361 – ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar and Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with them) both heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, while standing on the wooden planks of his pulpit: “People must cease neglecting the Friday prayers, or else Allah will surely seal their hearts, after which they will be numbered among the heedless.” Muslim narrated it (1).

Vocabulary of the ḥadith
• minbar: pronounced with a kasrah on the mīm, a sukūn on the nūn, a fatḥah on the bāʾ, then rāʾ and hāʾ. The Prophet’s ﷺ pulpit was fashioned from the wooden slats of al-ṭarfāʾ, a variety of tamarisk that grows in saline ground.
• layantahiyanna aqwām: the prefixed lām serves as an introductory particle and may also prepare for an oath. The verb is in the indicative, carrying a fatḥah because it is joined to the nūn of emphasis; its syntactic state is rafʿ since no particle governs it.
• wadaʿihim: with a fatḥah on the wāw, a sukūn on the undotted dāl, and a kasrah on the undotted ʿayn; derived from wadaʿa (“to leave or abandon”). The wording of the ḥadith shows that the form wadaʿ does possess a verbal noun, contrary to the view of most grammarians who deny it past tense or verbal-noun forms.
• jumʿāt: the sound feminine plural of jumuʿah; the mīm may be read with ḍammah, fatḥah, or kasrah, the first being the most eloquent. Al-ʿAynī notes that the tāʾ here is not a feminine marker but an intensifier.
• layakhtimanna Allahu ʿalā qulūbihim: al-khatm (sealing) is stamping until the heart is closed so that no goodness or guidance can penetrate. This happens when Allah withholds His grace from them, and that is the gravest form of abandonment.