The Friday Prayer is Obligatory with the Righteous Imam and the Sinner

Question :

What is the ruling on a people who do not perform the Friday prayer, with the excuse that it is not correct except behind a just Imam?

Answer:

Allah, the Most Glorified has made the performance of the Friday prayer obligatory upon the Muslims who are resident, whether they be in large cities or in villages. Scholars have disagreed as to the minimum number of people required in order to establish the Friday prayer and there are many different sayings in this regard, but the most authoritative of them is that it should be established if there are three or more people. This is because there is no evidence that it is a condition that there should be more than this and they are in agreement that it is not a condition for its acceptance that there be more than this, just as they agree that it is not a condition for its acceptance that the Imam be a just person, nor free from sin.

In fact, it is an obligation to establish it with a righteous man and a sinner, so long as he is a Muslim, whose sins do not take him outside the pale of Islam. Thus, it is clear that a group of people who do not establish the Friday prayer, except on condition that the Imam be just or free from sin, are guilty of innovating in the religion that which Allah has not permitted and have imposed a condition which has no basis in the pure Islamic law.

Some scholars held the view that the Friday prayer need not be established in small villages, and that it need only be established in towns where there is a large central mosque; but this saying is weak and it has no evidence in the pure Islamic law. This opinion has been reported in the authority of 'Ali bin Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, but it is not authentic; and the Friday prayer was established when the first Muslims migrated to Al-Madinah and it was not a city containing a central mosque at that time; it was only considered a village then the Prophet established the prayer when he arrived there and he continued to do so until he died - peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

It was also established in Bahrain in a village known as Juwatha during his lifetime and the scholars did not criticize this. In brief, we may say that it is obligatory to establish the Friday prayer in villages and cities, in accordance with the legal evidences from the Book (of Allah) and the Sunnah and in order to achieve the great benefits which the people get from it, such as being warned (against sin), being reminded (of Allah), learning that which benefits them and informs them and makes them cooperate in righteousness and piety and other such great benefits.

Source:
Ibn Baz
Fatawa Islamiyah, Vol. 2 Pages 458-459-460