Ruling on Offering Jumu‘ah Prayer Inside a Factory
Reference: Fatāwā Muḥammadiyyah, Vol. 1, p. 529
❖ The Question:
In our factory, around 600 workers are employed, and there is no mosque inside.
There are mosques located approximately half a kilometer and one and a half kilometers away where Jumu‘ah prayer is performed.
Our working hours are from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Are we allowed to perform Jumu‘ah prayer inside the factory, or is it compulsory to go to a mosque outside the factory?
❖ The Answer:
الحمد لله، والصلاة والسلام علىٰ رسول الله، أما بعد!
If the factory owner does not permit workers to leave for the mosque to perform Jumu‘ah prayer, then it is permissible to hold the Jumu‘ah congregation inside the factory.
This ruling is based on three major evidences:
① General Command of the Qur’an
Allah Almighty says:
﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا نُودِيَ لِلصَّلَاةِ مِن يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ فَاسْعَوْا إِلَىٰ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَذَرُوا الْبَيْعَ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ﴾
[Surah al-Jumu‘ah: 9]
“O you who believe! When the call for prayer is made on the day of Friday, hasten to the remembrance of Allah and leave off trade. That is better for you if you only knew.”
This verse is general in meaning, and according to the established principle of jurisprudence:
“When no specific restriction exists, the general command applies universally.”
Even Imām al-Bukhārī (رحمه الله) applied this principle to deduce rulings in certain ijtihād-based issues.
(See: Kitāb al-Ṣaḥīḥayn by Shaykh Muḥammad ʿAbduh al-Fallāḥ)
② A Mosque Is Not a Condition for Jumu‘ah Prayer
Having a mosque is not a condition for the validity of Jumu‘ah prayer.
As clarified in ʿAwn al-Maʿbūd (Vol. 1, p. 414):
“Some scholars held that Jumu‘ah must be offered in a mosque because it was generally held there, but Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, Imām al-Shāfiʿī, and most scholars disagree. They state that a mosque is not a condition, since the Prophet ﷺ once prayed in an open valley (Baṭn al-Wādī), as reported by Ibn Saʿd and other historians. Even if that report were not established, the Prophet’s ﷺ usual practice of praying Jumu‘ah in the mosque does not make it a condition. Hence, Jumu‘ah prayer outside a mosque is valid.”
Thus, Jumu‘ah prayer performed in a non-mosque setting, such as a factory, is valid and acceptable.
③ The Fatwa of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه
It is narrated that ʿUmar رضي الله عنه, when consulted by Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه (who was in Bahrain at the time), wrote to him:
“جَمِعُوا حَيْثُ مَا كُنْتُمْ”
“Hold Jumu‘ah wherever you may be.”
[ʿAwn al-Maʿbūd, Vol. 1, p. 410]This shows that the location is not restricted to mosques — Jumu‘ah may be validly held wherever the Muslim community gathers.
Conclusion
All the above evidences establish that:
◈ A mosque is not a condition for the validity of Jumu‘ah prayer.
◈ Therefore, in a factory with around 600 workers, Jumu‘ah prayer may be validly performed within the factory premises itself.
◈ If going to the mosque is not feasible due to work restrictions, the congregation inside the factory fulfills the Sharʿī requirement.
ھذا ما عندي واللہ أعلم بالصواب
This is what I hold, and Allah knows best what is correct.
