His second question asks: What is the ruling on one who does not perform the greeting of the mosque at the time of Maghrib?

The questioner : His second question asks: What is the ruling on one who does not perform the greeting of the mosque at the time of Maghrib?

The Shaykh : The questioner’s mention of “at the time of Maghrib” appears to mean after the Maghrib adhan. If that is the case, then the person sitting is disobeying the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) because of the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): Here, the person entered the mosque outside a prohibited time, so if he sits, he has disobeyed the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in a matter with no counter-evidence. However, if the questioner meant that he entered for the Maghrib prayer before the sun set and sat down, then this is a matter in which scholars differ, based on the fact that the hadith we mentioned, , has a counter-evidence, which is the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibition of prayer after Asr until the sun sets. Some scholars hold that one who enters the mosque at the time of Asr should sit and not pray the greeting of the mosque. But the stronger view is that he should pray the greeting of the mosque, even if he entered after Asr or just before sunset, due to the generality of the Messenger’s (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: Indeed, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had a man enter while he was delivering the Friday sermon, and the man sat down. The Prophet said: He said, “No.” The Prophet said: If a person is commanded not to sit until he prays even in this situation, the state of the sermon where listening is obligatory, how much more so if he enters in a situation other than this? Furthermore, the hadith is a clear, decisive hadith that has not been restricted; rather, its generality is preserved. As for the hadith prohibiting prayer after Asr, it is a hadith restricted by specific matters that those who prohibit the greeting of the mosque at this time acknowledge. If it is restricted by specific hadiths or specific circumstances, it indicates that it is a general hadith whose generality is not preserved. The principles of jurisprudence differ on whether the generality of a general hadith whose generality is not preserved remains as proof or not. The correct view is that it remains as proof in matters other than the restriction, but its generality becomes weak, unlike a general hadith whose generality is preserved.
In any case, the stronger view in the issue of prayer in prohibited times is that every prayer that has a cause, such as entering the mosque, the sunnah of wudu, and istikharah for something that would be missed before the prohibited time ends, and others, has no prohibited time. This is the choice of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, the school of al-Shafi'i, and one of the two narrations from Imam Ahmad.

The questioner : May Allah reward you.
Dear listeners, we have reached the end of this session in which we presented the questions of the gentlemen.