What is meant by the following hadith: “Whoever misses the Friday Prayer three times in a row, then, Allah sets a seal over his heart”? Then will a repentance be accepted?

Answer

Praise Be to Allah and Peace Be Upon His Messenger.

The above-mentioned hadith was reported with different narrations and words. Another narration for the same hadith is “Whoever leaves the Friday Prayer three times continuously, on account of slackness, then Allah will set a seal on his heart.” All of these narrations point at one thing: whoever misses or neglects the Friday Prayer three times continuously as being careless or without a considerable excuse. Thus, whoever misses the Friday Prayer because of having a considerable excuse is excluded from the group which is mentioned in the hadith. What is meant by setting a seal over his heart is that the heart will be like a stone, and it will turn what was haram into halal; in other words, the haram will be familiar and acceptable. That Muslim who misses the Friday Prayer will be careless about any religious order. Gradually, he will be farer from the right path and closer to the haram. This is because he starts to lean towards the materiality of life; his faith becomes weaker; and the hypocrisy becomes stronger.

Consequently, a Muslim should start over, leave his laziness and carelessness aside and pay attention to the orders dictated by Allah. He must repent and regret wishing that Allah will forgive him and accept his repentance.