distracted — is a farsakh, or what is close to it. Thus, it was delimited by that, and Allah knows best.

Section: The people of a village are in one of two situations: either the distance between them and the city (misr) is more than a farsakh, or it is not. If it is more than a farsakh, they are not required to proceed to it, and their status is considered by themselves. If they number forty and the conditions of Jumu'ah are met among them, they must establish it; they have the choice between proceeding to the city or establishing it in their village, and it is better to establish it in their village. This is because whenever some of them proceed to the city, they cause the others to miss the Jumu'ah, whereas if they remain, all of them attend it, and establishing it in their own location increases the congregations of the Muslims. If they are among those upon whom Jumu'ah is not individually incumbent, they are free to choose between proceeding to it and praying Zhuhr, though proceeding to it is better to attain the merit of the one who hastens to Jumu'ah and to exit from the disagreement.

In the second situation, the distance between them and the city is a farsakh or less. They are considered; if they are fewer than forty, they must proceed to Jumu'ah for the reasons we have previously mentioned. If they are among those upon whom Jumu'ah is individually incumbent, and the location of the Jumu'ah near them is another village, they are not required to proceed to it, and they should pray in their own place, since one village is not more entitled than the other. If they wish to proceed to it, it is permissible, but it is better that they pray in their own place, as we mentioned before. If some of them proceed and the number of the remaining ones decreases [below the requirement], they must proceed so that it does not lead to the abandonment of the Jumu'ah by those upon whom it is incumbent. If the nearby location of the Jumu'ah is a city, they are also free to choose between proceeding to the city or establishing the Jumu'ah in their own place, like the previous case. This was mentioned by Ibn 'Aqil. It is narrated from Ahmad that proceeding is incumbent upon them unless they have an excuse, in which case they pray Jumu'ah. The first opinion is more correct, because the Jumu'ah of the people of the city cannot be established by the people of the village, so they may establish the Jumu'ah in their own place, just as if they heard the call from another village, and because the people of the villages establish Jumu'ah in the lands of Islam, even if they are close to