What is the ruling on the greeting of the mosque, and do the two rak'ahs of the obligatory prayer suffice in place of the greeting of the mosque?

Another questioner : Regarding this rule, if two obligatory duties coincide, one must perform both this obligatory duty and that obligatory duty. O Shaykh, regarding the greeting of the mosque, according to the view that it is obligatory, if a person wants to pray Fajr, does he pray twice?

The Shaykh : The same answer, but you must distinguish between the greeting of the mosque and the Sunnah of Fajr.

The questioner : No, I mean the obligatory prayer.

The Shaykh : The obligatory prayer.

The questioner : Does the obligatory prayer suffice in place of the two rak'ahs of the greeting of the mosque?

The Shaykh : Ah, I thought the question was different. We say, as is clear to everyone, if Allah wills, that the question I understood from the brother is: A man entered the mosque while the prayer was being performed and did not pray the greeting of the mosque. Does the prayer of greeting drop because he entered the mosque and followed the imam in the obligatory prayer? Is that not the case?

The questioner : No, we say, according to this rule, that the obligatory duty...

The Shaykh : Leave the rule aside. What is the question?

The questioner : The question is that the obligatory duties, as we said...

The Shaykh : Just, my brother, what is the scenario?

The questioner : The scenario is if he did not pray Fajr, entered the mosque, and started the obligatory prayer, leaving the greeting of the mosque?

The Shaykh : This is the question—may Allah guide you—this is the question: what is the difference? I pictured it as someone entering the mosque and wanting to follow the imam. You pictured the question as someone who wants to perform the obligatory prayer himself. "All roads lead to the mill." The question is: A man wants to pray the Fajr obligatory prayer in the mosque, and he has not yet prayed the greeting of the mosque. Does he pray behind the imam or alone? If he prays the Fajr obligatory prayer, is the greeting of the mosque dropped from him? He suspects...The questioner : ...that this issue, when I answer it contrary to what comes to mind, is a contradiction of what I said earlier, which is that one obligatory act does not suffice for another obligatory act. So I will say in this case that the one who entered into the Fajr obligatory prayer before praying the greeting of the mosque has the greeting of the mosque dropped from him. Some listeners might suspect at that point that one obligatory act has sufficed for another. We say this issue differs from what came before, and we want our brothers who find it difficult to bring a case other than this one in which they find an obligatory act that suffices for another. As for this case, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . So the one who prayed the Fajr obligatory prayer, it is true of him that he did not sit except that he prayed two rak'ahs. Therefore, whoever holds that the greeting of the mosque is obligatory and then says that this obligation is dropped in this case, there is no contradiction in this case of the previous rule, which is that one obligatory act does not suffice for another. Otherwise, we would say another case: a man vows to fast a week, for example, or a day from every month, and then the month of Ramadan arrives. He intends his fasting for Ramadan along with his vowed day. Does his fasting suffice for the two obligations, the obligation of Ramadan and the obligation of the vow? This is another case and it is clearer. A man has days from the past Ramadan to make up, so he waits until the second Ramadan enters, and he intends and enters with an intention within an intention. Who says that this suffices? It is necessary, and one obligatory act does not suffice for another. The greeting of the mosque differs because it is tied to the cause of not sitting except after prayer, so the one who prayed the Fajr obligatory prayer, it is true of him that he sat after prayer.