Prayer
📿

Jumuʿah (Friday Prayer)

Rulings shown for Hanafi

The weekly gathering that replaces Dhuhr for men — who must attend, how it is prayed, and its etiquette.

Jumuʿah is a distinct obligation that replaces Dhuhr on Friday: two rakʿahs preceded by a khuṭba (two short sermons). Allah commands: “O you who believe, when the call is made for the prayer on Friday, hasten to the remembrance of Allah and leave off trade.” (Qurʾān 62:9)

On whom it is obligatory

  • • Adult, sane, free, resident men who are able to attend.
  • • Excused (may pray Dhuhr instead): women, travelers, the sick, and their carers.
  • • Those excused may still attend, and their attendance is rewarded.

How it is performed

  1. 1

    🕌It is prayed in its time (Dhuhr’s time) in a congregation.

  2. 2

    🗣️The imam delivers two khuṭbas, sitting briefly between them.

  3. 3

    🤫Listen silently — talking during the khuṭba nullifies its reward.

  4. 4

    🧎Then two rakʿahs are prayed aloud in congregation.

Friday etiquette (great reward): ghusl, clean clothes and perfume, siwāk, going early, walking, sitting close, not stepping over people, reciting Sūrat al-Kahf, and abundant ṣalawāt on the Prophet ﷺ. “Whoever makes ghusl on Friday… then goes early… it is as if he offered a camel” (Bukhārī 881).

Compare the schools

Tap a school to see its ruling first everywhere on this page.

Ṣalāh

How many people are needed for Jumuʿah?

Hanafi: Besides the imam, at least three men (some say two) — held in a town/city.

Other schools

Maliki: A group (jamāʿa) of settled residents — no fixed number, but more than a handful, in a built settlement with a masjid.

Shāfiʿī: Forty resident, responsible men.

Hanbali: Forty resident men (a minority within the school: fewer).

Shurūṭ ṣalāt al-jumuʿa — al-Mawsūʿa al-Fiqhiyya.

Evidence

“…hasten to the remembrance of Allah and leave off trade. That is better for you, if you only knew.”

Qurʾān 62:9

A stern warning to those who habitually abandon Jumuʿah that Allah may seal their hearts.

Muslim 865 ṣaḥīḥ

Whoever recites Sūrat al-Kahf on Friday is given light between the two Fridays.

Ḥākim / Bayhaqī ṣaḥīḥ

Classical references

Hanafi: al-Hidāya · Radd al-Muḥtār

Maliki: al-Risāla · Mukhtaṣar Khalīl

Shāfiʿī: Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn

Hanbali: al-Mughnī · Zād al-Mustaqniʿ

Related lessons

Content is being reviewed for authenticity by a qualified scholar. Follow your local scholars for personal rulings.