What is the ruling on the two rak'ahs of greeting the mosque for one who enters it for a purpose other than prayer, such as a circle of knowledge?

The questioner : There is a hadith: In it, he sat without praying two rak'ahs. Also, there is another hadith in Sunan al-Nasa'i, where al-Nasa'i titled the chapter: "The Chapter on the Dispensation to Sit in the Mosque and Leave It Without Praying," and he mentioned the long hadith of Ka'b ibn Malik, in which it says: "So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came and prayed two rak'ahs, then the apologizers from among the hypocrites came to him. He said: 'So I came forward, and he smiled the smile of one who is angry, then he called me, and I sat between his hands.'" In this, too, he sat without praying. So, can we say that the one who enters the mosque not for the purpose of prayer, but for a circle of knowledge, or for example to invite a certain person, or for something else, can this be included in...?

The Shaykh : First, neither of the two hadiths—especially the first one, where he sat in the gap—states that he entered from outside the mosque and went to the circle. It is possible that he prayed in one of the corners of the mosque, then came to the circle of the Messenger (peace be upon him) and sat where he could see him. If the hadith explicitly stated that the one who sat in the circle did not pray the greeting of the mosque, the question would be answered. But it does not contain this explicit statement, so there is no problem. Similarly, the hadith of Talhah does not contain this explicit statement. However, it is answered with another response, which is that incidental and sudden matters are not dealt with by the general system and general principle, but rather, as for us, considering that we are those obligated by the law, it is obligatory upon us to apply the explicit hadith that dealt with the situation you are imagining with your two hadiths. And it is not necessary that it be so, as we mentioned. Such a situation occurred in the time of the Messenger (peace be upon him), and the answer was: And I mean other than the hadith of Salik al-Ghatafani, although the hadith of Salik al-Ghatafani is a stronger proof.

The questioner : He mentioned it in the Friday sermon, that he came

The Shaykh : I say: Even though the hadith of Salik al-Ghatafani is stronger.

The questioner : In terms of authenticity, not in terms of indication.

The Shaykh : It is stronger in establishing the greeting of the mosque before sitting. But I mention, in any case, the hadith I referred to. The hadith is in Sahih Muslim, and perhaps also in al-Bukhari, from the hadith of Abu Qatadah al-Ansari, that he or someone else—the doubt is from me now—entered the mosque and the Messenger was sitting in it, so he sat with him, and he said to him: Then he mentioned the famous hadith: And in the other narration: This is the hadith of Abu Qatadah on a day other than Friday. And from the scientific and jurisprudential principles is that the hadith explicit in indication is preferred over the hadith that is not explicit in indication. So it is not permissible to neglect acting upon the hadith of Abu Qatadah because of the two hadiths you mentioned, for two reasons or more. One is that the answer to it has already been given, and the other is that it is taken from the rulings, the additional over the additional. So we can say: If each of the two hadiths you mentioned were explicit in indication regarding not greeting, and that the Messenger approved that, we would say: But here a new legislation has come, in the manner we were discussing recently regarding the hadith of the one who messed up his prayer. We said: It is possible to find new rulings. So here, the hadith of Abu Qatadah is explicit in this matter: he sat, and he was ordered not to sit except after the greeting. I said earlier in the course of my speech: that the Friday hadith is stronger in indication, why? Because it depicts to us the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) concern in ordering the greeting more than the hadith of Abu Qatadah. Because the Messenger being in a regular circle in the mosque and seeing a man sitting with him and ordering him to greet is one thing, and him preaching to the people and interrupting his sermon to teach this one who entered, who is Salik al-Ghatafani, and saying to him: Then he turns to the congregation of praying people present and says: This confirms the importance of the greeting of the mosque more than the hadith of Abu Qatadah. Because we know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say: Enjoining good and forbidding evil, which is one of the obligatory duties, is dropped at that time when the preacher is preaching. So if this is the case with enjoining good and forbidding evil, but the Messenger orders the one who entered—who is forbidden from enjoining good and forbidding evil—to not sit except after praying the greeting. And it is not hidden from you all that among the wisdom—if we do not say the cause—in the Messenger's (peace be upon him) prohibition of a man saying to his companion on Friday "Be quiet," is that in that is a diversion for him and the one ordered from listening to the sermon. There is no doubt that the one who enters for the greeting is diverted more and more from listening to the sermon. So if this is the case—and despite all this—he (peace be upon him) said: Then he directed the general order to... that they do as he ordered this person when he enters and the preacher is preaching.
So, we act upon the explicit text and prefer it over the text that did not explicitly state not to greet, with the possibility that it was before the legislation of the greeting or before the order for it, at least.

The questioner : Meaning, the one who made me prefer this

The Shaykh : May Allah bless you. We do not blame you. We thank you.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : Meaning, even if it wasThe questioner : Mistaken, this error leads us to the truth, so in it is much good.

The questioner : Also, I have an observation...

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : If reconciliation is possible, and it seems he wants to say that the brother, your speech is now clear, so if reconciliation is possible, should I not prefer it over preference?

The Shaykh : It is not preference here, may Allah bless you. Preference is preferring one text over another in terms of it being stronger. This is the reconciliation we were in. We were not in the process of preference, we were in the process of reconciliation. The greeting is silent about in the first and second hadith, the greeting is ordered in the first and second hadith. This is reconciliation, not preference.

The questioner : So he mentioned another reconciliation

The Shaykh : What is it?

The questioner : And that is that the order is for the one who entered for prayer, for the one who wants to enter the mosque to pray, he is ordered to bow two rak'ahs. As for the one who entered the mosque to listen to a sermon other than Friday, who entered the mosque to listen to a lesson, he is not ordered. This is reconciliation.

The Shaykh : The hadith of Abu Qatadah refutes this, his first hadith, because he entered the mosque and sat in the circle of the Messenger.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Yes, other than him.

The questioner : Shaykh, may Allah bless you, we have two questions...

The Shaykh : Do you allow?

Another questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh: Go ahead.