Benefits of the Hadith: (When one of you enters the mosque, let him not sit down until he prays two rak'ahs).

The Shaykh : The hadith contains several benefits, among which are:
The prescription of prayer upon entering the mosque before sitting, based on his saying: Is this prescription obligatory or recommended? The scholars differed on this, and the majority held that it is recommended. The argument of those who say it is obligatory is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade sitting until one prays two rak'ahs, and the default ruling regarding prohibition is prohibition, because it is an act of worship, and the default ruling regarding prohibition in acts of worship is prohibition.
And among the proofs is The point of indication is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) interrupted the khutbah while it was being delivered to the people, and the people were stretching their necks to listen to it, yet he interrupted it to address this man.
Second, he ordered him to pray and to be brief in his prayer, even though this prayer would occupy him from listening to the khutbah, and being occupied from listening to the khutbah is forbidden, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This is in addition to the fact that it is a prohibition of an evil.
A third point is that he said, "Be brief in them," which indicates that this prayer is like a necessity, measured by its extent. There is no doubt that this is strong reasoning, so the position that the greeting of the mosque is obligatory is very strong.
As for the argument of those who say it is not obligatory, they cited several matters, among which is:
That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) So his saying: does not include every prayer, whether it has a cause or not. However, there is some consideration in this reasoning, because the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) intention was the five permanent prayers. There is no permanent prayer that is obligatory with the permanence of days other than these five prayers. Yes, this hadith can be used as evidence for the non-obligation of the witr prayer, because it is a prayer that is repeated in the day and night, so this hadith is used as evidence for its non-obligation, i.e., the witr prayer. And the response to this evidence is that the prayer of entering the mosque has an incidental cause, so it is restricted by its cause, like the eclipse prayer, for example, according to those who see it as obligatory; it is outside the five, but it has a cause that made it obligatory. And like the 'Id prayer, which is obligatory and is outside the five prayers, but it has what?
The student: A cause.

The Shaykh : It has a cause, which is the 'Id. So the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) intention by his saying: the prayers are what?
The student: The five.

The Shaykh : Those that revolve with the revolution of the days. Likewise, they said in response to this reasoning: If a person vowed to pray, is the prayer obligatory on him?
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : The prayer is obligatory on him, even though it is not one of the five prayers, but it has a cause, which is the vow. So the important point is that the reasoning with this hadith does not hold.
Okay, they said, and among the proofs that it is not obligatory is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) used to come to Jumu'ah, he used to come to Jumu'ah and start with the khutbah without praying two rak'ahs. This indicates that the greeting of the mosque is not obligatory. This reasoning might lead someone to say that there is some consideration in it, because the khatib does not sit in the khutbah except between the two khutbahs, and that is a brief sitting to show the difference between what? The two khutbahs, in deed and in speech. As for in speech, he will be silent at the first khutbah, and as for in deed, he will sit. Also, the khutbah is attached to the Jumu'ah prayer, and he did not sit after the khutbah, but he would start the Jumu'ah prayer. So the reasoning is weak.
They also reasoned that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), when he entered Makkah and entered al-Masjid al-Haram, started with tawaf and then prayed two rak'ahs after that. This reasoning also has some consideration, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) started the tawaf and kept walking; he did not sit. Indeed, he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not sit, but he performed tawaf and then prayed two rak'ahs. So the important point is that the position that the greeting of the mosque is obligatory is a strong position, and one hardly finds a clear proof indicating its non-obligation.
They also reasoned for the non-obligation with the story of Ka'b ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) when he entered the mosque when Allah accepted his repentance and the people received him congratulating him, and it was not mentioned in the hadith that he prayed two rak'ahs. But this reasoning also has some consideration, because it can be said that Ka'b ibn Malik was not in a state of wudu', and one who is not in a state of wudu' is not obligated to pray. So how can we say that prayer is obligatory while he is not in a state of wudu'? If someone says that Ka'b ibn Malik narrated from himself that the good news came to him after the Fajr prayer, and the default is the continuation of his wudu', so he entered the mosque in a state of wudu', we say this is not certain, it is not certain. And if there is probability in the reasoning, the reasoning with it is invalid.
They also reasoned with the story of the three men who entered the mosque, so one of them sat in the circle, the second behind the circle, and the third turned away, and it was not mentioned that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) ordered them to pray. The response to this reasoning is that this is a specific case, so perhaps the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw them when they entered and they prayed, and it is not in the hadith that they did not pray two rak'ahs. In any case, if a person wants to clear his conscience, he should not sit when he enters the mosque while in a state of purity until he prays two rak'ahs.
Among the benefits of this hadith is that the two rak'ahs are prayed at every time, due to the generality of his saying: Because "when" is an absolute time particle, not restricted, so one prays the greeting of the mosque at any time he enters, even after the Fajr prayer, even after the Fajr prayer, even after the 'Asr prayer, even when the sun is rising at the time of zawal, so one prays the greeting of the mosque whenever he enters. And it was said that one does not pray the greeting of the mosque, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: And this is a prohibition of prayer, of any prayer, because "not" is a negation of the genus, so its negation is a text for generalization, so one does not pray. But the response to this is that this hadith is specific in time and general in prayer, specific in time and general in prayer. How? Specific in time from the Fajr prayer to the rising of the sun, from the 'Asr prayer to the setting of the sun, general in what?
The student: In prayer.

