—those that are linked to a specific cause—during the otherwise prohibited hours brings together all the proofs, assigning each of them its proper place. Moreover, such permission multiplies acts of worship that rest on sound, authoritative evidence from the Sacred Law.

This disagreement was already noted under the narration of Ibn ʿAbbās, ḥadith [52]. Here we add further clarity from the words of Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah: he relates that he once withheld judgment on cause-bound prayers because of the arguments advanced by those who forbid them. After investigation he found those proofs either weak or irrelevant. Take, for example, the Prophet’s saying, “When any one of you enters the mosque, let him not sit until he has prayed two rakʿahs.” The wording is wholly general and carries no qualification, whereas every text that prohibits prayer is restricted in some way. Therefore, the unrestricted general text must be given precedence—it is a binding proof by the consensus of the early scholars. It is also authentically established that the Prophet ﷺ ordered a man who entered during the Friday sermon to perform the taḥiyyat al-masjid.

As for the ḥadith of Ibn ʿUmar in the two Ṣaḥīḥs—“Do not deliberately time your prayers for sunrise or sunset”—it concerns only unrestricted voluntary prayers. Some cause-bound prayers are expressly permitted in the texts, such as the two rakʿahs after ṭawāf and repeating the congregational prayer with the local imam; others are endorsed by both text and unanimous agreement, such as the funeral prayer after ʿaṣr. When one looks for the rationale behind their permissibility, no cause is found except that each prayer possesses its own reason. The Sacred Law has established that a prayer is to be performed to the best of one’s ability when there is fear its time may lapse—even if it could be performed later in fuller form. The same principle applies to voluntary prayers that arise from a particular cause.

Lessons derived from the ḥadith

1. The greeting of the mosque (taḥiyyat al-masjid) is legislated for anyone who enters it. The Ẓāhirī school deems it obligatory on the strength of this narration’s plain meaning, while the majority considers it recommended.
2. It is prescribed at all times, even during the periods in which prayer is normally forbidden, because of the general wording of the ḥadith. The earlier discussion of cause-bound prayers applies here as well.
3. It is recommended to be in a state of wuḍūʾ when entering the mosque, lest one miss this commanded prayer.
4. Scholars have limited the greeting of the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to ṭawāf. Yet whoever does not intend to circumambulate, or finds it difficult, should not neglect the prayer; he should instead perform two rakʿahs.