Subsidiary Issue

Our jurists state that the greeting-of-the-mosque prayer (tahiyyat al-masjid) is disliked in two situations.

1. When one enters while the imam is already engaged in the obligatory congregational prayer, or once the muezzin has begun the iqamah.

2. When one enters al-Masjid al-Ḥaram, for he should not occupy himself with it instead of beginning the tawaf.

If, however, a person arrives while the imam is delivering the sermon—whether on Friday or another day—he must not sit until he has prayed the greeting, keeping it brief. We shall explain this ruling with its proofs in the chapter on the Friday Prayer, if Allah Most High wills.

Subsidiary Issue

Should someone sit in the mosque before praying the greeting and a long interval passes, the opportunity is lost and, by consensus, it is not legislated to make it up, as was mentioned earlier. If the interval is short, our scholars say that the prayer lapses merely by sitting and is not performed afterwards. They discuss an analogous case in the Book of Hajj: a person who enters the Sacred Precinct without assuming ihram cannot make up the ihram later, for it is forfeited by the mere act of entering, just as the greeting is forfeited by sitting.

Imam Abu al-Faḍl Ibn ʿAbdan—one of our authorities—reports in his treatise on acts of worship that if someone forgets the greeting, sits down, and then remembers it an hour later, he should still perform it. This view is unusual. It has, however, been authentically narrated from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said:

“Sulaik al-Ghaṭafani came on Friday while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was seated on the pulpit. Sulaik sat down before praying, so the Prophet said to him, ‘Have you prayed two rakʿahs?’ He replied, ‘No.’ The Prophet then said, ‘Stand and pray them.’”

Muslim transmits it in these words, and al-Bukhari likewise relates it in meaning.

This ḥadith indicates that if a person leaves out the greeting through ignorance or forgetfulness, it remains prescribed for him to offer it so long as the interval has not become lengthy. This is the preferred opinion, reconciling Ibn ʿAbdan’s statement with the words of the jurists, who are understood to speak of the case where the gap is prolonged, thereby avoiding any conflict with the authentic report. This selected view is obligatory because it conforms to the ḥadith and harmonises the various statements. Allah knows best.

Section

Issues pertaining to voluntary prayers

1. It is recommended to pray two rakʿahs after performing wuḍuʾ, based on the sound ḥadiths on the subject. I have clarified the matter and its proofs at the end of the chapter “Description of Wuḍuʾ.” It is also recommended for anyone about to be executed—whether in qiṣāṣ, a ḥadd, or otherwise—to pray beforehand if he can, on the strength of the ḥadith of Abu Hurayrah that Ḥabib ibn ʿAdiyy (may Allah be pleased with him), when the unbelievers took him out to kill him in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), said, “Let me pray two rakʿahs,” thereby becoming the first to pray two rakʿahs before execution. Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated it.

2. Among the Sunnah practices are the two rakʿahs of assuming ihram, and likewise the two rakʿahs after tawaf, on the sounder view that they are not obligatory.

3. The Sunnah for one returning from travel is to pray two rakʿahs in the mosque upon first arrival, as related in the ḥadith of Kaʿb ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him): “Whenever the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) returned from a journey, he would begin with the mosque and pray two rakʿahs there.” Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated it.