The Shaykh : In prayer, and the hadith of Abu Qatadah is general in time and specific in prayer, so between them there is generality and specificity from one aspect, each of them is more general than the other from one aspect. And at that time, we look at which one is stronger in generality. So when we look at which one is stronger in generality, it becomes clear that the stronger in generality is the hadith of Abu Qatadah So we take its generality and say that at any time you enter the mosque, do not sit until you pray two rak'ahs. And this position is the stronger one, that there is no time of prohibition for the greeting of the mosque.
If someone asks, can the remaining voluntary prayers that have a cause be analogized to it, like the sunnah of wudu' and the prayer of istikharah for what is missed, and the like of this? The answer is yes, it can be analogized to it, because the 'illah is one, which is the existence of the cause. So due to the strength of this cause, the prohibition was lifted. Also, in some wordings of the hadith of prohibition: And this indicates that the intended meaning is the one who seeks to pray and prays in the time of prohibition, which is the one who prays a voluntary prayer that has no cause. So the correct opinion is the other narration from Imam Ahmad, which is the madhhab of al-Shafi'i and the choice of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, that there is no prohibition for every prayer that has a cause. Every prayer that has a cause has no prohibition for it. From that, for example, the two rak'ahs of wudu', the two rak'ahs of tawaf, the two rak'ahs of istikharah for what is missed, and others.
And among the benefits of this hadith is that if one prays an obligatory prayer upon entering the mosque, that suffices. The point of indication is that the obligatory prayer is validly described as two rak'ahs. So if one enters the mosque and prays the Fajr prayer and sits, he has fulfilled what is required of him, because the hadith is general and the intended meaning is opening the mosque with a prayer of two rak'ahs, and this is achieved by the obligatory prayer just as it is achieved by the voluntary prayer.
Among the benefits of this hadith is that if a person prays only one rak'ah, it does not suffice for him, just as if a person had not prayed witr and entered the mosque and prayed witr with one rak'ah, it would not suffice due to the apparent meaning of the hadith, because he said: and he did not specify, meaning he did not say "until he prays." If he had said "until he prays," there would be no doubt; he said "two rak'ahs." Likewise, if he entered and prayed the Maghrib prayer, he did not pray two rak'ahs but rather three. However, it is said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said this regarding the regular practice, whereas for the rare case, if a prayer is named by the Shari'ah, it suffices for the two rak'ahs. Based on this, if a person enters the mosque at the end of the night and has not prayed witr, and he prays witr with one rak'ah and then sits, he has fulfilled what is required of him. And the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) is based on the common case; otherwise, if he prays one rak'ah or three rak'ahs, he has fulfilled what is required of him.
Among the benefits of this hadith is that if a person enters a musalla, there is no greeting prayer required of him. The musalla is the place a person designates for prayer in his house, his farm, or something similar, because this musalla is not called a mosque.
Among the benefits of this hadith is that if a person enters the Eid prayer area, he should not sit until he prays two rak'ahs, because the Eid prayer area is a mosque.
If someone asks, "What is the evidence that the Eid prayer area is a mosque?" The answer is that the evidence for this is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) and this ruling is specific to mosques, meaning that a menstruating woman does not enter the mosque; this is specific to mosques. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned a ruling specific to mosques that is established for the Eid prayer area, that indicates that the Eid prayer area is a mosque. For this reason, our jurists (may Allah have mercy on them), specifically the Hanbalis, said: "The Eid prayer area is a mosque, not the funeral prayer area. The Eid prayer area is a mosque, not the funeral prayer area." How is the funeral prayer area? Because they used to designate a specific area for funerals outside the mosque, so this area left for praying over the dead does not have the rulings of mosques, unlike the Eid prayer area.
If someone asks, "Did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) not pray two rak'ahs when he entered for the Eid prayer?" The answer is that he did pray them, because the Eid prayer is prescribed from the time the imam arrives.
If someone asks, "People go out to the Eid prayer area early, and that is a time of prohibition, so what is the answer?" The answer is: As for the opinion of those who hold that the greeting prayer for the mosque is not prayed during the time of prohibition, he does not pray it. As for the stronger opinion, which is that the greeting prayer for the mosque is prayed even during the time of prohibition, let him pray it. This means there is no difference between the Eid prayer area and other mosques.
Among the benefits of this hadith is the exaltation of mosques, and this is the point in the context of this hadith in the chapter on mosques: the exaltation of mosques to the extent that a person does not sit in them until he performs the greeting to Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Al-Aqili, does the one praying perform the greeting to Allah?
The student: Yes, indeed.

The Shaykh : With what?
The student: Two rak'ahs.

The Shaykh : No, other than the two rak'ahs? Do you not say in the prayer "The greetings are for Allah"? We greet Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in our prayer "The greetings are for Allah, and the prayers and the good things".