#310: The Ruling of the One who misses Jumu’a Three Times Consecutively without a Valid Excuse

QUESTION

_” As-Salaamu Alaykum, ya Admin, May Allah increase the Admin Team in knowledge and understanding and continue to reward you abundantly, my question is:

What is the situation of a person that due to the nature of his work couldn’t access a jumu`a mosque and keep on repeatedly missing jumu`a prayer but observing dhuhr instead? Is the person excused or The ruling of missing jumu`a 3 consecutive times apply on Him.?”_

*ANSWER*

Wa alaykum Salām Warahmatullāh Wabarakātuh

Alhamdulillāh.

May Allāh answer your du’ā and reward you with same, āmīn.

The majority of the ‘Ulamā have ruled that the observance and attendance of the Jumu’ah is Wājib upon every resident matured male Muslim who isn’t a Slave and is sound of health. This is because they differed on whether it was obligatory upon the Slave and upon the Traveller.

Imām An-Nawawī – rahimahullāh – said in the Majmū’ 4/349:

_”The Jumu’a is an Individual Obligation on every matured person, to the exemption of only the Sick and the People with excuses…”_

Imām Ibn Al-Mundhīr – rahimahullāh – stretched it furthermost in his book ‘Al-Ijmā’ when he mentioned that this was an Ijmā’.

A strange position was recorded from Mālik – rahimahullāh – from his student Ibn Wahb that he considered it a Sunnah.

This position was argued against by the Polymath Mālikī Imām and Master of Hadīth Abu ‘Umar Ibn ‘AbdilBarr – rahimahullāh – in the Istidh’kār where he mentioned vehemently that the wording of Imām Mālik was misunderstood and misinterpreted.

This leaves the position that the Jumu’a was not obligatory a very weak position.

There has come some Ahādith containing punishments for the one that avoids and/or abandons the Jumu’a intentionally without an excuse.

Imām Muslim recorded in the Sahih from Abu Hurayrah and Ibn ‘Umar – radiyallāhu ‘anhum – that the Rasūl – salallāhu alayhi wasallam – that they heard the Rasūl – salallāhu alayhi wasallam – saying:

” ‏لينتهين أقوام عن ودعهم الجمعات أو ليختمن الله على قلوبهم، ثم ليكونن من الغافلين”

_”A People will either desist from their abandonment of the Jumu’a or Allāh will place a Seal on their hearts, and then they shall be among the heedless ones.”_

This is a severe threat that must be feared by whosoever is Muslim and knows the importance of guidance. Whosoever has a seal on his heart is not able to detest evil and like good. This evidently means that by avoiding the Jumu’a, a person loses part of his Īmān.

Imām Mālik – rahimahullāh – recorded in the Muwattā from Safwān Ibn Sulaym that the Rasūl – salallāhu alayhi wasallam – said:

من ترك الجمعة ثلاث مرات من غير عذر طبع الله على قلبه

_”Whosoever abandons the Jumu’a three times without an excuse, Allāh will place a seal upon his heart.”_

Its like what was recorded by Imām At-Tirmidhī – rahimahullāh – and Ibn Mājah from Abū Ja’ad Ad-Damarī with a sound chain, and the Hadīth was graded Hasan by Muhammad Nāsiruddīn Al-Albānī – rahimahullāh.

Its Variant wording from the Companion Usāmah Ibn Zayd – radiyallāhu ‘anhu – recorded in ‘Al-Jāmi’u As-Sagīr’ says:

من ترك ثلاث جمعات من غير عذر كتب من المنافقين

_”Whosoever abandons three Jumu’āt without an excuse will be recorded among the Munāfiqūn.”_

Al-Albānī declared this Variant Sahīh in Sahīhu Al-Jami’.

Ibn ‘AbdilBarr – rahimahullāh – mentioned in the Istidhkār that the ‘Ulamā are agreed that whosoever misses the Jumu’a for 3 consecutive weeks without valid excuse is regarded a Fāsiq and his testimony is not accepted.

What has preceded clearly shows you how grevious it is to miss the Jumu’a without reason.

You have not stated the kind of job you do or the timing of what it entails but we do not see a job that will require such grave misses of Jumu’a as one that a Muslim should sign on for. That is if the fault is really from the job. However, more often than not, people are negligent with their prayer times and then pin the blame on their jobs.

Our advice is that you fear Allāh and ensure that you don’t miss the Jumu’a for this is indeed a grave matter.

Bārakallāhu Fīkum
Jazākumullāhu Khayran

23rd Al Muharram 1439AH

📚 *IslamNode*