allowing him to catch it, then it is preferable for him to wait. But if he is someone whose excuse is not expected to cease, then it is preferable for him to perform the prayer at the beginning of its time, because what is preferable with regard to the prayers is to perform them at the beginning of their time, except where evidence establishes an exception.

His statement, “And it is not permissible for one upon whom it is obligatory to travel on Friday after the sun has passed its zenith”: “to travel” is the subject of “is not permissible.” That is, it is not permissible for one upon whom the Friday Prayer is obligatory to travel on Friday after the sun has passed its zenith, whether it is obligatory upon him personally or by virtue of another person. This is because, once the sun has passed its zenith, the time has begun by scholarly consensus; and usually, once the time begins, the imam arrives, the call to the Friday Prayer is made, and it is performed. It is therefore unlawful for him to travel.

If someone were to ask: What is the evidence that it is unlawful?

The answer is the saying of Allah, the Exalted: “O you who believe, when the call is made for the prayer…”