Jumu’ah Prayer Established in Prisons

In the Name of Allaah, the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful…

The Standing Committee for Legal Verdicts and Research in Saudi Arabia was asked about a prisoner’s stance on Jumu’ah Prayer when incarcerated. They replied:

إذا أقيمت الجمعة داخل السجن أو في غيره، واستطاع أداءها فتجب عليه، وإذا لم يستطع أداء الجمعة فيصليها ظهرا.

وأما الحرية التي يذكرها الفقهاء شرطًا في وجوب الجمعة فمرادهم الحرية من الرق؛ لأن المملوك لا تجب عليه.

If Jumu’ah Prayer is established inside the prison or elsewhere, and he is capable of performing it, then it is binding (waajib) upon him. If he is unable to pray Jumu’ah Prayer, then he offers (in its place) Thuhr Prayer. As for the condition of freedom which the scholars of Fiqh mention in order for Jumu’ah to be an obligation, the intended meaning was: freedom from slavery, as a slave would not be required (to attend Jumu’ah).

Signed by:
Shaykh ‘Abdullaah ibn Qu’ood
Shaykh ‘Abdullaah ibn Ghudayyaan
Shaykh ‘Abdur-Razzaaq ‘Afeefee
Shaykh ‘Abdul-‘Azeez ibn Baaz

Source: Verdicts of the Standing Committee (8/184-185), as found here.

Translation: Moosaa Richardson

rev.aw.

32 thoughts on “Jumu’ah Prayer Established in Prisons

  1. Assalamu alaykum
    Does the same apply to those in schools etc and are young who cannot leave for Jummuah? I.e. they establish the jumuah themselves in a room. Also how many people are required for this?

  2. Assalamualykum akhee ,

    I am currently doing my studies in United Kingdom where I have classes during the Jummah prayer . Most of the students & the Faculty pray their Jummah salah in congregation in the university prayer room( and not in mosque)

    My question is : Is it allowed to pray with them the Jummah salah in the prayer room (or) is it necessary to pray the Jummah salah in the masjid alone.
    Jazakumullahu khayran

  3. My brother is In prison and they have a sufi ( braveli) imam and in another jail he had and asharee imaam (who used to do alot of biddah with the jummah service).. also the room where they pray is a multi faith room and they have crosses and so called depictions of eesa and maryam and saints etc on the clings and walls some of which can not be cover.

    what is the ruling for each of these individual circumstances do are they still obligated to pray and these jummah congregations and what is you advice?

    Barakallahu feekum

  4. BaarakAllahu Feek Ustadh Moosa for this beneficial article! There is a brother who is currently incarcerated and the facility that he is in makes the Muslims hold two jum’ah prayers. They claim to do this due to security reasons. Where he is stationed, he falls under those who attend the “second” jum’ah prayer. He is asking for advice in this matter. If he attends the “second” jum’ah prayer is he falling into innovation, or if he stops attending jum’ah to avoid going to the “second” salaat, is he sinful?

  5. As salamu alaikum
    I have a very important question which needs to be answered for it is relating to one of the greatest obligations: the congregational prayer. I am in high school and there is a musalla that is relatively close by. I can walk there 10 in ten minutes. The dhuhr time is prayed at 1:30. is it obligatory for me to attned?

  6. My second question is during the winter time the musalla prays dhuhr prayer and Friday prayer at 1:30. As you know the time for prayer is short during the winter time. Asr is estimated to enter at around 2: 30 or around that time. The dhuhr time enters at around 12:00p.m. in the winter. So should I not pray dhuhr with the congregation in the winter time because I am afraid they are praying it passed the correct time because I am afraid that the shadow of an object becomes the same length as the object.

  7. As Salaamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatuallah Wa Barakatuhu,

    Upon the completion of the calling of Adhan I always notice sisters getting up and offering 2 rakahs. Could you provide me with Daleel on doing such Inshaa’Allah?

    Jazakallahu Khair

    • Wa ‘alayk as-salaamu wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. The Prophet (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) said: (( بين كل أذانين صلاة )), which means, “Between every two athaans (i.e. between every athaan and iqaamah) is prayer.” He repeated this three times, and then added (( لمن شاء )), “For whoever wishes.” It was collected by both Imaams, al-Bukhaaree and Muslim, from the narration of ‘Abdullaah ibn Mughaffal (may Allaah be pleased with him).

