❖ Performing Tahiyyat al-Masjid During the Friday Khutbah
✍ Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
❀ Ruling on Offering Tahiyyat al-Masjid While the Khutbah is in Progress
✿ ① Direct Instruction from the Prophet ﷺ
Ḥaḍrat Jābir (رضي الله عنه) narrates:
دخل رجلٌ يوم الجمعة والنبي ﷺ يخطب، فقال: صليت؟ قال: لا. قال: قم فصل ركعتين.
“A man entered the mosque on Friday while the Prophet ﷺ was delivering the khutbah. He (the Prophet) asked: ‘Have you prayed?’ He replied: ‘No.’ So the Prophet ﷺ said: ‘Stand up and pray two rakʿahs.’”
[Bukhārī: 931 | Muslim: 875 | Abū Dāwūd: 1115 | Tirmidhī: 510 | Nasā’ī: 1400 | Bayhaqī: 3/194]
✿ ② Instruction for Performing Quickly
Another narration mentions:
إذا جاء أحدكم يوم الجمعة والإمام يخطب فليركع ركعتين وليتجوز فيهما
“If one of you comes on Friday while the imam is delivering the khutbah, let him pray two rakʿahs and shorten them.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ Abū Dāwūd: 988 | Abū Dāwūd: 1117]
❖ Scholarly Opinions
✔ Permissibility During Khutbah
- Imām Aḥmad and Imām al-Shāfiʿī (رحمهما الله) hold the view that it is permissible to perform Tahiyyat al-Masjid even during the Friday khutbah.
- They rely on authentic hadiths which clearly instruct the performing of two rakʿahs upon entering.
✘ Prohibition During Khutbah
- Imām Mālik and Imām Abū Ḥanīfah (رحمهما الله) opine that Tahiyyat al-Masjid should not be offered during the khutbah.
- Their reasoning is based on the general verse:
وَإِذَا قُرِئَ الْقُرْآنُ فَاسْتَمِعُوا لَهُ وَأَنْصِتُوا
“And when the Qur’an is recited, listen to it and remain silent.”
[al-Aʿrāf: 204]
However, this verse is general, while the hadiths related to Tahiyyat al-Masjid are specific, and specific evidences always take precedence over general ones.
❖ Summary of the Stronger View
✔ The stronger and correct opinion is that Tahiyyat al-Masjid should be performed, even during the khutbah, as long as it is brief, as this is supported by authentic prophetic practice.
- Ibn Bāz (رحمه الله) also issued a fatwa supporting this view.
[al-Fatāwā al-Islāmiyyah: 1/406]
