Who Counts as a Muslim, and Is Jumuʿah Obligatory? — Ali Shukri Amin
First published on my writing site: www.aliamin.info/2026/01/who-counts-as-a-muslim-and-is-jumuah-obligatory/
By Ali Shukri Amin. I first wrote this as comments on r/MuslimAcademics, in the thread “Is attending the Friday prayer (Jumu'ah) in mosques obligatory in today's times? Here's what I found in Javed Ahmed Ghamidi's forum. It's a very interesting read”, copied here as written.
Comment 1
To summarize the views of modernists, including some views of Javed Ghamidi:
Jummu’ah – not required
Hadith/Sunnah – not reliable
Salah – men in front of women is misogynistic. We need female imams! It’s Arabo-centric to require salah in Arabic as well.
Hajj – not required because Saudi is a corrupt profiteering backwards country
Hijab – not required
Beard – not required
Islamic exclusivism – not required. Allah can forgive good people of all faiths. Jews & Christians are “believers” as well
Zakah – not required. You pay government taxes, that’s not enough.
Belief in the Unseen – these are metaphors for scientific concepts.
Hellfire – not eternal
My question is this: why call oneself a Muslim at all at this point? Why bind oneself to a label which denotes everything one opposes? This has gone beyond an identity crisis.
Posted December 31, 2025. Read it on Reddit.
Comment 2
If Islam doesn’t have a clear definition and none of us can determine who is or is not a Muslim then why do you care about mending rifts between Muslims? There’s nothing we can clearly distinguish so there’s nothing to dispute over.
Unless what you’re concerned about is the feelings of people who claim to adhere about Islam. Which is not something that figures as a primary consideration for me.
I value Islam as a distinct way of life and an articulable belief system that is clearly defined so I will continue to be aware of its boundaries so that the tradition I inherited can be preserved for the future. Hashalillahi to accuse Him of being unable to clarify the Way He wants us to follow.
Posted January 3, 2026. Read it on Reddit.
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