Greeting of the mosque before the Maghrib adhan during the prohibited time

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. The questioner says: I entered this mosque twenty minutes before the Maghrib adhan, and I saw people praying the greeting of the mosque. Is this considered to be in the time when prayer is prohibited, such that it should be forbidden?

Answer:
Yes, it is in the time when it is prohibited. But is the greeting of the mosque an exception? Some scholars say it is an exception, even if it is in the prohibited time. And some scholars say that in the prohibited time, one does not pray in it, nor the greeting of the mosque. So the issue is one of scholarly disagreement. If you see someone praying, do not rebuke him. And if you see someone sitting, do not rebuke him. Everyone has a proof. The greeting of the mosque is originally a voluntary prayer; it is not obligatory, it is not obligatory. Yes.