When Is the Friday Prayer Valid?


Hanafi Fiqh

Answered by Ustadh Salman Younas

Question: Is the Friday prayer valid in the following scenarios:

1. If there are four people (including the Imam) out of which one person prays sitting on a chair with gestures due to disability.

2. If there are four people (including the Imam) out of which one person prays sitting on the chair and does prostration on a table placed in front of him due to disability.

3. If there are four people (including the Imam) out of which one person prays sitting on a floor and does prostration on the ground due to disability.

4. If there are four people (including the Imam) out of which one person is at times well and at times is mentally disabled.

Answer:
assalamu alaykum

The Friday prayer would be valid in the first three situations and potentially invalid in the final one.

The basic principle is that the necessary number of congregants for the Friday prayer need to be from among those who can validly lead other men in congregation. This means they must be (a) male (b) sane and (c) adult.

In the first two scenarios, the Friday prayer is valid since an individual who prays with gestures due to an excuse can lead others who are similar to him. Similarly, one who prays sitting with actual prostration can lead other people.

As for the fourth scenario, this would depend on the state of the individual during the actual prayer. If he is considered sane such that he is deemed morally responsible then the Friday prayer would be valid. This state must be present at the commencement of the prayer and when the Imam performs the two prostrations of the first cycle. Otherwise, the Friday prayer would not be valid.

[al-Kasani, Bada’i (1:278)]

Wassalam,
[Ustadh] Salman Younas

Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Salman Younas graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in Political Science and Religious Studies. After studying the Islamic sciences online and with local scholars in New York, Ustadh Salman moved to Amman. There he studies Islamic law, legal methodology, belief, hadith methodology, logic, Arabic, and tafsir.