Time for Dhuhur Khutbah??

Question – Asalaam Alaikum   
Dear Scholars,   I represent the Werribee Islamic Centre in Victoria Australia. We need your advice on how best to conduct the Juma Khutba and the Salaat so that it falls within the hours of 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm or between 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm so that it is possible to start the Khutbas before Zuhr time, especially during the daylight savings period in the summer.   This is because if the times suggested above are not used for Juma, it will be impossible for some of the brothers and sisters to attend this obligatory service due to their work commitments.   Islam online has provided advice appended below for a similar circumstance.  

Islam-Online Web Site  very urgent –   Question   Asalamualaikum. it was recently brought to my attention by some brother s at school that jumah prayers (2 rakat) can only be performed at the exact time of dhuhr prayer. zuhr time in toronto is at 1:30pm but since classes don’t finish until 3:00pm, we do jumah salat after school. After discussing this with an imam, he said we mentioned that jumah salat could be made any time before asr time (which is at 5:00pm). Which view is consistent with the shariah?   Answer   On the day of Jumah, there is no Dhur salah. Jumah starts anytime after sunrise and lasts until sunset. I don’t see any evidence or proof that shows a different opinion.

 
Answer – Wa ^alaykom Assalam Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuh.  

Praise be to Allaah, and may Allaah raise the rank of our beloved Prophet Muhammad and protect his nation from that which he feared them. Thereafter;

We are pleased that you contacted us, and we wish to let you know that our fatwa is always and only done according to what the honorable scholars of Ahlul-sunnah Wal-Jamaa^ah agreed upon.  Especially Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malek, Imam Shafiiyy and Imam Ahmed Ibn Hanbal , may Allah raise their rank.   The Answer to your question is that according to Imam Al-Shafiiyy and many other Scholars that Friday (Jumaa) prayer time becomes due when Dhuhr Prayer time becomes due too, and that is when the sun declines westward from the middle of the sky and its time ends as the Dhuhr Prayer time ends. For reference, you can lookup the following books: “Al-Menhaaj”, “Al-Tanbeeh”, “Tuhfatut-Tullaab” and others.
 
In reference to the above, the Jumaa Khutba and the Jumaa Prayer would NOT be accepted before the time of Dhuhr nor after it’s time terminates.

But according to the School of Imam Ahmed Ibn Hanbel, it is accepted and permissible to do the Jumaa prayer and Khutba before the Zenith (Zawal) time (i.e., when the sun is positioned in the middle of the sky), but it also ends by the time Dhuhr-prayer time ends. You can research some Hanbali Books for reference, like: “Al-Moughnee”, “Al-Muqna^” and the book “Al-Ensaaf” and many others.   So, if someone did Jumaa Prayer according to one of the above then there is no harm in that, but one must obey the rules and conditions of that School (math-hab) when performing the Khutbah and prayer.
 
I wish to inform you that the Islamic Centre in Luzane-Switzerland pray the Jumaa according to Imam Ahmed Iben Hanbal.

Finally, the Fatwa that you obtained from the so-called “Islaam-Online”  is incorrect, because the scholars (Ulamaa^) agreed on that the time of Jumaa Prayer ends as the Dhuhr prayer time ends, but they disagreed on when it starts, whether it is before or after the Zenith. 

 Allah Knows best.