Aslam

Praise be to Allah.

It is not obligatory to pray Jumu’ah in this place, rather

you should pray Zuhr, because you are not permanent residents there and

there are no permanent residents with whom you can pray Jumu’ah.

The scholars of the Standing Committee were asked about some

people who left the city to work in agriculture, and they stayed there for

as long as the work lasted, no less than two to four months each year. It is

difficult for them to go back to the city to pray Jumu’ah whilst they are

working. Is Jumu’ah prayer obligatory for them? Is it permissible for them

to hold Jumu’ah prayers in their work place or not, or do they have to go to

the city even though that is difficult for them? Or is it waived in their

case as it is for travellers? What is the length of time in the workplace at

which Jumu’ah is waived for them?

They replied:

If the farms on which they work are permanently inhabited,

then they have to pray Jumu’ah, with the permanent residents. They can pray

with them or with others with whom it is easy for them to pray Jumu’ah,

because of the general meaning of the evidence which indicates that Jumu’ah

is obligatory and it is obligatory to make the effort to attend Jumu’ah

prayers.

If those who work on these farms can hear the adhaan for

Jumu’ah from their village or from another village near their farms, then

they must go and pray with the congregation (jamaa’ah) of the Muslims,

because of the general meaning of the verse in which Allaah says

(interpretation of the meaning):

“O you who believe

(Muslims)! When the call is proclaimed for the Salaah (prayer) on Friday

(Jumu‘ah prayer), come to the remembrance of Allaah [Jumu‘ah religious talk

(Khutbah) and Salaah (prayer)]”

[al-Jumu’ah 63:9]

If there are no permanent

residents on these farms and they cannot hear the adhaan for Jumu’ah from

the village that is near their farm, they do not have to pray Jumu’ah but

they should pray Zuhr in congregation.

There were tribes and farms in the al-‘Awaali districts

around Madeenah at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of

Allaah be upon him), and he did not command the people there to come to

Jumu’ah prayers. If he had, that would have been narrated. This indicates

that it is not obligatory for such people because of the hardship involved.

Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah li’l-Buhooth al-‘Ilmiyyah

wa’l-Ifta’, 8/221, 222

And they  also said:

If the company for which

you are working is not in a place where Jumu’ah prayers are held or near

such a place, and there are no permanent residents in the company for whom

Jumu’ah is obligatory, you do not have to offer Jumu’ah prayers, rather you

have to pray Zuhr. But if the company is in a place where Jumu’ah prayers

are held or near such a place and you can hear the adhaan, or there are

permanent residents for whom Jumu’ah is obligatory, then you have to pray

Jumu’ah with the permanent residents of that place or company.

Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah,

8/220.

Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may

Allaah have mercy on him) was asked about some students living away from

home and the ruling on holding Jumu’ah prayers in foreign lands. He

replied:

The scholars have stated that you and people like you do not

have to hold Friday prayers, and there is some dispute as to whether Friday

prayers offered by you are valid. Rather what you have to do is to pray

Zuhr, because you are more akin to travellers and those who live in the

desert. Jumu’ah is only obligatory for permanent residents. The evidence for

that is the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be

upon him) did not command travellers or those living in the desert to pray

Jumu’ah, and he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not do

that when he was travelling, and neither did his companions (may Allaah be

pleased with them). It is proven in the saheeh ahaadeeth that during the

Farewell Pilgrimage the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon

him) prayed Zuhr in ‘Arafah on a Friday; he did not pray Jumu’ah or command

the pilgrims to do so, because they came under the ruling on travellers. I

do not know of any differing opinion among the scholars of Islam regarding

this matter, praise be to Allaah, apart from some odd views among some of

the Taabi’een, with which we need not concern ourselves.

But if there are some permanent Muslim residents who pray

Jumu’ah there, then it is prescribed in sharee’ah for you and others like

you who are staying in that place temporarily in order to seek knowledge, do

business, etc, to pray with them so that you may attain the virtue of

praying Jumu’ah. Some the scholars have stated that it is obligatory for the

traveller to join the permanent residents if he stays in a place where

Jumu’ah prayers are held and his stay exceeds the period during which

shortening the prayers is allowed.

Fataawa Ibn Baaz, 12/377.