the perpetrator to slip into yet another sin as a punishment from Allah, the Exalted: “Indeed, Allah does not change a people’s condition until they change what is within themselves” (13:11). Moreover, once a person has dared commit the offense the first time, he becomes emboldened to repeat it; the second time trains him in it until the act turns into a settled habit.
6 – The ḥadith also demonstrates that the gravest of punishments is for a person to be abandoned, left in heedlessness of his Hereafter, until death surprises him. Only then does he awaken and plead, “My Lord, send me back so that I may do righteous deeds in what I left behind!” (23:99). But there is no return: “A barrier lies behind them until the Day they are resurrected” (23:100).
7 – It further indicates that the Friday prayer is one of the most important obligations; no other duty has been threatened with such stern warnings for its neglect. Jumuʿah is, without dispute, superior to ẓuhr.
8 – The obligation of Jumuʿah is established by the unanimous agreement of the Muslims and, according to the majority, is an individual duty. Al-ʿIrāqī said: “The legal schools concur that it is a personal obligation, although each school sets its own conditions for it.”
9 – His words, “or else Allah will set a seal upon their hearts,” affirm Allah’s voluntary acts—an established doctrine of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah, who attribute to Allah the actions He performs by His will and choice.
As for the muʿaṭṭilah, they reinterpret such texts, arguing that a temporal act can subsist only in something temporal, whereas Allah is not contingent—He is the First, before whom nothing existed. This claim is refuted both by sound transmission and by clear reason.
From the textual side, the evidence is abundant: “He is Doer of whatever He wills” (85:16); “Indeed, Allah does whatever He wills” (21:18); “Indeed, Allah does whatever He intends” (21:14). From the rational side, one who acts is more perfect and complete than one who never acts, and Allah possesses the most beautiful names and the loftiest attributes.
With respect to their objects, His attributes are eternal in kind while their individual manifestations occur successively.