Friday Prayers, - Employees whose work means that they have to continue working at the time of Jumu’ah.

Some sensitive jobs require the constant presence of an employee,
including at the times of obligatory prayers and Jumu'ah (Friday)
prayers. Should these employees leave their work and go and pray, or
should they stay on the job?
Praise be to Allaah.
The basic principle is that Jumu'ah prayer is obligatory upon
individuals, because 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)] and
leave off business (and every other thing). That is better for you if
you did but know!"
[al-Jumu'ah 62:9]
And Imam Ahmad narrated from Ibn Mas'ood (may Allaah be pleased with
him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said
concerning some peoplewho were failing to attend Jumu'ah prayers: "I
had thought to tell a man to lead the people in prayer, then I would
burn down the houses of men who fail to attend Jumu'ah
prayers."(Ahmad, 1/402; Muslim, 1/452). Muslim narrated from Abu
Hurayrah and Ibn 'Umar (may Allaah bepleased with them) that they
heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) say from the minbar: "There are people who should stop neglecting
Jumu'ah,or else Allaah will put a seal on their hearts, thenthey will
surely be among the negligent." And there is consensus among the
scholars on this point (that Jumu'ah is obligatory). But if a person
for whom Jumu'ah is obligatory has a legitimate shar'i excuse – such
as one who is directly responsible for a matter of national security
and protecting the interests of the ummah, and he is required to do
that job at the time of Jumu'ah, such as those who are incharge of
security, traffic, wireless and telephone communications, etc, those
whose shift happens to be at the time of the second call toJumu'ah
prayers or the time of a prayer in congregation – then such people are
excused for not praying Jumu'ah or prayers in congregation, because of
the general meaning of the verse (interpretation of the meaning):
"So keep your duty to Allaah and fear Him as much as you can"
[al-Taghaabun 64:16]
And the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: "Whatever I forbid you to do, avoid it, and whatever I
command you to do, do as much ofit as you can." Moreover,such a person
has no lessan excuse than one who is excused because he fears for his
life or his wealth etc., who the scholars have said is excused for not
praying Jumu'ah or prayers in congregation so long as the reason is
present. But the obligation to pray Zuhr still stands, and he must
pray it on time; whenever he can pray in congregation he is obliged to
do that, as is the case with all the five daily obligatory prayers.
Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa'imah li'l-Buhooth wa'l-Ifta', 8/189 - -
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Friday Prayers, - They are travelling to a European country and there are 15 of them; should they pray Jumu ‘ah?.

