Is the prayer performed before the Friday sermon considered a rawatib (regular voluntary prayer) or the greeting of the mosque?

The questioner : Is the prayer performed before the Friday sermon considered a rawatib (regular voluntary prayer) or the greeting of the mosque?

The Shaykh : It is not a rawatib (regular voluntary prayer), because the Friday prayer has no rawatib (regular voluntary prayer) before it. As for your saying: the greeting of the mosque, the greeting of the mosque is prescribed (mashru') whenever a person enters the mosque, so he should not sit until he prays two rak'ahs (units of prayer), even if the imam is delivering the sermon. It is established in the Sunnah that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was delivering the sermon to the people when a man entered and sat down, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: He said: No. He said: and he ordered him to be brief in them, meaning to hasten in order to be free to listen to the sermon. Accordingly, the greeting of the mosque is not applicable here, because it is prescribed (mashru') at all times, even if you enter after 'Asr (the afternoon prayer) or after Fajr (the dawn prayer) or before sunset, you still pray this prayer. In fact, some scholars said that the greeting of the mosque is obligatory, and he justified this position by the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered this entrant to pray while the imam was delivering the sermon. It is well known that listening to the sermon on Friday is obligatory, and that being occupied with the two rak'ahs (units of prayer) distracts from this listening, and one cannot be occupied with something obligatory except with something obligatory. In any case, the greeting of the mosque is not applicable here, because we say that the greeting of the mosque is prescribed (mashru') for every entrant, regardless of the circumstances. However, the obligatory prayer suffices for the greeting of the mosque; if you enter while the imam is praying the obligatory prayer, it suffices for the greeting of the mosque. Similarly, tawaf (circumambulation of the Ka'bah) for one who enters the Sacred Mosque with the intention of tawaf (circumambulation of the Ka'bah) suffices for the greeting of the mosque.