“the Mother of Towns.” He also called places greater than Mecca villages, as in His words:

“How many a village, mightier than your village which drove you out, have We destroyed, leaving them no helper.”

He also called ancient Egypt a village, saying:

“Ask the village where we were and the caravan with which we came.”

There are many similar examples in the Quran. And Allah knows best.

He—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked:

Two men disagreed about Eid when it falls on a Friday. One said, “He must offer the Eid prayer and not offer the Friday prayer,” while the other said, “He should offer the Friday prayer.” What is correct concerning this?

He replied:

Praise be to Allah. When Friday and Eid fall on the same day, the scholars hold three views:

The first is that Friday prayer remains obligatory for those who attended the Eid prayer, just as it is on all other Fridays, because of the general texts establishing the obligation of Friday prayer.

The second is that the obligation is waived for people living in the countryside, such as the inhabitants of al-‘Awālī and outlying settlements, because ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān permitted them to miss the Friday prayer after leading them in the Eid prayer.