Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām - Abd Allah al-Bassam - (2/620)

Tawḍīḥ al-AḥkāmAbd Allah al-Bassam

As for Hadith (384), it indicates that the Friday prayer is neither obligatory for the traveller nor prescribed in his case; for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions used to travel for ḥajj and for military campaigns, yet none of them ever performed the Friday prayer while on a journey, even though great numbers were present.

If a traveller hears the call to the Friday prayer, the well-known position in the school of Imām Aḥmad is: should he be required to perform the prayers in full and not be allowed to shorten them—because his trip, in their view, is not one that permits shortening—then the Friday prayer becomes binding on him along with the congregation. Otherwise, it is not obligatory for him, neither on his own nor with others.

Al-Iqnāʿ and other manuals state: “There is no Friday prayer in Minā or ʿArafah,” a ruling explicitly affirmed by Imām Aḥmad, because no report shows that it was ever performed in either place.

Of the five categories for whom the Friday prayer is not obligatory, two are exempt because a condition of obligation is lacking: the woman and the minor, for a woman is not among those who are expected to attend Friday and other congregational prayers. The remaining three are exempt because a hindrance is present: the slave confined to his master’s service, the sick person for whom attending is burdensome, and the traveller who is presumed to face hardship. Yet if any of them does perform the Friday prayer, it is valid and fulfils the requirement, for its non-obligation is granted as a concession.

2 - Sharḥ al-Muntahā states: “It is forbidden for one upon whom the Friday prayer is due to embark on a journey on that day after the sun has passed the meridian until he has prayed, for once its time enters it becomes a settled liability on him. Travelling before the meridian is disliked but not forbidden, since the obligation begins only after the meridian and the time before it is one of licence—provided he will not pray along the way. If he does perform the prayer en route, then travelling after the meridian is not forbidden, nor is travelling before it disliked.”

3 - The Friday prayer is obligatory only upon people settled in a permanent habitation—customary buildings, even if made of reeds—from which they do not move either in winter or in summer. As for the Bedouins, the people of tents and encampments who dwell

أما الحديث رقم: (٣٨٤): فيدل على أن صلاة الجمعة لا تجب على المسافر، ولا تشرع في حقه؛ لأنَّ النَّبيَّ ﷺ وأصحابه كانوا يسافرون في الحج والجهاد، فلم يصلِّ أحد منهم الجمعة في السفر، مع اجتماع الخلق الكثير. وإذا سمع المسافر النداء لصلاة الجمعة، فالمشهور من مذهب الإمام أحمد: أنَّه إن كان يجب عليه إتمام الصلاة، ولا يصح منه القصر -وذلك حينما لا يرون سفره سفر قصر- فإنَّها تلزمه الجمعة بغيره وإلاَّ فإنَّها لا تلزمه لا بنفسه ولا بغيره. قال في "الإقناع" وغيره: ولا جمعة بمنى وعرفة، نص عليه الإمام أحمد؛ لأنَّه لم ينقل فعلها فيهما. هؤلاء الخمسة الذين لا تجب عليهم الجمعة، بعضهم سقطت عنه؛ لفقد شرط الوجوب، وهما المرأة والصبي، فإنَّها لا تجب على امرأة؛ لأنَّها ليست. من أهل الجُمَع والجماعات، وبعضهم سقطت عنه؛ لوجود المانع في وجوبها، وهم العبد المحبوس على عمل سيده، والمريض الذي يشق عليه الذهاب إليها، والمسافر الذي هو مظنة المشقة، إلاَّ أنَّهم جميعًا إذا صلوا الجمعة صحَّت منهم، وأجزأت عنهم، لأنَّ سقوطها تخفيفًا. ٢ - قال في "شرح المنتهى": وحرم سفر من تلزمه الجمعة في يومها بعد الزوال، حتى يصلي؛ لاستقرارها في ذمته بدخول وقتها، ويكره السفر قبل الزوال، ولا يحرم؛ لأنَّها لا تجب إلاَّ بالزوال وما قبله وقت رخصة، هذا إن لم يأت بالصلاة في طريقه، فإن أتى بها في طريقه، فلا يحرم بعد الزوال، ولا يكره قبله. ٣ - لا تجب الجمعة، إلاَّ على مستوطنين ببناء معتاد -ولو من قصب- لا يرحلون عنه شتاءً ولا صيفًا، فأما البادية أهل الظعن والحِل، الذين يسكنون