  8. Assalamualyum Wa Rahmathulilah .

    Akhee , Is there any sunnah ( in rakats) to be prayed before the Jummah Salah ?

    Could you also provide daleel for your statement(whether Yes or No) ?

    JazakAllahu khayran

  9. السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

    there is a forward I had received regarding surah kahf and four trials of faith, wealth, power and knowledge described within the ayaat.( based on the stories of the people of the cave, the man with the 2 gardens, dhul qarnayn and musa and al khidr respectively) The text message goes on to say that these are similar to the trials dajjal will come with and this is the ‘secret’ as to why we recite the surah for protection from the dajjal. It then goes on to say that the surah provides us the solutions to these trials as well. This text message has no references. Is such an interpretation allowed/ correct?
    جزاك اللهُ خيرًا [Message truncated by admin]

    • وعليك السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته

      We read Soorah al-Kahf on Fridays for Allaah to provide us with light, and the first and/or last ten verses (not the whole Soorah) has been named by the Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alayhe wa sallam) as something which provides protection from the trials of al-Maseeh ad-Dajjaal by the Permission of Allaah. Tafseer of the Quran comes from its established sources, not anonymous text messages. If your religion were learned through random anonymous messages, you would be the most confused of people, and may Allaah give us better. And Allaah knows best.

    • جزاك اللهُ خيرًا
      This forward had been bothering me for a while. I have shown your answer to those who have forwarded the message and الحمد لله they have accepted.

  10. Salaam Aleikum, is the Chapel in a prison considered a Masjid? if they have Jumu’ah there, is it permissible? if so, is it acceptable for one to make two rak’ahs for the Masjid upon entering and two rak’ahs Sunnah before the actual salat is performed?

    • Wa ‘alayk as-salaamu wa rahmatullaah. Multi-purpose rooms like what you are asking about cannot be masjids. Thus, two rak’ahs are not required before sitting in them. And Allaah knows best.

  11. Assalaamu ‘Alaikum Ustaadh Moosaa,

    Can you please inform me on the ruling of establishing the Jumu’ah prayer before the time of Dhuhr starts? Is this permissible to establish or attend one?

  12. Assalaamu’alaykum..

    Ustaadh, is a person deliberately missed the khuTbah on the day of jumu’ah, is he sinful?

    Is attending the whole of it waajib or attending just a part of it suffices?

  13. Assalaamu’alaykum..

    Ustaadh, is it permissible to place the forearms flat on the ground while making sujood in the prayer?

    If it’s prohibited, what is the evidence for it?

    • Wa ‘alayk as-salaamu wa rahmatullaah. It is prohibited, and the proof is the hadeeth of Anas in al-Bukhaaree and Muslim: (( اعتدلوا في السجود، ولا يبسط أحدكم ذراعيه انبساط الكلب )) which means: “Be balanced in prostration, and let not any of you spread out his forearms in prostration like how a dog stretches out.” This is a prohibition of laying the forearms flat on the ground in prostration. Rather, the elbows are to be raised up. And Allaah knows best.

  14. Assalamu alaikum.

    I study in an Islaamic institution. For prayers, it is compulsory to offer them at the school itself together. Will I still get the rewards of praying in the masjid? Am I sinful for praying here rather than in the mosque for the Friday Prayers?

  15. Assalaamu’alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuhu

    In the friday prayer today, the imaam went to sujood when he was supposed to go to rukoo’.

    What is he supposed to do to compensate for the error?

    • Wa ‘alayk as-salaamu wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. He must return to the rukoo’ position once he hears the people saying “subhaan Allah”, and complete the prayer as normal, offering two extra sajdahs at the end, before or after the tasleem. If it is done after the tasleem, he should add another salaams after the two sajdahs. And Allah knows best.

  16. As Salam wa alaikum Moosa.

    I have a question regarding mispronouncing the Qur’an during salah or anytime else. If someone mispronounces a letter, does he have to repeat the entire Ayah, or simply correct himself at that part?

    Barak Allahu Feek.

