Can a Group of Muslims Perform the Friday Prayer in a Camp?

Question: Can a group of Muslims perform the Jumu’a pray, even though they are residing in a camp, which has no mosque?

Answer: In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

If the camp is outside the limits of the city, Friday prayer is not obligatory, and you will have to pray Zuhr instead. This is because of the conditions of the validity of the Friday prayer is that it must be performed in a city [Ala’ al-Din Abidin, al-Hadiyya al-`Ala’iyya].

‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “There is no Friday prayer, no Tashreeq (i.e. takbir tashriq), no Eid al-Fitr prayer, no ‘Eid al-Adha prayer except in an encompassing or big city” [Abd al-Razzaq, Musannaf; Mawqufan].

Also, there are no narrations, not even singular narrations, from the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) that they established Jumu’a in any of the lands that they were given victory over, except in the cities contrary to the countryside [Shurunbulali; Maraqi al-Falah].

However, if the camp is within the city limits Jumu’a is obligatory.

Some later scholars have given a legal stance declaring the Friday prayer to be valid if performed in a village or countryside. Amongst them is Shaykh Muhammad Bakhit al-Muti’i who based this ruling on the opinions of some distinguished classical Hanafi authorities.

With that being said, though this opinion does not represent the relied-upon position of the Hanafi school, if it is taken, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani deems it from caution to perform the Zuhr prayer afterward.

Hope this helps
And Allah knows best

[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a graduate from Tarim; a student of Habib Umar and other luminaries; and authorized teachers of the Qur’an and the Islamic sciences.