For 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) performed the Eid prayer on a Friday, then said to the people of the 'Awali (7): "Whoever among you wishes to return, let him return, and whoever wishes to remain until he performs the Friday prayer, let him remain." Also, because they are outside the city, they are similar to the people of the desert (ahl al-hilal).

As for our evidence, it is the saying of Allah the Almighty: {When the call is made for prayer on the day of Jumu'ah, then proceed to the remembrance of Allah}. This encompasses those who are not inhabitants of the city if they hear the call, as well as the hadith of 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr. Furthermore, since those who are not inhabitants of the city hear the call and are among those upon whom the Friday prayer is incumbent, they are required to proceed to it, just like the inhabitants of the city.

The hadith of Abu Hurayrah is not authentic; it is narrated by 'Abdullah ibn Sa'id al-Maqburi, who is weak. Ahmad ibn al-Hasan (8) said: "I mentioned this hadith to Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and he became angry and said: 'Seek forgiveness from your Lord, seek forgiveness from your Lord.'" Ahmad only acted this way because he did not consider the hadith to be of any value due to the state of its chain of narration (isnad). This was mentioned by al-Tirmidhi.

As for 'Uthman granting a concession to the people of the 'Awali, it is because when two Eids (Eid and Jumu'ah) coincide, the Eid prayer suffices, and the Friday prayer is dropped for those who attended it, according to what we have established previously. As for analogizing the people of villages to the people of the desert (ahl al-hilal), it is invalid, because the people of the desert are not permanent residents, nor do they live in a village, nor in a place designated for permanent settlement.

As for considering the literal hearing of the call, it is not possible, because there may be among the people those who are deaf or hard of hearing; the call might be made in front of the minbar, so only those in the mosque hear it; the muezzin might have a faint voice, or it might be a windy day; the listener might be asleep or occupied with something that prevents hearing, thus he does not hear it while one who is further away does, which would lead to it being obligatory upon the one who is far and not the one who is near. What has such a condition should be estimated by a measure that does not vary. The place from which the call is usually heard - when the caller is loud, in an elevated position, the wind is calm, sounds are quiet, and the listener is able to hear, is not heedless nor distracted - is a farsakh, or what is close to it. Thus, it was delimited by that, and Allah knows best.