    • Wa ‘alayk as-Salaamu wa rahmatullaah. Sometimes a small mistake can be serious. For example, a harakah in the wrong place in Soorah al-Faatihah, like saying “AN’AMTU ‘ALAYHIM” (not “AN’AMTA”) is a serious error which changes the meaning. Shaykh Ibn Baaz mentioned this example often. [See: https://binbaz.org.sa/fatwas/23432/%D8%AD%D9%83%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D8%B7%D8%A7-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%82%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%A9-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%BA%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D9%82%D8%B5%D8%AF ]

      This needs corrected by reading the Verse over, not just from the word “AN’AMTA”. If the aayah were long, then he would go back to the most sensible starting point, so as to read with complete meanings. Meaning, he should not pause for a correction, and make his correction of the word alone and isolated. He should go back to where an idea begins, based on the written symbols or one’s knowledge of Tafseer.

      This kind of mistake, uncorrected, means that the Faatihah has not been read, and that means that the rak’ah is incomplete, which would make such a prayer invalid, very serious consequences. Other mistakes may be serious as well, but with no consequences connected to the validity of the prayer, like errors made outside of Soorah al-Faatihah. So it depends on the mistake. And Allah knows best.

  17. Assalamu alaykum Shaykh
    May Allaah preserve you upon goodness, Aameen

    Please can you clarify if there are any hadeeth or athar regarding the virtues of reciting surah Al-Kahf on Fridays? Please could you share it?

    JazaakAllaahu khayran

    • Wa ‘alaykum as-Salaamu wa rahmatullaah. The hadeeth reported about it is differed over, regarding its authenticity.

      من قرأ سورة الكهف في يوم الجمعة أضاء له من النور ما بين الجمعتين
      “Whoever reads Soorah al-Kahf on Friday shall have an amount of light illuminating for him what is between two Fridays (i.e. a week’s time).”

      It was collected by al-Haakim and others, from the report of Aboo Sa’eed.

      Shaykh al-Albaanee and others authenticated it. We have narrations of the Salaf acting upon it. Imaam ash-Shaafi’ee said in his book, Al-Umm:

      وأحب قراءة الكهف ليلة الجمعة، ويومها لما جاء فيها
      “I love reading Soorah al-Kahf on the eve of Friday and during that day, due to what has come about it [in the narrations].”

      And Allah knows best.

  18. السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته شيخنا الفاضل ونفع بك الاسلام والمسلمين اجمعين.

    May I pose a question to you regarding a serious matter.

    All the Muslim brothers in an American prison had their weekly Jumu’ah sermon and prayer service in the prison’s gymnasium reduced by the prison administration to only once every two weeks due to security concerns with gang related violence (group attacks with home-made knives), lack of the appropriate prison staffing levels to monitor the Muslims during the Jumu’ah service, and other security matters. The prison administration has also limited every other religious service from the prisoners of different religions to only one religious service every two weeks as a result of the these same security concerns thereby, treating everyone equally in terms of the religious service restrictions. The Muslims are in the process of complaining about this restriction of Jumu’ah prayer service to once every to weeks to the chain of authorities in the prison and possibly in the future, through the federal court appeals process as they spoke to some of the prison staff they told them that they volunteer their time to monitor the Jumu’ah services every week in order to remove the biweekly restriction. Some of the brothers are conveying that under these circumstances when a shaykh was asked about conducting our own Jumu’ah services in each pod or building of the prison they claimed that he said that the brothers are allowed to hold Jumu’ah prayer and the Khutbah in each pod or building resulting in potentially allowing approximately 18 (as there are 18 pods in the prison) separate Jumu’ah sermons and prayers throughout the entire prison on the Fridays (i.e. every other Friday) that the prison administration doesn’t allow all of the Muslims to gather together for Jumu’ah prayer in the gymnasium. What advice can you give us regarding this matter? [message edited by admin]

