383 – Ṭāriq ibn Shihāb (may Allah be pleased with him) related that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “The Friday prayer is a binding duty upon every Muslim to be performed in congregation, except four: a slave, a woman, a boy who has not reached puberty, and an ill person.” Related by Abū Dāwūd, who added: “Ṭāriq did not hear directly from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).” Al-Ḥākim also transmitted it through this same Ṭāriq from Abū Mūsā. (1)

Hadith grading:
Ibn Ḥajar said in al-Talkhīṣ: Abū Dāwūd narrated it on the authority of Ṭāriq ibn Shihāb, and al-Ḥākim narrated it through this Ṭāriq from Abū Mūsā, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); several scholars deemed it authentic.

Al-Nawawī remarked: Abū Dāwūd’s statement, “Ṭāriq saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) but did not hear anything from him,” does not impair the hadith’s soundness, for it then counts as a Companion’s mursal report, which is considered probative. The chain meets the conditions of the two Shaykhs (al-Bukhārī and Muslim), and the report is supported by corroborating narrations.

Vocabulary of the hadith:
– ḥaqq wājib (binding right): an obligation firmly established by the Quran and the Sunnah.
– illā arbaʿah (except four): here illā means “other than.” In this affirmative statement, what follows it is in the accusative as an exception, while the subsequent noun is genitive by annexation.
– mamlūk: a slave.
– al-ṣabī: a male who has not yet reached puberty.