Answer
Wa`alykum As-Salaamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakaatuh.
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- All Muslims, who are eligible to attend the Jumu`ah, must cease all their activities and respond to the call of the Mu’adhdhin (prayer caller). Thus no one is allowed to go on with his business for this contravenes his duty of attending the Jumu`ah.
2- If your drugstore is attached to the emergency wing of a hospital or a clinic that serves patients who may require urgent medical attention, then you should not close it. Should this be the case, then you are allowed to open the store during the Jumu`ah service provided the store is managed either by Muslim women who are not mandated to attend the Jumu`ah or non-Muslim personnel, who are exempted from the rules of the Shari`ah.
With regard to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
Allah says in the Qur’an: “O believers! When the call for the Prayer is heard on Friday, hasten to the remembrance of Allah and cease your trading. That is better for you if you but knew.” (Al-Jumu`ah 62:9)
It is clear from this verse that all Muslims, who are eligible to attend the Jumu`ah, must cease all their activities and respond to the call of the Mu’adhdhin (prayer caller).
Thus no one is allowed to go on with his business for this contravenes his duty of attending the Jumu’ah.
In the above verse, we read Allah’s statement, “Hasten to the remembrance of Allah”.
According to authentic scholars, “remembrance of Allah” includes not only Prayer but also the Khutbah, and thus it is not enough for a person to simply find time for the Prayer, but he must also listen to the Friday Khutbah.
It is worth mentioning that the two rak`ahs deducted from the Friday Prayer have been compensated for by the Khutbah. Accordingly, all business must stop immediately after the first Adhan (call to Prayer) so that one may attend the full Jumu`ah service.
As far as resuming one’s business after the Jumu`ah is concerned, there is no taboo associated with that; for we read in the succeeding verse, “And when the Prayer is ended, then disperse in the land and seek of Allah’s favor, and remember Allah much, that you may succeed.” (Al-Jumu`ah 62:10)
Having said this, it is important for us to make an exception to the above rule: If your drugstore is attached to the emergency wing of a hospital or a clinic that serves patients who may require urgent medical attention, then you should not close it. Should this be the case, then you are allowed to open the store during the Jumu`ah service provided the store is managed either by Muslim women who are not mandated to attend the Jumu`ah or non-Muslim personnel, who are exempted from the rules of the Shari`ah.
If neither Muslim women nor non-Muslims are available to manage the store, then men should take turns in such a way that at no time one ends up missing two or more Jumu`ah Prayers consecutively.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) has warned us against missing three Jumu`ahs consecutively; if we were to do so, he says, Allah may put a seal upon our hearts. This is indeed such a dire warning that no Muslim can ever take so lightly.
If, on the other hand, there is no shortage of drugstores in the area and, therefore, closing your store would not pose any problem for those who may be in need of urgent medical care, then you should close it for the Jumu`ah, and resume business after the prayer.
By obeying Allah, we stand to gain immense blessings which definitely outweigh any material benefits we may derive by failing to do so. Let us pray to Allah to inspire us to judge all matters from the point of view of our salvation in the Hereafter.
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.