Going to another mosque if one missed the Friday prayer in the nearest one

18-12-2015 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalaamu alaykum. May Allah reward you. Please, if I go to the mosque and discover that I have missed the Friday prayer, can I then pray the Dhuhr prayer there and then, or is it obligatory for me to go to another mosque that prays the Friday prayer later than the first mosque even if that involves having to use means of transport?
Answer:

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 ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

If you can catch the Jumu'ah (Friday) prayer in another mosque, then you are obliged to go to that mosque and attend the prayer there, even if you have to use a car, because attending the Jumu'ah prayer is obligatory on the person who lives near the mosque as well as the one living far from it. Ibn Qudaamah may Allaah have mercy upon him wrote:

"All the residents of a given town are obliged to attend the Jumu'ah prayer in the mosque, regardless of the proximity of their places of residence from the mosque. (Imaam) Ahmad stated that it is incumbent on the residents of a town to attend the Jumu'ah prayer in the mosque regardless of whether they heard the athaan or not because a town is built for the purpose of gathering in the first place; there is no difference whether the resident of a town lives near the mosque or far from it..."[Al-Mughni]

The Hanbali scholar Al-Buhooti may Allaah have mercy upon him wrote about riding a mount to attend the Jumu'ah prayer, "Attending the Jumu'ah prayer is obligatory on whoever is able to attend it without incurring any harm on himself by doing so, by means of riding a mount, being carried or offered a ride, or receiving the help of a volunteer to guide a blind man to attend Jumu'ah prayer in the mosque..." [Daqaa’iq Uli An-Nuha]

Ibn Muflih may Allaah have mercy upon him wrote, "Al-Marroothi quoted Imaam Ahmad as saying that one should even rent a mount (if needed and in case he does not own one) to attend the Jumu'ah in the mosque..." [Al-Furooʻ]

Allaah knows best.

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