    بارك الله فيكم

    • وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته

      Historically, due to safety concerns, the scholars have issued verdicts that there is no Jumu’ah on inmates in prison. Al-hamdu lillaah in most prisons today, Jumu’ah is made possible, and as mentioned in the article above, “If Jumu’ah Prayer is established inside the prison or elsewhere, and he is capable of performing it, then it is binding (waajib) upon him. If he is unable to pray Jumu’ah Prayer, then he offers (in its place) Thuhr Prayer.” When Jumu’ah is not being facilitated (some weeks, or ever), our brothers need to be patient, and they should act upon this advice from our scholars. As for praying Jumu’ah in pods, then this might be an option if it does not lead to a greater harm. In the prison situations I am aware of, the rules do not allow inmates to offer congregational prayer on the housing units or at any place in the prison, except for at the chapel, at designated times, under supervision. If praying as described in the question does not lead to any harms (like being punished further for violating the rules), then they can pray their five daily congregational prayers and their Jumu’ah prayers on their pods/units together. Inmates need to exercise wisdom and insight, and not subject themselves and their communities to harm in this type of situation. May Allah bless them and keep them safe, and enable them to practice their religion and attain piety and closeness to Him, and Allah knows best.

    • جزاكم الله خيرا شيخنا الحبيب

      The problem with conducting a Jumu’ah prayer service within the pods in this particular prison is that some brothers complain about the fact that the pods are loud at times as other inmates from the Kuffār are talking in general and at various times they are talking loudly and yelling across the tier, playing the television containing music, and engaging in other unintentional distractions which negatively affect the concentration required to perform a beneficial Khushu` filled prayer for the daily congregational prayers, to listen attentively to the Jumu’ah sermon, and to perform a Khushu` filled Jumu’ah prayer with a reasonable level of peace and quiet like they do every other Friday when the Jumu’ah prayer is legitimately held in the gymnasium. So, some brothers in the pods choose to pray in their cells for only the daily congregational prayers with as many brothers as they can fit into a cell (i.e. 5-10 brothers in a cell) (without criticizing those who pray together in the pods) because it’s much less distracting than praying in the pods even though to pray in the pods is against the rules of the prison administration and so is praying in each other’s cells because the rules state that the only inmates that can be in a cell are those inmates who are assigned to live in that particular cell and that no formal religious services are to be held outside of any the religious programs scheduled within the facility by the prison administration. Nevertheless, the prison staff never really enforces these two rules due to them either being indifferent, or due to their respect for the Muslims doing something positive by praying together, or due to other reasons. Therefore, there is a small chance of a greater harm occurring against the brothers who pray in the cells in congregation or in the pods in congregation. Unfortunately, some of the brothers sometimes directly and indirectly criticize the other brothers who don’t attend the Jumu’ah prayer in the pods or the daily congregational prayers in the pods. Some of them say that the brothers who don’t attend the daily congregational prayers in the pods and the Jumu’ah prayer in the pod are harming the development of brotherhood and unity by not praying in the pods. Can you give any additional advice to all of the brothers in light of this dilemma?

    • The brothers need to do their best to fulfill their religion without causing harm, and without violating the prison’s rules, which could bring bigger harms on them. The culture in prisons is complex and very unique from state to state, from one prison to the next, and even within one prison, from one housing unit to the next, depending on the staff and many other factors. They should fear Allah to the best of their ability, repent to Allah sincerely, congregate whenever there is no harm in doing so, with manners which Allah loves, excuse each other easily, be sincere to Allah in their worship and in their seeking knowledge, and work together humbly to spread the correct understanding of Islam among their population, leading the way with good sincere practice of Islam and Sunnah, in creed, worship, manners, and interactions.

      Sometimes, when three or four inmates get together to pray, the guards allow it without any problem. Yet, if 8 to 10 inmates came together, they may take a different stance. Sometimes, a prison may have inmates who are knowledgeable enough to make the right decisions for their brothers, weighing all these factors carefully. In some cases, asking a question to someone like myself may be done with malice, to de-stabilize their ranks and unity. In other cases, the question is genuine and the need is real. The situations are so complex and multi-factored, they are commonly summarized without some of the necessary details, and thus the advice obtained from the outside is not really applicable or helpful. For sure, these prisons and their unique challenges are a serious test to the believers there, and I ask Allah to aid them and ease their burdens. I work directly with inmates on a regular basis, and I am unable to solve all the problems they have in the specific facility where I work, so what about facilities I have never seen? And Allah knows best.

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