What is the ruling on leaving the Friday prayer?

This is a message received from the sender, our brother Zaidan Khalaf, from Baghdad, Iraq. He says: I thank those who answer the listeners' questions on your program, *Nur 'ala al-Darb*. I inform you that I am sixteen years old, and I started praying from the twenty-second of Sha'ban, 1379, and up to now I have not known, and I have not prayed the Friday prayer because I did not know it. What does the honorable Shaykh say? I hope for your guidance, may Allah guide you?
Answer: The questioner should repent to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), turn to Him, and hasten to pray the Friday prayer with the people. We ask Allah to grant him forgiveness for what has passed. He must hasten to repent and abandon what has passed of his leaving the Friday prayer, and he should strive to attend it whenever its time comes with the Muslims.
And we ask Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) to forgive what has passed. He must have sincere repentance, regret for what has passed from him, and the resolve not to return to it. Yes.