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Fatwa CenterFriday prayer is valid in villages and cities
Question
I asked you the following questions... 1. What are the differences between Jaame masjid in the town or city and the masjid in the village area where five time daily prayer done ? 2. Is it permissible to pray friday prayer in the village area mosque ? Pls give me a clear answer because it is very urgent.... But you refered me the previously answered question, I could not find the required satisfactory answer... Pls give me the answer separately point wise according to my questions....
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger.
Firstly, it should be noted that there is no difference between Friday prayer being held in a village or in a large city according to the view of the majority of Muslim scholars. However, the Hanafi scholars maintain that holding Friday prayer is obligatory only in cities but not in small villages. They even argue that Friday prayer held in a village is invalid.
It is stated in Al- Mawsoo‘ah Al-Fiqhiyyah (Fiqh Encyclopedia) that, “The Hanafi scholars held this to be a condition for the validity of Friday prayer; that is, it should be held in an urban area or a city. By city they mean the (urban) residential area that has an appointed judge who settles legal disputes among its people ... Hence, it is not incumbent on the residents of villages and outskirts, which are near or adjacent to the cities but do not belong to them, to perform Friday prayer, and it is invalid to perform Friday prayer there. On the other hand, the other Fiqh schools do not hold that to be a condition.
The Shaafi‘i scholars said that the condition for Friday prayer is that it should be performed in built-up areas regardless of whether it is in cities or villages. The author of Al-Muhaththab (i.e. Ash-Seeraazi 
) said, “It is only valid to hold Friday prayer in a built-up residential area and the number of its inhabitants reaches the minimum number required for the validity of Friday prayer, be it a village or city.
The Hanbali scholars do not hold it to be a condition either; rather they hold that a Friday prayer held in the desert or non-urban and open areas, where people live in tents, is valid. The author of Al-Mughni said, “Performing Friday prayer in built-up areas and cities is not a condition for its validity. A Friday prayer held in (non-urban and open areas and even) in the nearby desert areas is valid.
The Maaliki scholars said that it is a condition for Friday prayer to be held in a residential place, which is appropriate for permanent settlement. According to their view, it is valid if held in built-up areas ...” [End of quote]
However, if the mosque to which you referred in the question is located in a village and Friday prayer is not (usually) held in it, but (it is) held in other mosques of the village, it is impermissible to hold Friday prayer in such a mosque because it is forbidden to hold more than one Friday prayer in the same area unless there is a necessity. For example, if the mosques are considerably far away from one another or the mosque is too small to accommodate the residents of the area. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 90374.
However, if Friday prayer is normally held in this mosque, you can perform Friday prayer there and there is no difference between performing it in that mosque and in the big Jaami’ mosque (i.e. the main or central mosque of a town, city or village).
Allaah Knows best.
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