What is the decree about a person who has not been able to listen to the sermon on Friday? Friday sermon is fard; is it fard for everybody to listen?

Friday sermon is fard; is it fard for everybody to listen? If the mosque is full and if the congregation outside cannot hear the sermon, do they have to enter the mosque and remain in the mosque until the sermon ends?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Friday sermon is fard. Friday prayer is not valid without a sermon. However, if a Muslim cannot catch up with the sermon but catches up with the fard of the Friday prayer before it finishes, his Friday prayer is valid.   

When the sermon is delivered, every believer, whether he is close to the preacher or far away from him, listens to it carefully. Those who are very far away from the pulpit and cannot hear the preacher keep silent and make dhikr through the heart. This is the preferred view. (Jawahirul-Ahlati) This is also appropriate in terms of caution. Zaylai also holds the same view.

According to some scholars, those who are too far away to hear the sermon read the Quran. According to some other scholars, they keep silent and make dhikr through the heart as it is stated above. Radiyuddin, the author of al-Muhit, says, "The soundest one is to keep silent." (Celal Yıldırım, Kaynaklarıyla İslam Fıkhı, Uysal Bookstore: 1/495)

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