Friday Reminder

Mistakes Regarding Performing Tahiyyatul Masjid on Fridays

Upon entering the mosque on Friday, some people commit several mistakes one of which is sitting without performing Tahiyyatul Masjid especially those who attend the mosque late while the Imām is delivering the Khutbah.

It was previously mentioned that once a man entered the mosque [while the prophet (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) was delivering his Khutbah] and then the man sat down without performing Tahiyyatul Masjid. Seeing this, the prophet (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said: ‘Whoever enters the mosque while the Imām is delivering the Khutbah on Friday should perform two short Rak‘ahs’.([1])

The hadīth indicates that listening to the Imām’s Khutbah should not hinder one from doing Tahiyyatul Masjid. Those who believe in the opposite think that the prophet’s (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) hadīth related by Ibn ‘Umar (radhiAllaahu 'anhu) to be their evidence. The hadīth states: ‘When the Khatīb ascends the pulpit, no Salāt is to be done, nor speech to take place’!!

This hadīth is, however, a fabricated one. It was narrated by At-Tabarānī in “Al-Kabīr”, and there is Ayyūb Ibn Nahik in its chain of narrators.([2])

Besides having a weak chain of narrators, this hadīth contradicts the purport of the previously mentioned one which bears a clear order of doing the two Rak‘ahs even if the Imām is on the pulpit.

Accordingly, it is of sheer ignorance that some Khutabah prohibit those who attend the mosque while the former are delivering their Khutbahs from doing these two Rak‘ahs and hence contradicting the prophet’s (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) order. I am afraid that such Khutabah fall under Allāh’s threat which states: [أرأيت الذي ينهى * عبداً إذا صلى]

‘Have you (O Muhammad) seen him (i.e. Abū Jahl and the like) who prevents, a slave (Muhammad) when he prays?’.([3])

And He (AzzawaJal) said:

[لا تجعلوا دعاء الرسول بينكم كدعاء بعضكم بعضاً قد يعلم الله الذين يتسللون منكم لواذاً فليحذر الذين يخالفون عن أمره أن تصيبهم فتنة أو يصيبهم عذاب أليم]

‘And let those who oppose the Messenger’s commandment (i.e. his Sunnah), be ware lest some Fitnah (disbelief, weakness of faith, Bid‘ah, hypocracy, … etc.) before them or a painful torment be inflicted on them’.([4])

Accordingly, An-Nawawī said: ‘This is a crystal clear text to which diverted interpretations have no access. None of the ‘Ulamah who know this hadīth and believe in its authenticity rejects it’.([5])

The phrase “while the Imām is delivering his speech” -in the previously mentioned hadīth- indicates that talking while the Imām is not delivering his speech is not prohibited.

Tha‘labah’s Ibn Abī Mālik narration supports this. He said: ‘They [i.e. the Sahābah] used to talk while ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb was sitting on the pulpit till the Mu’aththin finishes his ’Athān and then he (t) stands to deliver his two Khutbahs, at this moment no one speaks till he finishes them’.([6])

‘This indicates that the Imām’s ascent on the pulpit does not prevent one from speaking or doing Tahiyyatul Masjid but his delivering the Khutbahs does regarding the former. So the hadīth under discussion is false. May Allāh (Azzawajal) guide us to the right path’.([7])

Al-Hāfith Ibn Hajar said: ‘Our reverend Shaikh Abul Fadl said in “Sharh Al-Tirmithī”: ‘All the Sahābah who prohibited that one does Salāt while the Imām is delivering his speech, their prohibition is addressed to those who are already present in the mosque [and want to do Nāfilah Salāt]. None of them prohibited doing Tahiyyatul Masjid. Besides, the order of doing it is clearly stated in an independent hadīth that should not be abandoned for just a probable interpretation of other narrations’.([8])

Imām Ash-Shāfi‘ī said: ‘Whoever enters the mosque while the Imām is delivering his speech or while the ’Athān is being called should perform the two Rak‘ahs and should make them short in accordance with the prophet’s (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) order’.([9])

He also said: ‘If there is no enough time to do these two Rak‘ahs because the Imām is at the end of his Khutbah and is about to engage in the Salāt, one does not have to do them.

In my opinion, the Imām in such a case should try to prolong his Khutbah and order him to perform the two Rak‘ahs. If the Imām did not do this -which is detested-, he incurs no sin upon himself.’.([10])

Upon entering the mosque while the Imām is still delivering the first Khutbah, some people sit till he finishes it and sits then they perform Tahiyyatul Masjid. This act is indeed an act of ignorance that contradicts the prophet’s (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) hadīth which states: ‘Whoever attends the mosque on Friday while the Imām is delivering the speech should do two short Rak‘ahs’.([11])

Some of those who attend the mosque while the Mu’aththin is calling the ’Athān and the Khatīb is sitting on the pulpit, wait for the former to finish and the latter to start delivering the Khutbah then they start performing Tahiyyatul Masjid.

