Flexibility in Performing the Friday Prayer: An Analytical Study

Abstract

The Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has affected the various aspects of people's lives, including the practice of worship and rituals, including Friday prayers. A new issue has arisen represented in the necessity to find practical solutions that make Friday prayers possible and compatible with the requirements of quarantine and social distancing as opposed to cancelling the ritual altogether. Therefore, It was necessary to review the conditions of Friday prayer in terms of its timing, place, number necessary for it, and the possibility of multiplication in one place.

The importance of this research is reflected in the preservation of a great ritual of faith. As such, the research seeks to find lawful solutions in times of  crises, to show the impact of epidemics and diseases on the use of legal ease, to highlight the flexibility and validity of Sharia for every time and place, and to highlight the greatness, wisdom and mercy of the Allah as the initiator of the law.

The research implemented the descriptive and analytical approach by tracking the different jurisprudential opinions and weighing them in line with the intention and the spirit of the laws and how they would apply during the epidemic.

The research concluded that the time for Friday prayers extends from the time of the Duha prayer to the end of afternoon (Asr) prayer, and the validity of the prayer in terms of number is the same as in regular congregational prayers, and the non-requirement for the mosque to perform- so that it is valid in every place in which the prayer is valid, and that it is permissible for it to be multiple in one place.

Thus, Friday prayers become affordable and practically possible in line with the requirements of quarantine and social distancing. And if that is not possible after all options are exhausted, then it is permissible to replace Friday prayers by the noon (Zuhr) prayer.