Question # 547: If Eid al-Fitr falls on a Friday, is it permissible for me to pray the Eid prayer and not to pray Jumu’ah or vice versa?
bismi-llahi r-raḥmani r-raḥīm,
Assalamu ‘laikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
All praise and thanks are due to Allah (سبحانه و تعالى), and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger (صلى الله عليه و سلم).
Dear questioner,
First of all, we implore Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) to help us serve His cause and render our work for His sake.
Shorter Answer: If the day of ‘Eid occurs on Jumu’ah (Friday), then the prayer of Jumu’ah becomes no longer an obligation upon those who had performed the ‘Eid prayer. They have the choice to perform it or leave it and instead offer the Dhuhr prayer. The evidence for this ruling is the hadith narrated from Zayd ibn al-Arqam who said: “The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) prayed the ‘Eid prayer, and then he gave an exemption concerning the Jumu’ah, saying, ‘Whoever wishes to pray it may pray it.’” (Narrated by Abu Daawood, At-Tirmidhi, An-Nasa’i, and Ibn Maajah; and Imam Ibn Khuzaymah graded it as sound). Nevertheless, this is the case for people other than the imam. As for the imam, he must be present for Jumu’ah and lead those Muslims who attend the prayer.
Long Answer: If ‘Eid happens to be on a Friday, there are three opinions regarding praying the Friday prayer for somebody who has prayed the ‘Eid prayer.
The first opinion is that the person who is Islamically required to pray the Friday prayer is not exempted from praying it even though he has prayed the ‘Eid prayer, and this is the view of the majority of scholars.
The second opinion is that the Friday prayer is not obligatory on the people who live in the suburbs and whose presence at the mosque constitutes some sort of hardship. This is narrated from ‘Uthman (رضي الله عنه) that he prayed the ‘Eid prayer and permitted the people from the villages not to attend the Friday prayer that day. It is also the opinion of Imam Ash-Shafi’i.
The third opinion is that whoever prays the ‘Eid prayer is allowed not to pray the Friday prayer. However, the Imam of the mosque should establish the Friday prayer so that those who like to attend it can do so. It is confirmed in the Sunnah that during the era of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم), ‘Eid day happened to be on a Friday, then he (صلى الله عليه و سلم) prayed the ‘Eid prayer and gave permission for people who did not want to attend the Friday prayer not to pray it. In another narration, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) prayed the ‘Eid prayer, and then he addressed the people, saying: “O people! You have indeed achieved some good thing. Now, whoever wants to be present among us during the Friday prayer can do so as we will gather to pray the Friday prayer.”
This last opinion is the most preponderant one that is confirmed from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم), his Caliphs, and his Companions. It is also the opinion of the Imams whom this Hadeeth has reached, like Imam Ahmad and others. It might be that those who differed in opinion from this last opinion because this narration has not reached them or that it reached them, but it is not confirmed to them that it is authentic.
[Furthermore,] concerning this issue, there are a number of marfoo‘ ahadith and mawqoof reports, including the following:
- The hadith of Zayd ibn Arqam (رضي الله عنه), according to which Mu‘aawiyah ibn Abi Sufyaan asked him: Did you ever witness with the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) two Eids that happened on the same day? He said: Yes. He said: What did he do? He said: He offered the Eid prayer, then he granted a concession allowing people to miss the Jumu’ah prayer, and he said: “Whoever wishes to pray (Jumu’ah), let him do so.” (Narrated by Ahmad, Abu Dawood, an-Nasa’i, Ibn Maajah, ad-Daarimi, and by al-Haakim in al-Mustadrak, where he said: This hadith has saheeh isnads, even though they [al-Bukhari and Muslim] did not narrate it, and it has a corroborating report according to the conditions of Muslim. And adh-Dhahabi agreed with him. An-Nawawi said in al-Majmoo‘: Its isnad is jayyid)
- The corroborating evidence mentioned above is the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه), according to which the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said: “Two Eids have come together on this day of yours, so whoever wishes, it [the Eid prayer] will suffice for Jumu’ah, but we will pray Jumu’ah.” (Narrated by al-Haakim as stated above; also narrated by Abu Dawood, Ibn Maajah, Ibn al-Jaarood, al-Bayhaqi, and others)
- The hadith of Ibn ‘Umar (رضي الله عنه), who said: Two Eids came together at the time of the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم). He led the people in (the Eid) prayer, then he said: “Whoever wishes to come to Jumu’ah may come, and whoever wishes not to do so may stay away.” (Narrated by Ibn Maajah. It was also narrated by at-Tabarani in al-Mu‘jam al-Kabeer as follows: Two Eids came together at the time of the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم): Eid al-Fitr and Jumu’ah. The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) led them in the Eid prayer, then he turned to face them and said: O people, you have attained goodness and reward, but we are going to pray Jumu’ah; whoever wishes to pray Jumu’ah may do so, and whoever wishes to go back, may go back.”)
