If a man enters the mosque shortly before the Maghrib adhan, is it permissible for him to pray the greeting of the mosque?

The questioner : He says: If I enter shortly before the Maghrib adhan, is it permissible for me to pray two rak'ahs or not?

The Shaykh : It is permissible, indeed it is obligatory. What is not permissible is to sit before you pray what is permissible, indeed what is obligatory. This is based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): . The doubt that arises for some students of knowledge on this occasion is that it is a time of dislike; so how is the greeting of the mosque permissible?
Our answer comes from two aspects: the first is deductive, and the second is analogical, specifically by way of a priori analogy. As for the first aspect, there is a rule mentioned by the scholars of hadith in the science of terminology, and Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah stated it in reconciling the hadith of the greeting with the hadiths prohibiting prayer in the known times. The scholars of hadith—and Ibn Taymiyyah with them—say: If two contradictory hadiths come and they cannot be reconciled except by applying one to the other, or in other words, by specifying one of the two general texts with the other, which one is suitable to be specified and which is suitable to be the specifier? They said: If one of the two general texts has already been specified by other texts, and the other general text has not been specified, then the general text that has been specified by other texts is specified by the general text that has not been specified.
And its example is what we are discussing: His saying (peace and blessings be upon him): is a general text; because the "if" is conditional in any circumstance, in any state, and in any time. The meaning of the hadith is: if you entered the mosque, pray two rak'ahs. This is a general text. Opposing this general text is: . This is also a general text prohibiting all prayer in these two times. So, do we specify the hadith of the greeting with the hadith prohibiting prayer in these two times, or do we specify the hadith prohibiting prayer in these two times with the hadith of the greeting?
The answer is this, and the reason is that the hadith prohibiting prayer in the two times is not in its generality and comprehensiveness; it has been specified by many, and very many, specifiers. For example: . So, this person woke up for the Fajr prayer at the rising of the sun, and the Messenger said this is the time for this forgotten prayer. A man forgot the 'Asr prayer until the sun was about to set or had set; so he prays it even if it is a time of dislike where prayer is prohibited. And the specifiers are many, and very many. Abu al-Tayyib al-Hindi did well in his book called "I'lam Ahl al-Asr" with what?

Another questioner : "With the rulings of the two rak'ahs of the Fajr sunnah."

The Shaykh : "With the rulings of the two rak'ahs of the Fajr sunnah." He collected the hadiths that specify the times in which prayer is prohibited. And among that was what I mentioned earlier, the forgotten prayer. Among that, for example, what comes to my mind is the prayer of one who prayed the Fajr prayer in his house, then came to the mosque and found them praying; so he prays with them even if the prayer after his prayer is prohibited. And so on. So, we specify the hadiths prohibiting prayer in the known times in the hadith: . Because these hadiths prohibiting prayer have been specified, and that means their generality has weakened. Meanwhile, the generality of the hadith: , since it was not specified, remained in its comprehensive, absolute generality. It is possible to apply this absolute generality to that specified generality. So the result is: no prayer after 'Asr, no prayer after Fajr, except the greeting of the mosque, due to that generality which was not specified. This is the first aspect.
The second aspect, as I said, is a priori analogy. You all know, if Allah wills, that when Salik al-Ghatafani entered while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was delivering the sermon, he sat down. So he said to him: . He said: No. He said: . Then he turned to those sitting here = -- listen, O Shaykh -- = then he turned to those present and said: . Prayer while the imam is delivering the sermon is prohibited, and voluntary prayer is prohibited. So, if we find that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered the greeting of the mosque in this time where voluntary prayer is generally prohibited, we take from this an indication that the greeting of the mosque is prayed in the times in which prayer is prohibited. And this is a time in which prayer is prohibited. And this is, in reality, jurisprudence that has not been mentioned in the books of jurisprudence. When the books of jurisprudence mention the times in which prayer is disliked, they do not mention that the time when the imam is delivering the sermon is among the times in which prayer is disliked. Therefore, there are two benefits here: the first benefit is that it should be added to the disliked times that the time when the imam is delivering the sermon is included, and the second benefit is that this time in which prayer is prohibited is utilized to permit the greeting of the mosque in the other disliked times; by the proof that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . This is the answer to the previous question.

Another questioner : O our Shaykh, regarding voluntary prayer after the Fajr prayer in general, it is not considered specified by the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): .

The Shaykh : And what is the meaning of the previous statement?

Another questioner : I mean, you said... the general [ruling] is that only the greeting of the mosque is [permitted], that is how I understood it.

The Shaykh : I said: "Except"? I did not say "Except," my brother. I said the opposite; I told you: these times in which prayer is prohibited have many specifiers, which Abu al-Tayyib al-Hindi collected in his aforementioned book, and I mentioned some examples by way of approximation. So this "except" came out of your own pocket, O Mufid!

Another questioner : Okay, O our Shaykh, if a person prays Fajr with the congregation in the mosque, then returns to his house and prays the Fajr congregation there; is it permissible for him?

The Shaykh : It is permissible.
Other than that?