Friday prayer essentials
Who must attend, arriving late, the sermon, and missing it altogether.
By The Fatwa Scholarly Team
10 answers · About 9 min (estimate)
SeasonFriday
Every week brings the same handful of questions about the Friday prayer. Who it is required of, what to do when you arrive during the sermon, and what replaces it when it is missed. This set answers them in order.
Each entry is a short summary of a full answer on Ftawy, with the link to that answer at the bottom. The set routes you to them; it does not rule on anything itself.
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- Pick up where you left off1
What is the evidence that permanent settlement is a condition for the validity of Jumu'ah (Friday prayer), and why is Jumu'ah prayer not obligatory for residents who are not independently settled, and why is it not valid if performed by them, even though a resident is not a traveler and not from the Bedouin?
People are divided into three types regarding travel and residency: the permanent resident, the traveler, and the temporary resident. The Permanent Resident:…
- 2
Is Friday Prayer and congregational prayer obligatory for one who cannot hear the the Adhan in his city due to the mosque's distance?
Jumu'ah prayer is an obligatory duty, and Allah seals the heart of whoever abandons it without a valid excuse. Congregational prayer is obligatory upon every…
- 3
Is Friday prayer obligatory for workers in a foreign company in the desert, working on a system of 6 weeks on and 2 weeks off, given the presence of a nearby national company with a mosque and an imam who perform Friday prayers?
For the obligation and validity of the Friday prayer (Salat al-Jumu'ah), istīṭān (permanent residency) is a prerequisite. This means the intention of permanent…
- 4
Is Friday Prayer obligatory for someone who works in roof construction in Moscow, faces objections from colleagues and time constraints, and is sometimes detained by the police for document verification?
You must go to the mosque for the Friday prayer as long as you are a resident in the city, unless you have a legitimate, recognized Sharia excuse. Your going…
- 5
Is the Friday Prayer valid for someone who only caught the prayer but not the sermon, or must he pray Dhuhr?
Whoever catches one rak'ah of the Jumu'ah prayer has caught it, due to the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "Whoever catches one rak'ah of…
- 6
What is the validity of the saying that whoever catches the second رک'ah of Friday prayer must complete it as four رک'ahs, on the grounds of not having heard the sermon, which takes the place of two رک'ahs?
There is no relation between comprehending the Friday prayer and it being two Rak'ahs. Imam Al-Shafi'i stipulated that the Friday prayer is attained with one…
- 7
How can one make up the Friday prayer for one who missed part of it, whether the sermon, the first raka'ah, or both raka'ahs, and only caught the tashahhud?
Those who hear the call for Jumu'ah (Friday prayer) and are obligated to attend must hasten to it, in compliance with the words of Allah Almighty: "O you who…
- 8
What is the ruling on praying in a mosque where there is doubt about the presence of a grave based on the statements of others, and is it a condition to say "A'udhu billahi min ash-shaytanir-rajim" (I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan) and "Bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim" (In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful) before reciting a Quranic verse in the Friday sermon to fulfill the condition of recitation, and is it obligatory to repeat the Friday prayer as Dhuhr (noon prayer) for one who did not attend the first khutbah (sermon)?
Prayer is valid in a mosque where the presence of a grave is doubtful. The fundamental principle is the validity of the prayer, and it is not invalidated…
- 9
Is it permissible to recite the Qunūt supplication during the Friday sermon outside of Ramadan or times of calamity?
Supplicating at the end of the Friday sermon (khutbah) is legislated and recommended. There is no specific, fixed supplication transmitted from the Prophet,…
- 10
Is it permissible for the Friday Khateeb to formulate the Friday sermon in a way that he asks the worshippers and they answer, and is this method considered legitimate for attracting attention, and will the worshippers' answers not be considered a distraction?
If there is a need, it is permissible for those being led in prayer (the ma'mumin) to speak with the Imam during the Friday sermon, and this is not considered…
Updated Sep 5, 2026