Friday Prayer sin - question ("he who misses three Friday prayers is kafir")

[KhalidibnYakub]

Assalamu alaykum wa rahmat'Allahi wa barakatuh,

Where I currently live I can not attend Friday prayers with any regularity. There is no masjid within short distance accessible, and I do not have private transportation nor am I within walking distance (~4km) of public transportation (which does not come near to any masjid except for a Shi'a!). I am relatively poor and can not afford a taxi ($70 USD round trip) to go to the masjid every Friday, or I would not be able to pay my obligations in rent, or would be unable to pay for food or medical treatment (I am unable to drive legally due to one medical condition).

I have tried to find Muslims who live in the same apartment development as me to start a Friday prayer, but I have been unable to find a quorum of four males (or four Muslims at all). Moving is not an option, for contractual and financial reasons.

I have been told by one American jurist (I do not know his credentials) who claimed to be a Hanafi, "The law of necessity makes the forbidden permissible", which he said is the reasoning used to allow ethanol containing medications to people who have no alternative, the drinking of khamr by people who would die of thirst, and the eating of swine by people who would die of hunger (these last two examples have Quranic backing in Surah al-Baqara, the same verse that says, "And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has prohibited to you only carrion, and blood, and swine...") and (what called his reasoning in to question for me), which allows the use of health insurance by individuals who would certainly die unable to afford treatment otherwise.

Is this "Law of necessity" a valid reason to miss prayer, due to poverty and the inability to both attend Friday prayer and pay for a dwelling and food, or is a chronic medical condition that keeps me from driving valid as a "severe illness excuse" (I do not think it is), or am I a sinner* doomed to have my heart cut off from the Glory, and Light and Mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala (and at severe risk of the Fire)?

*I can not believe I am kafir because I do not treat the Friday prayer lightly, do not deny that it is fardh ayn, and do not deny the obligation of any of the commands of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, although I may transgress them: but it is my understanding this makes me a sinner, who can receive the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when repenting, not a kafir who has an eternal abode in the Fire of Jahannam.

I have tried to find relevant fatawa online using all of the usual sources (Mufti Ibrahim Desai, Sunnipath), or even usool/fiqh, but have been unable to.

Any help or resource is much appreciated. I apologise if my English is lacking.

La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah.

Khalid

[True Life]

Can you please cite the Hadith, which states that someone who misses three Jumu'ahs in a row becomes a Kafir?

[KhalidibnYakub]

Can you please cite the Hadith, which states that someone who misses three Jumu'ahs in a row becomes a Kafir?

Sahih Muslim 865 Urdu translation

Roughly, "Abdullah son of Umar (RA) narrated that he heard Rasulullah (SAW) say from his podium: People must stop abandoning the Friday prayer or Allah will close their hearts and then they will be from among those who deny (or cover or obscure) the truth."

It doesn't say anything specific about three being the specific number, but I have heard that many times. I do not know whether it has some basis in fiqh or is just an often spoken legend or misunderstanding.

Edit: it is from an electronic Sahih Muslim, not a printed version. I do not know whether this makes the text irregular I have no printed version to compare it to.

[verdana]

Edit: it is from an electronic Sahih Muslim, not a printed version. I do not know whether this makes the text irregular I have no printed version to compare it to.

There are ahadith that specifically say whoever misses three Jumuah his heart will be sealed:

مَنْ تَرَكَ ثَلاَثَ جُمَعٍ تَهَاوُنًا بِهَا طَبَعَ اللَّهُ عَلَى قَلْبِهِ

(Abu Dawud, also in Sunan al-Nasai)

There could be other narrations as well. For its implication I think it would be wise to check at sunnipath.com or askimam.org

[True Life]

Is it not possible to interprete it in a way, which doesn't result in Takfir of Million brothers?

[al yunan]

Walaikum Assalam brother True Life,

The act must be deliberate and intentioned to be a sin !

