Is it permissible for a woman to offer the Friday prayer at her home? How many Rak‘ahs should she pray?

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, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

There is a consensus among scholars that offering the Friday prayer is not obligatory upon women, as Ibn Al-Munthir and others narrated. Therefore, if she offered the prayer at her home she is to offer four Rak‘ahs of Thuhr, when its time starts. She should not wait until the people offer the Friday prayer so that she attains the virtue of offering the prayer at its earliest time. However, if she attended the sermon at the mosque she may join the congregation in offering the Friday prayer according to the scholarly consensus, as narrated by Ibn Al-Munthir. Furthermore, the women used to offer the prayer with the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, in his mosque, standing in rows behind the men.