What is the ruling on the greeting of the mosque on Friday?

The questioner : Entering the mosque.

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : Entering the mosque, the greeting of the mosque, two rak'ahs during the day of Friday?

The Shaykh : The greeting is obligatory, even while the imam is delivering the khutbah on Friday; based on his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): shorten it as much as you can. This is a hadith in "al-Sahihayn," in al-Bukhari and Muslim, from the hadith of Jabir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Ansari, that Sulayk al-Ghatafani came while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was delivering the khutbah on Friday, so he said to him: . He said: No. He said: Stand up and pray two rak'ahs, then turn toward the people. He said: .
Therefore, this greeting prayer is obligatory, contrary to the hadith that has no basis, which is hung on some minbars in our region of Sham: "When the imam ascends the minbar, there is no prayer and no speech." This is a hadith for which Allah has not sent down any authority. The doors of the minbars in our region are decorated with this hadith.
And among the wonders of what happened is that a mosque was built a few years ago, named Masjid 'Isa Pasha. If any of you knows al-Hamidiyyah market in our area, and you are exiting the market toward al-Masjid al-'Ali, the carpenter was making the minbar, and he was the brother of one of our brothers. He informed me that he was in the process of carving this hadith into walnut wood. I said to him: Tell your brother: This hadith has no basis, and if it is necessary, write the authentic hadith: . The brother of our friend conveyed the words to the brother, the brother spoke with the director of the Waqf—I do not say the minister of Waqf, but the director of Waqf, with a beard and a turban and everything—so he was surprised by this speech and said: What is this talk? It is written on the Umayyad Mosque!! [Everyone laughs!] This is the problem of Muslims today.

The questioner : We have, O honorableThe Shaykh : In Sudan, people claim to be Maliki, and then they say that prayer while the imam is delivering the khutbah is forbidden by the Shari'ah. Then there is a scholar, or one who claims scholarship, but he received favor from the state, and he preaches on television and on the radio and so on. I attended once while he was giving a lesson, and then they asked him for a fatwa on this issue: What is the ruling on the greeting of the mosque prayer while the imam is delivering the khutbah? He said: It is haram.

The Shaykh: Allah is the Greatest!

The questioner : Be patient, and he said, our Shaykh al-Albani, be careful, and our Shaykh al-Albani... our Shaykh al-Albani said: It is haram!! Because listening to the khutbah is obligatory, and the greeting of the mosque is a sunnah; so it is not befitting to leave the obligatory for the sunnah.

The Shaykh: Allah is the Greatest!

The questioner : Then, of course, I do not care... our Shaykh al-Albani, so I stood up and said to him: O Shaykh so-and-so, by AllahThe Shaykh : Al-Albani is very respected among us, but the truth is more respected than him.

The Shaykh : Correct.

The questioner : So our Shaykh al-Albani, if his statement that he made, I return it to a basis from the Sunnah, and he is a researcher in the Sunnah, a verifier, head and eye, but his opinion is not what we accept; especially when we have an authentic hadith in "Sahih al-Bukhari"... this hadith.

The Shaykh : May Allah bless you!

The questioner : So he said to us like this and said: The scholars say: There is no ijtihad in the face of a text. The hadith is authentic, but absolutely we do not speak, our Shaykh al-Albani said.

The Shaykh : Allahu Akbar! Something strange, by Allah, perhaps it was confused for him!!