Masalam

[KhalidibnYakub]

This is why I am asking of the above, in my first post, as I am very afraid for my soul because I can't attend Friday prayers regularly, whether it is a state of severe sin (in which case I can not repent as long as I am still sinning - not attending Friday prayer, like a person doing zina and trying to repent in the middle of the act), or an act of outright kufr. In my first post I stated that I can't believe it is kufr:

"I do not treat the Friday prayer lightly, do not deny that it is fardh ayn, and do not deny the obligation of any of the commands of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, although I may transgress them: but it is my understanding this makes me a sinner, who can receive the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when repenting, not a kafir who has an eternal abode in the Fire of Jahannam."

In a way I am deliberately not attending Friday prayer: but no matter how much I wish to attend, it is beyond my means. I know that I should attend, but I can not, without sacrificing essentials of this life for essentials of the next. Because I am more concerned with food and lodging in this life instead of my soul in the hereafter (Friday prayer), I do not know whether that counts as intention, or just impiety.

However I defer to the ulema on these matters: this is why I asked in the first place. If I did not defer to the ulema, and did ijtihad, I could begin to claim for myself that Friday prayer was not fardh, that witr is not wajib, that intoxication is not haraam, and more. I am not a muhadithin: this is why I ask for interpretation of my situation (and the ahadith that lead me to believe it is great sin or kufr).

Just because many people do something doesn't make it right (argumentum ad populum); by similar logic it could be said that Shi'a is legitimate because millions of people are Shi'a, or that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala had a son with Himself because a billion people believe it to be true, or that intoxication is makruh or even mubah in the West because most people get drunk: it leads to moral relativity, which is the enemy of truth and the Light of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and of morality and din.

[verdana]

The act must be deliberate and intentioned to be a sin !

Is any deliberate sinful act makes one a kafir? A Muslim won't sin in order to displease Allah, rather they fall short, they get overpowered by their whims and desires. So then why the hadith singles out Jumuah?

[KhalidibnYakub]

No, most deliberate sinful acts are not acts of kufr - that's a Khawarij or their descendant Ibadi belief. The hadith seemed to say that I was doing kufr or a mortal sin by not attending Friday prayer even though I do not have the means to ("I did not come to make your religion hard for you..."), so I asked: this has become all about what acts are kufr instead of my original question (of which kufr was a part).

But there is a hadith (Bukhari 800) that says, "A believer who drinks khamr is not a believer while he is drinking khamr, a believer who does zina is not a believer while he is doing the act, a believer who steals is not a believer while stealing."

[TripolySunni]

السلام عليكم

Dear brother you are not a Kafir and what you are doing is not Kufr. first of all you are not missing the prayer, you are missing the Friday sermon because you are unable to attend it as: (A) It is extremely far away (B) you have no means of transportation (C) you cannot afford the trip.

من ترك ثلاث جمعات، من غير عذر، كتب من المنافقين

Usamah ibn Zaid (rah) says: The Prophet SAWS says: "He who leaves Three Fridays without an excuse then Allah will write him amongst the hypocrites."

source & grade: al-Suyuti says SAHIH in "al-Jami'i al-Sagheer" #8590.

من ترك ثلاث جمع تهاونا بها ، طبع الله على قلبه

Abu al-Ja'ad al-Dumari (rah) says: The Prophet SAWS says: "He who leaves Three Friday prayers because he takes them lightly then Allah will seal his heart."

source & grade: al-Albani Says SAHIH in "Sahih-ul-Targheeb" #727.

من ترك الجمعة ثلاث مرات متواليات : من غير ضرورة ، طبع الله على قلبه

Abu Qatadah and Jabir ibn 'Abdullah may Allah be pleased with both have narrated: The Prophet SAWS said: "He who leaves Three consecutive Fridays without a necessary reason, Allah has sealed his heart."

source & grade: al-Albani Says SAHIH in "Sahih-ul-Targheeb" #6140.

Which means that brother Khaled ibn Ya'aqoub is no kaffir as he has a pretty good excuse.

Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned. [Quran 2:286]