It takes about 2 and a half hours to drive to the closest Jumuah. As far as I know, there aren’t any other Muslims anywhere close to where I live. If there were 3 or more of us we could maybe have a Jumuah that is closer to home. I don’t really know how to find out if there are other Muslims in the area.
The Imam said I could maybe meet some people at the grocery store, but I almost never do the shopping, and since we live far away from the closest town, we aren’t even there that often. Not to mention that Muslim males in a town 200 miles from the nearest mosque aren’t easily identifiable.
Salaam Aleikum! I am in the same situation as you . . . the nearest mosque is an hour and a half away and everyone who attends there is Somali; I spoke with their imam on the phone once and could barely understand him! But at least I got to speak with him.
I do not have any advice, I am sorry. But I shall be watching this thread insha'Allah for advice from others, so we may both benefit.
I will elaborate on my situation. I work on a farm with my parents, my cousin, and his parents. They have been accommodating with letting me not work on Friday, since it takes most of the day to drive up and back to Jumuah. During certain circumstances, if I were to be gone for most of the day on Friday, I wouldn’t be fulfilling my obligations to my parents and family.
My dad and uncle decide when we do major operations like plowing fields, planting, cutting hay etc. We have to try to work around the weather and do certain things when we get the opportunity. We can’t work the fields when it is raining for example, and we try to not do certain things when we think it is going to rain. If it rains right after we plow the fields, the weeds that were uprooted have a better chance of coming back because the moisture allows them to regain a hold in the ground. It is also not good to get rain in between cutting and bailing hay, because it isn’t good to bail hay when it is wet. If some of our machinery was to break down, my dad would need my help to repair it. We usually try to fix things right away, so we are not delayed too long.
My Dad is 75 and my uncle is in his late 60s. They can’t do a lot of the harder work anymore since they are getting old. For example when we are planting wheat, we have to frequently refill the drills with fertilizer and seed that is heavy. We do this for most of the day and my cousin and I do most of this work. When we are calving, we have to check the 1 year old cows every 3 hours to make sure they aren’t having trouble giving birth. For example if the calf was backwards, you would have to help pull the calf because the cow would not be able to give birth on its own. If you don’t the calf would die in about 3 hours and the cow will probably die after that. We check the older cows twice a day or 3 times a day if it is snowing or the weather is bad. We are kind of overwhelmed with the amount of work that needs to be done at times. We can’t really afford to hire someone else to help.
If some of this work falls on a Friday, would it be considered an acceptable excuse to miss the Jumuah? Since there are no other Muslims anywhere close, the only option for Jumuah is a 2 and a half hour drive both ways.
I think I have found your answer, insha'Allah. According to the following article, you are only obligated to go to the mosque for prayer if you live within a distance where you can hear the athan without amplification. That being said, there is greater reward the farther the distance you travel. May Allah forgive me if I am wrong, but I would take the following that due to your distance you are not obligated to attend the Jumuah, but that there is reward when you can do so.
Thank you for the consideration, but that is talking about praying the 5 daily prayers in congregation. It is mandatory for every adult male to attend the Friday prayer regardless of distance. The Jumuah that I attend doesn't even take place in an actual mosque, they rent out a room in a masonic lodge once a week for the prayer. I was wondering if the particular circumstances I am in would be considered an acceptable excuse. I don't really see any other option.
I can understand not wanting to give a ruling on these set of circumstances. Last week I asked the Imam and he said he would look into the issue.
The Imam told me today the acceptable excuses for missing Jumuah, and he said that there are 4 acceptable reasons for missing the Friday prayer in congregation.
1. If you are sick.
2. If you are caring for someone who is sick.
3. If you owe a debt to someone who wants you to help pay it back by work or a similar circumstance.
4. If the roads are bad so that travel is dangerous.
He said that my circumstance of having to take care of cattle when they are giving birth and having to help my family with hard physical labor at times would be covered under the second reason, since I have to travel and be gone for a long period of time. He said that it is an acceptable excuse when someone you are responsible for taking care of could become injured if you leave for the Jumuah.
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