Answer
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu waRahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
1- You can have a free and frank discussion with your professor to allow you to attend the Friday Prayer.
2- If he cannot permit you every week, at least you should convince him to let you attend once in every three weeks.
In his response, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic Scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
Jumu`ah (Friday Prayer) is one of the greatest symbols of Islam; its attendance is obligatory on every adult free Muslim, who is healthy and not traveling.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Whoever neglects three consecutive Friday Prayers deliberately, Allah might place a seal on his heart!” (Abu Dawud)
The state of sealing is a depravity and a sign of Allah’s abandoning a person. So, no Muslim could take failure to attend the Friday Prayer lightly.
Therefore, you ought to make every effort to attend Friday Prayer as best as you can.
You can have a free and frank discussion with your professor to allow you to attend the Friday Prayer. If he cannot permit you every week, at least you should convince him to let you attend once in every three weeks.
In the university you are attending is like the North American universities, I don’t see any problem if you fail to show up on Fridays at least occasionally.
If the policy in Russia is different, then can you consider opting for courses offered in other days.
Once you have explored all viable options, and still you are left with no choice, then perhaps you might be excused. You should seek forgiveness of Allah and compensate for it by doing whatever good deeds you can afford on top of praying Zhuhr Prayer and optional prayers.
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.