- The hadith of Ibn ‘Abbas (رضي الله عنه), according to which the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said: “Two Eids have come together on this day of yours, so whoever wishes, it [the Eid prayer] will suffice for Jumu’ah, but we will pray Jumu’ah in sha Allah.” (Narrated by Ibn Maajah. Al-Buwaysiri said: Its isnad is saheeh and its men are thiqaat (trustworthy))
- The mursal report of Dhakwaan ibn Saalih says: Two Eids came together at the time of the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم): Jumu’ah and Eid. He led them in (the Eid prayer), then he stood up to address the people and said: “You have remembered Allah and attained goodness. But we will pray Jumu’ah, so whoever wants to stay – in his house – may do so, and whoever wants to pray Jumu’ah may do so.” (Narrated by al-Bayhaqi in as-Sunan al-Kubra)
- It was narrated that ‘Ata’ ibn Abi Rabah said: Ibn az-Zubayr led us in prayer on the day of Eid, on a Friday, at the beginning of the day, then we went to pray Jumu’ah and he did not come out to us, so we prayed by ourselves. Ibn ‘Abbas was in at-Taa’if, and when we came we told him about that, and he said: He acted in accordance with the Sunnah. (Narrated by Abu Dawood. A different version was narrated by Ibn Khuzaymah, in which he added at the end: And Ibn az-Zubayr said: I saw ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab do something like this when two Eids happened on the same day)
- In the Sahih of al-Bukhari and the Muwatta’ of Maalik, it is narrated that Abu ‘Ubayd, the freed slave of Ibn Azhar, said: I was present on the occasion of two Eids (together) with ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan; that was on a Friday. He offered the (Eid) prayer before the khutbah, then delivered the khutbah and said: O people, on this day, two Eids have come to you together, so whoever wants to wait for Jumu’ah from the people of al-‘Awaali, let him do so, and whoever wants to go back, then I gave him permission to do so.
- It was narrated that ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (رضي الله عنه) said, when two Eids came together on one day: Whoever wants to pray Jumu’ah, let him do so, and whoever wants to stay, let him do so.” Sufyaan said: i.e., let him stay in his house. (Narrated by ‘Abd ar-Razzaq in al-Musannaf; a similar report was narrated by Ibn Abi Shaybah)
Based on these hadiths that have isnads going back to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم), and these mawqoof reports from a number of the Sahaabah (رضي الله عنهم), and what has been affirmed by the majority of scholars, the Committee (Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn ‘Abdullah Aal ash-Shaykh, Shaykh ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan al-Ghadyaan, Shaykh Bakr ibn ‘Abdullah Abu Zayd, Shaykh Saalih ibn Fawzaan al-Fawzaan) has issued the following rulings:
- Whoever attends the Eid prayer has a concession allowing him not to attend the Jumu’ah prayer, so he may pray it as Dhuhr at the time of Dhuhr. But if he decides to pray Jumu’ah with the people, that is preferable.
- Whoever has not attended the Eid prayer is not included in that concession; therefore, the obligation to attend Jumu’ah is not waived in his case. Therefore, he must go to the mosque in order to pray Jumu’ah. If there are insufficient numbers to perform the Jumu’ah prayer, then he should pray it as Dhuhr.
- The imam of the Jumu’ah mosque must hold Jumu’ah prayers on that day so that those who wish to attend, and those who did not attend the Eid prayer, may attend Jumu’ah. If sufficient numbers of people attend Jumu’ah prayer, then Jumu’ah prayer must be offered; otherwise, it should be offered as Dhuhr.
- Whoever attends the Eid prayer and has a concession allowing him not to attend Jumu’ah must pray it as Dhuhr after the time for Dhuhr begins.
- At this time, it is not prescribed to give the adhan except in the mosques where Jumu’ah prayers will be held. It is not prescribed to give the adhan for Dhuhr on that day.
- The view that whoever attends the Eid prayer has a concession waiving both Jumu’ah and Dhuhr prayer on that day is an incorrect view. Therefore, it is rejected by the scholars, and they have deemed it to be mistaken and odd because it is contrary to the Sunnah and suggests that one of the obligatory duties enjoined by Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) is to be waived with no evidence to that effect. Perhaps the Sunnah and reports about this issue – which grant a concession allowing the one who attended the Eid prayer not to attend Jumu’ah but stated that he must still pray Dhuhr – did not reach the one who said that.
(The above reply is based on various answers on similar topics provided by:
- Islamqa.info; and
- Islamweb.net, a website belonging to the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs in the State of Qatar)
Allahu A’lam (Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) knows best) and all Perfections belong to Allah, and all mistakes belong to me alone. May Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) forgive me, Ameen.
Wassalaam
