What are the requisite conditions for the obligation and validity of the Friday prayer (*Jumu'ah*)?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Friday Prayer
Primary text
The obligation and validity of the Friday prayer require seven conditions: residence (*istiṭān*), settlement in a village (*qaryah*), the presence of forty individuals, masculinity, puberty, sanity, and Islam. This is the statement of the majority of scholars. The village must be built according to customary materials such as stone, mud, brick, reeds, or trees. Those dwelling in tents or mobile homes (*buyūt al-sha'r*) do not have Friday prayer incumbent upon them, nor is it valid for them, as their dwelling is generally not settled. If people reside close enough to hear the call to prayer (*nida'*) in a settled area, they are obliged to attend.
Supporting text
For the village to qualify, its buildings must be clustered according to usual village customs. If the residences are too widely separated in a manner contrary to custom, Friday prayer is not obligatory unless forty residents gather together, in which case it becomes obligatory for them and those following them. The condition of interconnected structures is not required; although al-Shafi'i once stipulated it, this is not upheld because closely built villages resemble connected ones as they follow customary village patterns. If a community is not obligated to hold Friday prayer themselves but can hear the call from a major town or a village where it is held, they must proceed to attend due to the general meaning of the Quranic verse concerning the call to prayer.