Discussion of the two rak'ahs of greeting the mosque, and explanation of the hadith of Abu Qatadah that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him

The Shaykh : ... We find in the hadith of the greeting two hadiths; one of them is general, encompassing all times by its generality; namely his saying (peace and blessings be upon him), from the hadith of Abu Qatadah al-Ansari, that he entered the mosque and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was sitting in it, so he sat beside him, and he said to him (peace and blessings be upon him): . He said: No. He said: . I draw your attention to the fact that this hadith is not the second hadith that follows, which is the hadith of Sulayk al-Ghatafani. Then he said (peace and blessings be upon him) to Abu Qatadah: , and in another narration: . This is the hadith of Abu Qatadah al-Ansari in "al-Sahihayn" (the two authentic collections).
And as you see, by its generality it encompasses every time; because he said: , or . He did not specify one time over another, but rather he generalized and made it absolute. This confirms for us the generality, and that it is general to the furthest limits of generality, such that it also encompasses a time from the times when prayer is disliked. This is supported by the second hadith, which is the hadith of Jabir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Ansari, who said: A man entered on Friday while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was delivering the sermon on the pulpit, so he sat down, and he said to him (peace and blessings be upon him): . And his name was Sulayk, so he said: . He said: No. He said: . Then he turned to all those present and said to them: . It is agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim, as we mentioned, from the hadith of Jabir.
We find in this hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded the prayer of greeting with a general command for anyone who enters the mosque on Friday while the imam is delivering the sermon, to pray two rak'ahs. If we recall the consensus of the scholars on the prohibition of prayer, specifically the absolute voluntary prayer on Friday while the preacher is delivering the sermon; if we know that the time when the preacher is delivering the sermon on Friday is one of the times in which voluntary prayers are not prescribed, rather, what is more emphasized than voluntary prayer is not prescribed in it; namely enjoining good and forbidding evil, as is also established in "al-Sahihayn" from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . Therefore, the saying of the one who speaks while the preacher is delivering the sermon on Friday, "Be silent," is considered by the Wise Lawgiver as idle talk. And this means that it is not permissible for one who hears a man speaking while the preacher is delivering the sermon on Friday to say to him: Be silent. And its necessary implication is that enjoining good, which is a known obligatory duty, is dropped in the case where the preacher is delivering the sermon on Friday.
If this is the case, and we recall the hadith of Sulayk al-Ghatafani mentioned earlier, in which the Messenger commanded him to pray the greeting of the mosque, and the Messenger commanded all those present that if one of them enters the mosque on Friday while the preacher is delivering the sermon, he must also pray two rak'ahs; then it results for us that what is disliked of enjoining good during the time of the preacher's sermon on Friday is permissible of the greeting of the mosque in that time, whereas it is not permissible of other obligations. Is there any evidence clearer than this hadith that the greeting of the mosque is prayed in a time of dislike? We have known and it has become clear to us that the time when the preacher is delivering the sermon on Friday is a time of dislike, and yet the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded the greeting of the mosque in this time, in this disliked time, and we know then that there is no difference between a disliked time and another time...