We have traveled to a European country for leisure for a period of
five weeks as already decided (staying in a hotel which is very
comfortable, praise be to Allah). There is no mosque in the city we
are staying in. What is the ruling on joining and shortening
obligatory prayers? Do we have to do offer Jumu'ah prayer? Please note
that the number of people makes that possible (more than 15 people),
and among us there is someone who can give the khutbah forJumu'ah. Two
weeks have already passed andwe did not pray Jumu'ahon the grounds
that there is no Jumu'ah for the traveller.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
In the answer to question number 111934 , we have discussed the ruling
on travelling to non-Muslim countries forthe purpose of tourism and
leisure.
Secondly:
If the traveller intends tostay in a place for more than four days,
then he comes under the same rulings as a resident, so he has to offer
the prayers in full from the moment he enters the city; he also has to
pray Jumu'ah where the call for it is given.
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The well known view
from Ahmad is that the periodwhich makes it obligatory for the
traveller to offer prayers in full if he intends to stay there is
whatever is more than twenty-one prayers. This was narrated by
al-Athram and al-Marwadhi and others. And it was narrated from him
that if he intends to stay there for four days he should offer the
prayers in full, and if he intends to stay there for less than that,
then he may shorten the prayers. Thisis the view of Maalik,
al-Shaafa'i, and Abu Thawr.
End quote from al-Mughni (2/65)
In Fataawa al-Lajnah it says: Travel in which it is prescribed to
avail oneself of the concessions of travel is that which is
customarilyregarded as travel, and the distance in question is
approximately 80 km. If a person is sure he willcover this distance or
more, then he may avail himself of the concessions of travel, such as
wiping over the socks for three days and nights, joining and
shortening prayers, and breaking the fast in Ramadan. If the
travellerintends to stay in a placefor more than four days, then he
should not avail himself of the concessions of travel, but if he
intends to stay for four days or less, then he may avail himself of
those concessions. If a travelleris staying in a place and he does not
know when he will finish his business and he has not set a specific
time for hisstay, then he may avail himself of the concessions of
travel even if he stays there fora long time. There is no
differentiation between travel on land and travel by sea. End quote.
Thus it is known that you have to offer the prayers in full, and it is
not permissible for you to shorten them.
With regard to joining prayers, this is not limited to travel; rather
it is prescribed in other cases too, such as when it is raining, if
one is sickand in case of hardship. See the answer to question number
39176 .
The basic principle is that you should offer theprayers on time, and
if there is a reason that makes you join the prayers, then it is
permissible to join them.
Thirdly:
If there are no residents living in this city where you will be
staying for whom Jumu'ah is obligatory, then you do not have to pray
Jumu'ah.
See the answer to question number 11556 .
If the traveller intends tostay for any length of time which means
that he is not permitted to shorten the prayers, then he has to pray
Jumu'ah by joining others, not by setting up Jumu'ah prayers
himself.If there are people livingthere for whom Jumu'ahis obligatory,
then this traveller has to pray with them.
See al-Mughni, 3/218; al-Insaaf, 5/169
And Allah knows best. - - ▓███▓ Translator:->
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Islamic Stories, - We are extremly rich, yet we don't know it

Once a person came to a Shaikh (Islamic scholar) and complained to him
about his own poverty, saying that he was in great distress and
wouldprefer death to such a life. The Shaikh said to him, "Are you
willing to have your eyes taken out in exchange for ten thousand
Dirhams (silvercoins)." He replied"Certainly not." The Shaikh said
"Would you like to have your tongueplucked out and get ten thousand
Dirhams in return?" The man said,"Of course not." The Shaikh said,
"Would you agree to having both your hands and feet cut off in return
for twenty thousand Dirhams." The man said that he would not. The
Shaikh asked"Are you willing to be made a mad man and get ten thousand
Dirhams in return?" The man said that he was not willing. At this, the
Shaikh said to him, "Are you not ashamed of yourself? You admit that
Allah Ta'ala has granted you so many precious gifts, the value
whereof, in your own estimation, exceeds fifty thousand Dirhams
(counting only afew gifts, by way of illustration) and yet you
complain of poverty!"
Source: "Fadhail-e-Sadaqaa Part II", translated by Prof. AbdulKarim.
The value of the above mentioned gifts can be fully understood when we
lose them. Let us be more thankful to our Lord. - - ▓███▓
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Islamic Stories, - Why bitter fruits were sweet to Ayyaz

There was a famous ruler by the name SultanMahmud and he had a slave
called Ayyaz. SultanMahmud loved Ayyaz very much because of hisgreat
wisdom. From timeto time, Sultan would test Ayyaz with various things
to see how much love Ayyaz had for him. One day, Sultan Mahmudgathered
the most bitterfruits from his garden and called Ayyaz. Sultan told
Ayyaz to eat them. Ayyaz took the fruits in his hands and kissed them
and then started eating them without anyhesitation. Sultan observed
that Ayyaz was eating the fruits with great pleasure and the bitter
taste was not affecting him in any way. Now Sultan started thinking
that he might've picked the wrong fruits, so, he tookone of the fruits
from Ayyaz to find out. As soon as Sultan took a bite, he was
overwhelmed by the bitterness of the fruit and started screaming for
water. When Sultan settled down, he asked Ayyaz why he was unaffected
by the fruits. Ayyaz said "You only see the bitterness of the fruits
but you don't see the one who gave them to me? They were given to me
by the king himself!"
My dear friends, today we find some commandments of Allah to be bitter
and hard to follow. However, we should rather follow them with great
love because they were givento us by the King of all kings, Allah. -
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