Travel for Jumu’ah Prayer Is Difficult

21-1-2003 | IslamWeb

Question:

I am a Muslim who lives in the United States of America and the nearest mosque to me is 32 miles away or 40 minutes by car. Do I still have to go to Jumah prayer? Thank you.

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Answer:

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

As long as the distance to the mosque is too much as you mentioned in your question, then performing the Friday Prayer is not compulsory on you.

Whoever lives outside a city but within the distance of ten miles of the city, then the Friday Prayer becomes an obligation.

This is the maximum distance that is defined by Muslim scholars such as Imam 'Ataa’.

On the other hand, if one lives in a city no matter how far the distance to the mosque, he has to attend the Friday Prayer.

However, some scholars are of the opinion that the Friday Prayer is an obligation for whoever can perform it and return to his family in the same day. The evidence of the latter opinion is the Hadeeth reported by Imam At-Tirmithi with a weak chain of narrators on the authority of Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet said: “The Friday Prayer is obligatory on him who can get back home to his family before the night.”

Therefore, the Friday Prayer is not obligatory on you although attending it is better and desirable if it is possible without facing much hardship. By attending the Friday prayer, one can be present with the supplications and glorification of Allah made with other Muslims.

For more benefit on the conditions for Friday (Jumu’ah) prayer, please refer to Fataawa 82835, 82979, 356992, 117037 and 257203.

Allah knows best.