Jumu‘a in a Village and the Definition of a Village

Question

Is Jumu‘a in villages (fi al-qura) permissible or not? Please set out in detail the definition of a village (qarya) and of a city. (2) There is a village whose population is approximately one thousand five hundred. Is it a village or a city? Zayd and ‘Amr disagree about this. Zayd says that we have been praying Jumu‘a in it for about a hundred years; moreover, as his proof he attributes the permissibility to Hazrat Mawlana Mufti Muhammad Kifayatullah ﵀. ‘Amr says that Jumu‘a is not permissible in it.

Answer

In a small village (qarya saghira) Jumu‘a is not permissible; in a large village (qarya kabira) it is permissible. The definition of a village and a city keeps changing according to custom (‘urf), because what is intended is not a definition of the essence (mahiyya)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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