There are several opinions among the scholars regarding this matter:
The first opinion:
Friday prayer (Jumu’ah) is not waived by the Eid prayer. Each of them is a separate act of worship with its own established evidence from distinct sources. Therefore, even if Friday prayer coincides with one of the Eids on the same day, it remains obligatory.
This is the opinion of the Hanafi and Maliki schools of thought. More than one scholar from these two schools have expressed this viewpoint:
Imam Ibn Abidin stated in his commentary: “As for our school of thought, both of them are obligatory. He mentioned in Al-Hidaya, quoting from Al-Jami’ Al-Saghir: ‘two Eids fall on the same day, the first one is a Sunnah and the second one is obligatory, and neither of them is left out.'”
The Imam Al-Qarafi stated in “Al-Dhakhira”: “The Friday prayer is not waived by the Eid prayer if they fall on the same day. This is contrary to the opinion of Ibn Hanbal. An evidence for this is the narration from Abu Dawood that he (peace be upon him) said: ‘Two Eids have fallen on your day, so whoever wishes, he may consider the Friday prayer exempt, and indeed, we are gathering.’ We have an evidence of the verse of the obligation of Sa’i (proceeding to remembrance of Allah) and because it is an action practiced by the Ansar in all regions. As for those outside the chief city, they do not engage in it according to the Book. However, there is a narration that they do perform it, based on the permission of Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) for the people of Al-Awali (“Al-Awali” refers to the villages near Madinah, situated to the east.) This is due to the hardship in their waiting or returning.
The proponents of this opinion provided evidence as follows:
1- Allah’s saying: “O you who have believed, when the call is made for the prayer on the day of Jumu’ah, then proceed to the remembrance of Allah and leave trade.” (Al-Jumu’ah, 62:9)
This text is definitively established in its authenticity and definitive in its indication. It is a general text that cannot be specified by the text- that is not agreed upon in both its chain of transmission and its meaning- mentioned by the opposing view. Furthermore, it is not specified by solitary narration in the wide spread affliction according to our school of thought.
2- What Muslim narrated from Abdullah bin Umar and Abu Huraira that they heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) saying on the steps of his pulpit: “People must cease to neglect the Friday prayers, or else Allah will seal their hearts and then they will be among the unmindful.”
So, do not abandon Friday prayers in spite of this strong prohibition just by acting upon what is mentioned in the narrations where incomplete transmission and discontinuation are frequent.
3- There is a consensus among scholars on the obligation of Friday prayers, and this consensus is not countered by such narrations.
The second opinion:
Friday prayer is obligatory upon the residents of the city (Madinah) and is not obligatory for those living outside it in the rural areas (Al-Bawadi). This is the view of the Shafi’i school of thought. They support their stance with what Imam Bukhari narrated in his Sahih that Uthman ibn Affan acted upon this practice. It is mentioned in Sahih Bukhari: “Abu ‘Ubaid reported: Then I bore witness along with Uthman ibn Affan. It was Friday and he prayed before the sermon, and then delivered the sermon and said, ‘O people, this day is a day on which two ‘Eids have fallen, so whoever amongst the people of the outskirts (Al-Awali) wants to wait for the Friday prayer, he may wait, and whoever likes to return, I have granted him permission.'” Al-Awali refers to the areas outside the city of Madinah.
The third opinion:
Friday prayer is not obligatory for those who have performed the Eid prayer in congregation, except for the Imam. This is the view of the Hanbali school of thought. The Hanbalis support this opinion with several pieces of evidence, including:
– The hadith of Zaid bin Arqam (may Allah be pleased with him) who reported that Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) asked him, “Did you witness with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) two Eids that fell on the same day?” Zaid said, “Yes.” Muawiyah asked, “What did he (the Prophet) do?” Zaid replied, “He (the Prophet) performed the Eid prayer, then he granted concession regarding the Friday prayer, saying, ‘Whoever wishes to pray, let him pray.'” This hadith is narrated by Ahmad, Abu Dawood, An-Nasa’i, Ibn Majah, Ad-Darimi, and Al-Hakim in Al-Mustadrak. Al-Hakim said: “This hadith has a sound chain of narration.”
– The hadith of Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with both of them) who said: “Two Eids fell on the same day during the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). He performed the prayer with the people and then said: ‘Whoever wishes to attend the Friday prayer, let him do so, and whoever wishes to leave, let him do so.'” This hadith is narrated by Ibn Majah. Al-Tabarani also narrated it in Al-Mu’jam al-Kabeer with the wording: “Two Eids fell on the same day during the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), the Day of Eid al-Fitr and Friday. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) led them in the Eid prayer, then he turned to them with his face and said: ‘O people, you have attained goodness and reward, and we are gathered. Whoever wants to stay with us, let him stay, and whoever wants to go back to his family, let him do so.'”
– The hadith of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both of them) who reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “Two Eids have coincided on this day of yours. Whoever wishes, let him perform the Friday prayer, and we are gathering, Allah willing.” This hadith is narrated by Ibn Majah, and Al-Busiri said: “Its chain of narration is authentic, and its narrators are trustworthy.”
There is a fourth opinion that we have refrained from mentioning due to its weakness and inconsistency. This opinion is attributed to Abdullah ibn al-Zubair, and it asserts that both Friday prayer and the Dhuhr prayer should be abandoned for those who have performed the Eid prayer in congregation.
The opinion that we choose is the view of the Hanafi and Maliki scholars, due to the strength of the evidence from the Quran and consensus, and considering the possibility of weakness in the earlier narrations along with the possibility of interpretation as well.
And Allah knows best.
Fatwa by Dr. Khālid Naṣr