lay between Mecca and Medina, where the inhabitants held Friday prayer, and he did not object to them. Thus, ‘Umar instructed the people of Bahrain to hold Friday prayer wherever they had settled permanently, knowing that some houses were made of date-palm stalks, and he did not stipulate any particular type of construction. Likewise, Ibn ‘Umar approved of the inhabitants of the settlements between Mecca and Medina holding Friday prayer. It is known that their houses were not built of clay, but rather of date-palm stalks or palm fronds.

Imam Ahmad said:
“Friday prayer is not obligatory for the Bedouins because they move from place to place.”

He thus identified their movement from place to place as the reason for their exemption. Accordingly, anyone who is permanently settled and does not move away of his own accord is counted among village dwellers. Such people differ from tent dwellers in two respects:

First: Tent dwellers generally do not settle permanently in any particular place. Even if some groups among them do settle in one place, they remain liable to move away. This is unlike these permanent settlers, who till the land and sow crops, and who move away only as the inhabitants of clay-built houses do: either because a need arises or because an overpowering authority displaces them, as kings do with farmers.

Second: Tent dwellers take their homes with them when they move, so their homes are movable rather than immovable property. This is unlike houses made of wood, reeds, or date-palm stalks: their owners do not transport these materials to build with them in the place to which they move. Rather, they build