A Reminder Regarding the Greeting of the Mosque

The Shaykh : And after I finish this talk, I must remind you of some matters that contradict the Sunnah, indeed that contradict the noble Prophetic command. Some people enter the mosque at such a time and sit in the mosque as a hen sits on her chicks; he does not pray two rak'ahs for Allah the Exalted. I know that he thinks that because this is a time of dislike, it is not prescribed to pray the two rak'ahs of greeting at this time. The answer is that for every rule there is an exception. It is true that there are times when prayer is disliked, but the scholars of old differed regarding these times: do they include every prayer, even if it is an obligatory one? For example, a man put his head down after praying the midday prayer and did not wake up until the time of dislike. Does he pray this prayer, the afternoon prayer, or not? The answer is yes, by consensus. So the prohibition of prayer in the disliked times is not on this absolute level; it has specific exceptions. There is a very good book that I advise students of knowledge who have a desire to know the causes of disagreement, and then to reach through this knowledge to the truth in which people differed, and that is the book by Shams al-Haqq al-Abadi titled "Informing the People of the Era of the Rulings of the Two Rak'ahs of the Dawn Sunnah." In it, he mentions many texts from the authentic Sunnah that specify the times in which prayer is prohibited, including our topic just now, which is that if one enters the mosque at a time when prayer is not prescribed—yes, prayer is not prescribed at that time—except for the greeting of the mosque. Why? Because of a general text, namely his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): And because of another text that is stronger in indication than this one, because this is a general text that is open to discussion, and the discussion is not a place for delving into it now. But the other text is very strong after its explanation and clarification. You know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was delivering the Friday sermon when a man from the Companions named Sulaik al-Ghatafani (may Allah be pleased with him) entered and sat down. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) interrupted his sermon to say to him: He said: No. He said: Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) turned his general address to those sitting in the mosque, saying to them: Meaning, he should shorten them and lighten the recitation in them. The point of this hadith does not become clear except with a short introduction: You know that enjoining good and forbidding evil, and the preacher is delivering the Friday sermon—even if it is with just one word—and if you see someone talking while the preacher is preaching, you know that it is not permissible to say to him: "Be quiet, be silent." This enjoining of good, which is originally obligatory, this obligation drops while the preacher is preaching. So if you know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) addressed the Companions generally with his saying: That means that in this time, where the obligatory act is not permissible in its original state, namely enjoining good, consequently, absolute voluntary prayer is not permissible. But he commanded the two rak'ahs of the greeting of the mosque. So the greeting of the mosque is prayed in the time when absolute voluntary prayer is disliked. Now, for example, it is not permissible for a person to pray voluntary prayers, but if he enters the mosque, it is not permissible for him to sit except after he prays two rak'ahs. This prayer and its like are described by some scholars from the Shafi'i imams as being among those with causes. This is very sound jurisprudential speech. Prayers with causes differ from absolute voluntary prayers. Absolute voluntary prayers are the ones intended by the prohibition of prayer in the disliked times: the three and the two, totaling five. But voluntary prayers with causes, like the greeting of the mosque and the sunnah of wudu, and the like, are prescribed in the time of dislike. This is the summary of this important issue, and the most important of them is the greeting of the mosque, because the Messenger commanded it while he was preaching and did not allow him to sit except after he prayed. How is it that one of us enters the mosque and is talking like I am talking—what is his value compared to the Prophet's sermon? Nothing worth mentioning. Or he enters the mosque and no one is talking or lecturing or teaching, and he sits claiming that it is a time of dislike. You must know that the time of dislike is specific to absolute voluntary prayers. As for voluntary prayers that have causes, they are not merely disliked, but they are prescribed. You should know this. There are other things as well. If you have questions now, we are ready to hear them and answer what we can answer.