Title: What is the minimum head count for Jumuah prayer to be valid in Hanafi & Shafi' Fiqh?

Question: What is the minimum head count for Jumuah prayer to be valid in Hanafi & Shafi' Fiqh?

Answer ID: 150934Posted on: Aug 31, 2020

Bismillah hir-Rahman nir-Rahim !

(Fatwa: 835/811/B=8/1438)

According to Hanafi Fiqh, Jumuah can be performed in big village which is like town where there are various streets, shops that fulfill the daily needs of the habitants and there is urbanity, which was estimated by some of our elder Ulama to have a population of 3 to 4 thousand. But Jumuah is not valid in a place with less than this population. However, according to Imam Malik, Imam Shafai, Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy upon them), it is lawful to establish Jumuah salah in each and every village whether big or small. They don’t take the population into consideration.