Benefits of the Hadith: (Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I had two entrances to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)...)

The Shaykh : In this hadith, there are benefits, among which is that it contains a virtue for Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him), in that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) granted him two entrances, one at night and the other during the day. Among the benefits of the hadith is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) used to pray in his house, and he used to pray in his house except for the obligatory prayer. He said: So, he (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray in his house everything except the prescribed prayers and those for which congregation is prescribed. When we say "and those for which congregation is prescribed," we mean the eclipse prayer, according to the view that it is a recommended practice, and standing in night prayer in Ramadan. Indeed, he (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) prayed with his Companions for three nights and then stopped on the fourth night, fearing that it would become obligatory upon us. Among the benefits of this hadith is the permissibility of clearing one's throat in prayer, whether one or two letters are pronounced or not, because the hadith is general regarding clearing the throat and was not restricted to one or two letters. Among the benefits is that it is recommended for a person, when someone asks permission to enter while he is praying, to make his state clear to the one asking so that he is aware. Otherwise, it is permissible for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) to remain silent until he finishes the prayer and then grant permission, but this is not recommended. Rather, what is recommended is to make it clear to your brother that you are in prayer. Among the benefits is the prohibition of speaking in prayer. The evidence for this is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) turned to clearing his throat instead of speaking. It is known that clearing the throat in response is a lesser form of interaction than speaking, because the one who is responded to with speech is in a higher status than the one who is responded to by clearing the throat. This becomes apparent if one of you addressed me and I cleared my throat for him, while another addressed me and I addressed him with speech; the second status is higher than the first. If speaking were permissible in prayer, the best of people in character, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), would have spoken. If someone asks: Is it permissible to alert a person by means other than clearing the throat? The answer is: Yes, he can recite tasbih, or raise his voice with recitation or dhikr, according to what he says, because the intention is to alert the person entering that this person is in prayer. Now, if a telephone... is next to you, is it permissible for you to pick it up and say: Wait, for I am praying? Answer.
The student: No.

The Shaykh : No. So what do you do? Either I leave it, and I am certainly excused, or I pick it up and clear my throat, or I say: Allahu Akbar, or Subhan Rabbi al-A'la, or Subhan Rabbi al-Azim, and then I put the receiver down. As for saying: I am praying, or something similar, based on the fact that he may not understand, no.