Q: My dear Shaykh, I am a believing young man. I perform Salah (Prayer) regularly. (Part No. 7; Page No. 86) Yet once I did not perform two consecutive Jumu`ah (Friday) Prayers. We all know that it is obligatory on every male Muslim to perform Jumu`ah Prayer in the Masjid (mosque). Yet I abandoned it unintentionally and there was no compelling reason that prevented me from performing it. Later, I read in some books that whoever abandons Jumu`ah Prayer for two consecutive weeks goes out of the fold of Islam, i.e., becomes Kafir (non-Muslim). Since I trust neither in these books nor in the Madh-hab (School of Jurisprudence) of their authoring scholars, I refer to Your Eminence in order that my heart may be at ease. Thus what is the ruling on this?

A: Anyone on whom Jumu`ah Prayer is obligatory, but abandons it deliberately without an excuse, commits a grave major sin and disobeys Allah and His Messenger. Thus it is obligatory on him to hasten to turn to Allah in sincere repentance of this bad deed and not to commit this again. It is reported in the Sahih (authentic) Hadiths that there is severe punishment waiting for anyone who abandons Jumu`ah Prayer without a Shar`y (Islamically lawful) excuse. The Prophet also strongly warned against abandoning it. Of these Hadiths is what was narrated on the authority of Ibn Mas`ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to some people who used to neglect performing Jumu`ah Prayer: I was going to order a man to lead the people in prayer, and then burn down, on men who do not attend the Jumu`ah Prayer, their houses. (Related by Imam Muslim in his Sahih [Authentic Hadith Book] and Imam Ahmad in his Musnad) It was narrated on the authority of Abu Hurayrah and Ibn `Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that they heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) saying on his Minbar (pulpit): Let some people desist from neglecting Jumu`ah Prayers, or else Allah will seal their hearts and they will be among the negligent. (Related by Imam Muslim in (Part No. 7; Page No. 87) his Sahih [Authentic Hadith Book] section 6, page 152) See Sahih Muslim with the Commentary of Al-Nawawy. The same Hadith was also related by Imams Ahmad and Al-Nasa'y on the authority of Ibn `Umar and Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) It was related on the authority of Abu Al-Ja`d Al-Damry, who was a Companion of the Prophet, that Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said: Anyone who neglects three Jumu`ahs, Allah will place a seal on his heart. (Related by the Five Compilers of Hadith [Imams Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Al-Tirmidhy, Al-Nasa'y and Ibn Majah])A similar Hadith was also related by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad and by Ibn Majah in his Sunan on the authority of Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) with this wording: Anyone who neglects Jumu`ah Prayer three times without necessity will have a seal placed upon his heart. This Hadith was also related by Al-Nasa'y, Ibn Majah, Ibn Khuzaymah, Al-Hakim and Al-Daraqutny. As for a person who abandons Jumu`ah Prayer deeming this permissible, he is to be disbelieving in that which was sent down to Muhammad (peace be upon him), for his rejecting the Ayahs (Qur'anic verses) and Hadiths that clearly state the obligation of Jumu`ah Prayer. Some scholars have opined that the person who abandons Jumu`ah Prayer (Part No. 7; Page No. 88) or any of the other Five Obligatory Daily Prayers out of slackness and negligence is a Kafir (non-Muslim), even if he does not deny its being obligatory. This is based on the purport of the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him): What makes one a disbeliever and a polytheist is abandoning Salah. (Related by Muslim in his Sahih [Authentic Hadith Book]). It was also narrated on the authority of Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: That which differentiates us from the disbelievers and hypocrites is our performance of Salah. Anyone who abandons it, becomes a disbeliever. (Related by Imam Ahmad and the four compilers of Al-Sunan through authentic Isnad (chain of narrators) on the authority of Buraydah ibn Al-Hasib [may Allah be pleased with him])May Allah grant us success. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and Companions!