This is indeed a mistake for listening to the Khutbah is an obligation unlike listening to and repeating the ’Athān after the Mu’aththin; which is a Sunnah. This is affirmed by Tha‘labah’s Ibn Abī Mālik Al-Qurathī statement. He said: ‘During ‘Umar’s and ‘Uthmān’s caliphates, when the Imām ascend the pulpit no one would perform Salāt and when he starts his Khutbah no one would speak’.([12])

‘The aforementioned ’Athar indicates that repeating the ’Athān after the Mu’aththin is not an obligation for it was proved that the Sahābah at ‘Umar’s time used to talk while the ’Athān is being called and for which ‘Umar never criticized any one. I was often asked about this matter and delivered this very same ruling. Allāh (AzzawaJal) knows that which is right’.([13])

An-Nawawī reported that some well-versed scholars held that if one is unable to perform Tahiyyatul Masjid, one should wait standing till the Iqāmah is called for one should not perform optional Salāt while the Iqāmah is being called and at the same time must not sit before doing Tahiyyatul Masjid.([14])

This view is indeed right in case one enters the mosque and finds that the Khatīb has already finished his speech and the Iqāamah is about to be called [or being called]. Allāh (AzzawaJal) know what is right.

By Shaykh Mashhoor Hassan as-Salmaan (http://salaf-us-saalih.com)

([1]) The narrators of this hadīth were previously mentioned.

([2]) This is mentioned in “Majma‘ Az-Zawā’id” (vol. 2 / p. 184); the book says: ‘In the hadīth’s chain of narrators there is Ayyūb Ibn Nahik who is a weak narrator judged to be so by a group of hadīth scholars’. In “As-Sunnan Al-Kubrā” (vol. 3 / p. 193), Al-Baihaqī said: ‘Tracing this hadīth back to the prophet (Sallalaahu Alaihi wa Sallam) is a grievous mistake’.

Az-Zayla‘ī agreed with Al-Baihaqī in the former’s “Nasbur Rāyah” (vol. 2 / p. 201). Abū Hātim also stated the same view about Abū Ayyūb Ibn Nahik from whom Abū Zur‘ah does not narrate any hadīth. Abu Zur‘ah stated that Ibn Nahik’s narrations were never recited to him [by his Sahikhs].

See also: “Al-Jarh Wat Ta‘dīl” (vol. 1 / 1 / 259), “Fathul Bārī” (vol. 2 / p. 409) and “Silsilat Al-Ahādīth Ad-Da‘īfah Wal Mawdū‘āh” (no. 87).

([3]) “Sūrat Al-‘Alaq” (verses no. 9, 10).

([4]) “Sūrat An-Nūr” (verse no. 63).

([5]) “Sharah Sahīh Muslim” by An-Nawawī (vol. 6 / p. 164) and “Fathul Bārī” (vol. 2 / p. 411).

([6]) Narrated by: Mālik in his “Muwatta’” (vol. 1 / p. 126), Ash-Shāfi‘ī in “Al-’Umm” (vol. 1 / p. 175), At-Tahāwī (vol. 1 / p. 217) and Ibn Abī Hātim in “Al-‘Ilal” (vol. 1 / p. 201).

In “Al-Majmū‘” (vol. 4 / p. 220), An-Nawawī said: ‘Tha‘labah’s narration is authentic; it was narrated by Ash-Shāfi‘ī in “Al-’Umm” through two authentic ways’!! An-Nawawī means the way traced back to both Ibn Abī Fudaik and Mālik  from Ibn Shihāb. This expression [i.e. two ways] is only used by An-Nawawī and which Al-‘Asqalānī and others criticized for, for it means that there are two different chains of narrators and both are traced back to Tha‘labah and this is not true. Both narrations are traced back to Ibn Shihāb alone.

From the same chain of narrators Yazīd Ibn Abdillāh narrated the same hadīth, as Ibn Abī Shaibah mentioned in his “Musannaf” (vol. 2 / p. 124). The chain of narration is authentic.

See also: “Tamāmul Minnah” (pp. 339-40) and “At-Talkhīs Al-Habīr” (vol. 2 / p. 61).

([7]) Adopted from “Silsilat Al-Ahādīth Ad-Da‘īfah Wal Mawdū‘āh” (vol. 1 / pp. 123-4).

([8]) “Fathul Bārī” (vol. 2 / p. 411).

([9]) “Al-’Umm” (vol. 1 / p. 227).                                                                                                      =

=       This opinion was also held by Al-Hasan Ibn ‘Uyaynah, Ash-Shāfi‘ī, Ahmad and Ishāq -as Al Baghwī stated in “Sharhus Sunnah” (vol. 4 / p. 266) and An-Nawawī in “Sharh Muslim” (vol. 6 / p. 164).

([10]) “Al-’Umm” (vol. 1 / p. 227).

([11]) The narrators of this hadīth were mentioned earlier.

As-Sakhāwī reported in his “Al-Jawāhir wad Durrar” that his Shaikh Ibn Hajar had attracted the attention to this mistake.

([12]) Narrated by Ibn Abī Shaibah in his “Musannaf” (vol. 2 / p. 124) through an authentic chain of narrators. This very hadīth was also narrated by Ibn Shihāb.

([13]) Adopted from “Tamāmul Minnah” (p. 340).

([14]) “Fathul Bārī” (vol. 2 / p. 412).