In American prisons women of all faiths are accommodated to practice their religious worship and provided a faith leader to conduct it. In light of this, I have been asked to conduct two jumu'ah prayers for an all women prison (one maximum and minimum security residents). This is the only time they are allowed to congregate for collective worship service and hear a sermon. Is leading this jumu'ah service under these conditions valid for this unique place and circumstance of American incarceration?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

First of all, you should know that being a male is one of the conditions for the Friday prayer to be obligatory, so the Friday prayer is not held by women without men as they (women) are not obligated to attend it or perform it. Ibn Qudaamah said: “Being a male is a condition for the Friday prayer to be valid and obligatory, because it is men who gather for the Friday prayer, and a woman is not eligible to attend the gatherings of men, but if she attends it (the Friday prayer), then it is acceptable from her…” Besides, Shaykh Zakariyyah Al-Ansaari from the Shaafi’i School of jurisprudence, said in “‘Asna Al-Mataalib”: “The Friday prayer is not held by non-Muslims nor by women…” Furthermore, An-Nawawi said the same thing in “Al-Majmoo’”: “Among the conditions of the number (of those who attend the Friday prayer) is that they must be free men, residents of the place [meaning not travelers], as regards women, slaves and travelers, then the Friday prayer is not held only with them because the Friday prayer is not obligatory for them, so it is not valid to be held with them…” The Maaliki School of jurisprudence is of the same view.

Therefore, it is not permissible for you to perform the Friday prayer with women if there are not a sufficient number of men with whom it is acceptable to hold the Friday prayer, but you may seize the opportunity to admonish them, and give them lectures and lessons without performing the Friday prayer with them.

Finally, it should be noted that the presence of a man in a gathering of women may lead to some prohibitions, so you should observe the limits of Allaah as much as possible, like lowering the gaze and avoiding being in doubtful seclusion with them.

Allaah Knows best.