The Khatib Standing Up After the Friday Prayer to Preach to the People

Question : Regarding the sermon, some people say that if the imam finishes the Friday prayer, he says, "O Allah, send blessings upon the noble Prophet." Is this permissible?

Answer : May Allah bless you. If it is prohibited by the rulers, then it is obligatory to listen and obey. If it is not prohibited, then leaving it off is better. Imam Ahmad even said that one should not listen to it unless it is a letter from the ruler. This is because this sermon is either on the topic of the khutbah, in which case there is no need for it, or it may contain some criticism of the khatib, suggesting that he did not fulfill the intended purpose. If it is outside the topic of the khutbah, it wipes the topic of the khutbah from people's minds, and what remains in their minds is what was said after the prayer. Therefore, there is harm in it. There is also harm in it from another angle: some people may need to leave the mosque, but they are shy to stand up in front of people. You find them trapped and exhausted, struggling to hold back their urge to leave, but they cannot exit in front of people for one reason or another. It is also said that if this speech becomes a regular occurrence every Friday, the Friday prayer will have three khutbahs: two before it and two after it. This is a change to the form and manner in which the Sunnah was established.