[Q 297] Jumu’ah at Community or Sport Centers

Question

Is it permissible to perform the Friday (Jumu’ah) prayer in a community center or sport center, given that all Muslims are generally allowed to attend this Friday prayer?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الجواب بعون الملك الوهاب اللهم هداية الحق والصواب

Answer

For Jumu’ah to be valid, it is not a condition for it to be performed in a Masjid. Rather, Jumu’ah is valid in any place or house within the city or its outskirts, provided that people are generally permitted to join the Jumu’ah congregation there, and the local worshippers are generally informed about the establishment of Jumu’ah at that place. Along with this, other conditions for validity (such as it being within a city, having an Imam for Jumu’ah, etc.) must also be met.

Therefore, performing Jumu’ah at a community center or sport center, given the mentioned conditions, is completely valid.

Note: In the hall of the community center or sport center where the prayer is offered, care must be taken to ensure that there are no prohibited images or blasphemous symbols like the cross on the walls, etc.

It is stated in Halabi Kabir:

 لو صلى الجمعة في قرية بغير مسجد جامع،جازت الجمعة.و المسجد الجامع لیس بشرط و لھذا اجمعوا علی جوازھا بالمصلّٰی فی فناء المصر

(Ghunyat al-Mutamalliyy, page 474, published in Quetta)

It is stated in Fatawa Shami:

فلو دخل امير حصنا) او قصره (واغلق بابه وصلی باصحابه (لم تنعقد) ولو فتحه واذن للناس بالدخول جاز).

(Fatawa Shami, Volume 2, page 152, published in Lahore)

Ala Hazrat Imam Ahmad Raza Khan, may Allah have mercy on him, while responding to a question regarding Jumu’ah performed in a large house, writes:

Translation: “It is not a condition for Jumu’ah to be held in a Masjid; it may also be in a house, provided the conditions of Jumu’ah are met and general permission is given, i.e. informing people that Jumu’ah will be held there and no one is barred to join.”

It is stated in Kafi Imam Nasafi:

السلطان اذا اراد ان یصلی بحشمہ فی دارہ فان فتح بابھا و اذن للناس اذنا عاما جازت

…And if any condition of Jumu’ah was not fulfilled, e.g. Jumuah was not offered in a city or its outskirts, or the Imam was not an Imam of Jumu’ah, or some worshippers were unjustifiably barred from coming there, or the establishment of Jumu’ah at that place was not well-known among the worshippers and they performed it themselves regardless without any public announcement, even if people had performed it in other mosques, then in these cases, their prayer is not valid.

It is summarized in Sharah Jami’ Sagheer by Imam Sadr Shaheed:

“من جملۃ ذلک الاذن العام یعنی الاداء علی سبیل الاشتہار.”

It is stated in Bada’i wa Hilya and others:

السلطان اذا صلی فی دارہ و القوم مع امراء السلطان فی المسجد الجامع ان فتح باب دارہ واذن للعامۃ جاز وتکون الصلوۃ فی موضعین ولو لم یأذن للعامۃ وصلی مع جیش لا تجوز صلٰوۃ السلطان وتجوز صلٰوۃ العامۃ اھ و تمامہ فیما علقناہ علی ردالمحتار.

 (Fatawa Razawiyya, Volume 08, page 460, published by Raza Foundation, Lahore)

Answered by: Hammad Madani (Ask-Mufti Scholar)

Verified by: Mufti Sajid Attari

Translated answer

Date: 25th May 2024