Is It Permissible to Miss the Jumu’a Prayer If One Resides within the City Limits?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

I am a recent convert to Islam. I work from home every Friday, so I have not missed a Jummah since reverting. However, I am worried that sometimes I may be called into work. I live in North Weet London and work on the other side of the city in North East London. I work in a predominantly White British area with no masjid.

Is it permissible for me to pray zuhr instead of Jummah while still inside the city limits since London is made up of distinct Boroughs with long travel times?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

The Jumu’a prayer is an honor given to the Believers by Allah Most High. Due to its importance and immense rewards, Allah Most High has made it obligatory for every resident Muslim male who is healthy enough to attend.

Work is not an excuse for missing Jumu’a and is explicitly mentioned in the verse of Jumu’a itself.

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]

Alhamdulillah, you have been able to uphold the Jumu’a prayer since you embraced Islam. May Allah Most High increase you and grant your steadfastness.

Before the possible situation arises where you are called in for work during the Jumu’a prayer, it is best to preempt such a situation by speaking respectfully but with principle to your employer. If you are respectful and you fulfill your duties at work with excellence, as Islam encourages, it is unlikely that your employer would not grant you an offer for those two hours.

Hope this helps
Allah knows best

[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.