Question:

One of my relatives prays Jumah near his office where the imam has decided to start jumah earlier (12:45 PM) since it is easier for employees at nearby offices. Now Zuhr time doesn’t even start by that time, so would his jumu’ah be valid?  Would it be okay for him to pray with the congregation based off of Imam Ahmad’s opinion, and then pray Dhuhr ihtiyaatan?

Answer:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

The time for Jumu‘ah Salāh is the same as that of Dhuhr Salāh, i.e starting after zawāl.^[1]

If the arabic khutbah is given before the zawaal, then the Jumu‘ah Salāh will not be valid. If one is facing such a difficulty then we advise that they discuss the issue with the Imam of the masjid to delay the khutbah until after the zawāl. Hadhrat Mufti Taqi Uthmani Saheb madda zilluhu has expounded on this issue and gives his suggestions as follows,

You should ask the organizers of the Masjid not to start Khutba before the actual time of Zuhr because according to the majority of the Fuqaha the time of Juma prayer is same as the time of Zuhr and even if they follow the hanmbali school which allows the Juma prayer before Zawaal, they should cater for the needs of the majority of Muslims who do not allow before Zawaal.

However, if they do not agree to this proposal you should carefully note whether the Khutba concludes before Zawal or a part of it falls after Zawal. In the first case i.e. if the Khutba concludes before Zawal the Juma prayer will not be valid according to majority of the Fuqaha.

Therefore, you should either go to another mosque to perform Juma where the Khutba and Juma prayer are delivered at its due time or participate in the prayer of your mosque with an intention to perform Nafil and then pray your Zuhr after the Juma prayer is over.

But if the Khutba continues even after Zawal then your Juma prayer in this mosque will be valid and you need not repeat the prayer.

An academic discussion on the issue can be read here: http://www.qafila.org/jummah-salah-befor-zawaal/

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Mufti Faisal bin Abdul Hameed al-Mahmudi
www.fatwa.ca

 ” وهي قبل الصلاة بعد الزوال ” به وردت السنة (الهداية في شرح بداية المبتدي (1/ 82))

“ويشترط لصحتها” أي صلاة الجمعة…”و” الثالث “وقت الظهر” لقوله صلى الله عليه وسلم: “إذا مالت الشمس فصل بالناس الجمعة” “فلا تصح” الجمعة “قبله (حاشية الطحطاوي على مراقي الفلاح شرح نور الإيضاح (ص: 506))