And He, glorified and exalted be He, has said:

“Were it not for believing men and believing women whom you did not know, whom you might have trampled underfoot, thereby unknowingly incurring guilt on their account—so that Allah might admit into His mercy whomever He wills—had they been separated, We would surely have inflicted a painful punishment upon those among them who disbelieved.”

As for those who interpret this as referring to failure to attend the Friday prayer, the context of the hadith shows the weakness of their view: he mentioned the ‘Ishā’ and Fajr prayers, then followed this by expressing his intention to burn those who did not attend the prayer.

As for those who interpret the punishment as being for hypocrisy rather than for failure to attend the prayer, their view is weak for several reasons:

First, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would excuse the hypocrites only with regard to inward matters; he would punish them for their outward failure to fulfil an obligation or their commission of a forbidden act. Had their conduct not involved neglecting an obligation, he would not have burned them.

(Second, he made the punishment consequent upon failure to attend the prayer. The ruling must therefore be linked to the reason he specified.

Third, the hadith of Ibn Umm Maktūm will be cited later, Allah willing. He asked the Prophet for permission to pray in his home, but he did not grant him permission. Ibn Umm Maktūm was a believer, one of the finest believers, whom the Quran praised, and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to