What Should I Do after Praying a Zuhr Prayer on Friday Out of Forgetfulness?

Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi

Question

Most of the places here have Jumah Congregation time around 1:30 PM.

If a person completely forgot that today is Friday and has already performed Zuhr prayer. What should he do if he realizes it after 2:00 PM ?

Answer

In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,

I pray this finds you in the best of states.

First Possibility

If you think that you still have time to catch even the last sitting of the Friday prayer, then it is obligatory for you to leave your home and go to the mosque. [Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

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]

If you choose to do so, the obligatory quality of your Zuhr prayer is nullified and becomes a voluntary (Nafl) prayer as soon as you pass the door of your home.

If you fail to catch the Friday prayer or you give up before reaching the mosque, you will have to repeat the Zuhr prayer to fulfill the duty to pray because your first Zuhr prayer has merely become a Nafl prayer. [Ibid]

Second Possibility

If you know with certainty that the Friday prayer has finished, you have missed it, and you have no duty to go to the Mosque. Your first Zuhr prayer is valid; you don’t have to repeat it. [ibid]

Your first Zuhr prayer will also remain valid if you leave your home without any intention to pray the Friday prayer, even if you know you can catch it. This is, of course, sinful. [ibid]

And Allah knows best.
Wassalam
[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching far and wide for answers to the fundamental questions of life and was disappointed at the answers he found. Then he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the various teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor Shaykh Faraz Rabbani. He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha‘ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others. He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.