Do I Have to Come Back to My Hometown Whenever Possible to Pray the Friday Prayer?

Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi

Question

My Uni is in a city 200 km away from my home, where I usually tend to be from Sunday to Thursday in a rented apartment and travel back home on Fridays.

I know that jummah prayer is not Fard on me while I’m in the city of the Uni as I meet the requirement for being a traveler (please correct me if I’m wrong)

But my question is if do need to return home on Friday in a way that I can pray the jumma in my hometown.

Because my Uni is finished late on Thursday and I travel back home any time on Friday and the time can be different. But am I sinful if I can travel on Friday in a way that I actually catch the jumuah time at home, and I still choose to travel home later? Or am I still a traveler and can freely choose to return home?

Answer

In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,

I pray this finds you in the best of states.

No, there is no sin on you for delaying your travel because there is no duty on the believer to return to his hometown whenever possible to pray the Friday prayer.

The duty of a male Muslim is to pray the Friday prayer whenever he fulfills the conditions for the Friday prayer to be obligatory upon him.

If you are (1) present in a city as a resident (not as a traveler), (2) healthy, (3) free, (4) male, (5) adult, (6)sane, (7) not blind, (8) able to walk, (9) not jailed or fearful for your life or your property, (10) in a day free of heavy rain, cold, snow or the like then the Friday prayer is obligatory upon you and it will be sinful for you to leave it. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

If one of these conditions is missing, then the Friday prayer is not obligatory on you. Thus if you are deemed a traveler at the time of the Friday prayer, then there is no duty upon you to perform it. You would be rewarded nonetheless by doing so.

Allah, Most High, says: “O believers! When the call to prayer is made on Friday, then proceed (diligently) to the remembrance of Allah and leave off (your) business. That is best for you, if only you knew.” [Quran, 62:9]

And Allah knows best.
Wassalam
[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching far and wide for answers to the fundamental questions of life and was disappointed at the answers he found. Then, he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the various teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani. He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha’ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others. He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.