What Prophet Said Before Entering the Mosque
Etiquette of Prayer and Approaching the Mosque: Islamic Jurisprudence on Salah Conduct
Summary
This lecture from the Muslim Community Center of Tucson focuses on the proper etiquette and conduct related to prayer (salah), particularly how to approach the mosque and conduct oneself when arriving for congregational prayer. The speaker discusses several hadith narrations from Sahih Muslim that address rushing to prayer, the role of the imam in controlling prayer times, and the proper formation of prayer rows. Key topics include the prohibition against hastening to prayer, the principle that whatever prayer is missed must be made up, and clarifications on common misunderstandings about catching portions of congregational prayer.
Note: This transcript was generated using YouTube's automatic captioning, with AI-assisted cleanup for readability. It may contain inaccuracies due to background noise, audio quality, or limitations of the transcription software — particularly during Arabic recitation. Listener discretion is advised; please refer to the original video for precise wording.
Juvenile. Alhamdulillah.
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Inshallah before we begin with our questions for the evening we will begin with a a issue as we usually do some sunnah or direction from the prophet sallall.aii regarding salah or adan or what have you. Tonight's narration has to do with the salah before we begin our prayer. When we are headed to go to the masid to make salah, when we are headed to go to jama, what is the proper etiquette? Our prophet sallall.aii wasallam has said in a nar narration collected by al im alkari and imuslim. He said sam for.
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Massage it.
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For.
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Iman. A very important issue a statement that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam made in Sah Muslim. He said if the is called then do not come to the prayer while you are hastening and rushing. rather approach the prayer calmly and while walking and upon you is tranquility and calmness for whatever of the prayer you catch then make and whatever of it you missed then make up. So this is our first narration. This narration the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam prohibits prohibits it is impermissible. It is haram. Haram in the sense of is it a major sin? No, this not what haram necessarily means but it is impermissible. The prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam prohibited that when a person come to the salah that they come rushing, jogging, hastening, right? Often times when the and we see this often, but we'll we'll circle back to this inshallah. He says if the is called starts, you do not come to the prayer while you are hastening while you are running. rather come to it while you are walking and upon you is calmness and tranquility. Whatever of it you miss than make up and whatever of it you catch then make along with the im. He said because as long as you are headed to prayer, you are in prayer. So whatever is prohibited in prayer is prohibited on your way to prayer except for a few things speaking for instance. It's haram to speak or eat or drink in prayer. But he said saiam the etiquets of prayer they apply not only to when a person begins his salah but also as long as he or she is headed to the prayer and we will come back to this point in a moment. The next narration is the statement of the prophet sallall.aii Wasam and Muslim where he says if the is called then do not stand until you see me come come out. So in order to kind of visualize this the prophet sallall.aii wasallam his rooms they had a door that connected and would come into the masjid. When he would come out sallallah.aii wasallam into the masid, he would come out from if this were the if this were his masid right here, he would come out from this side. Wasam in the front, right? And he would come out to the front row and find the companions. But on occasion the would be called and he could hear it from his huja but he wouldn't come out immediately. Maybe he's getting dressed. Maybe he's talking to someone. Maybe he's dealing with something. Maybe he's in a sunnah salah. Maybe there could be a number of reasons. The point isn't that. The point is that the companions when the time would come would make the and the people would stand up. The prophet sallallah.aii alaihi wasallam came out and said if the is called do not stand meaning stand and line up for prayer until you see me coming out until you see me come I have come out come out of where I'm coming from and so this with a number of other narrations and evidences the fah give us a principle what is the principle The Adam is in the control of the muin. The muadin controls the adan. If the imam were to come and say make the adan early, make it late etc. If the adan is being made on time according to the timing of salah then and inshallah next week the entire talk we will do only on aden. Inshallah there's really so much to unpack there. But the adan is to the discretion of the mu. The is under the control of the im. The im is the one who controls the because he controls the prayer. Therefore he controls when it begins and when it ends. For this reason the adan is made according to the discretion of the mu but the is always made according to the discretion of the imam. Therefore the prophet sallall.aii wasallam taught the companions do not stand for prayer until you see the imam has emerged has come out. When the imam comes out that means that it's time for prayer. But notice the wording that he said here. If the is called, if the is called, do not stand until you see me. This means that even if the were called and the im is not in the masid yet, we still don't stand for salah, right? And you know we're trying to learn these sunnen and merge them with our clocks because our prayers are usually dictated by the timing correct is the time of the salah. We agree with each other for instance that we're going to pray at 8:15 for instance. That's fine. That is there's nothing the matter with that. However, these issues of and timing and so forth, these moments or minutes, they are as well dictated by the presence of the imam or the absence of the imam. Going back to that first issue, how many of us know here? I think probably every single one of us here knows that if you come into the masid and the imam is in salah leading salah at what point do you are you considered to have missed the the whole you have to make it up at what point how much of the salah do you have to miss to have been considered to have missed the raqa. Who knows the answer to this question? Yes. Young ruggedly handsome man. Mhm.
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You get up from the rur. That's a very interesting way of saying that. I'm not sure what that means. But you mean when a when he rises from bour you if it's the fourth then he's gone up.
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Come into the masid. The imam's still in the first.
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When he rises from or is it when he makes sujud or the second sujud? At what point do I did I have to make the whole over the whole one unit over when he when he rises from when he rises from everybody is in consensus. Okay, we know this. We all know this, right? Did you think I was going to say something different? It's she what what is this? This guy's is pushing it now. He's telling us all kind of stuff. This is something that the have agreed upon because the prophet sallall.aii wasallam has said in so many words and in a number of narrations in different ways.
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That if a person catches the im then they have caught the entire raqa. Now here's the point where misunderstanding occurs. If I missed the meaning I caught the imam in the standing position or I caught the imam in the sujud position. Many people understand this to mean that I'm not rewarded for anything I do until I have a fresh. And so what do people do based on this understanding? Even if they don't say it, this is how knowledge works. When a person misunderstands something, it reflects in their actions. So sometimes a person will come to the masid, find the imam in sujud and they will stand in the line and wait, right? And wait for the im to make sujud make sujud stand back up and then they will start with the im. Why are they doing this? because this behavior is based on the idea that if I miss the then I'm then you know what's the point what's the point of making this addition does this mean that you're not rewarded for and standing and putting your face on the ground and saying subh you're still rewarded it's just it's not counted as a full why because You've missed more than half. You've missed more than half of the right. And so the prophet sallall.aii wasallam said and and based on this as well we have the opposite effect. What's the opposite effect? If the person walks in the masjid and finds the imur it's always the guy with the keys. It's always the guy with the keys. I don't know if he's a janitor or if he's a whatever he is. He's in every masid, right? And all the way. Okay, we hear you buddy. Thank you. Thank you very much. And then what kind of salah is this? What is this? Right. This is exactly what the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam prohibited with the first narration we just heard because the companions did this. They didn't do this generally. It happened. It's an occurrence that happened in his time and he corrected it when he saw it. Sai wasallam. As a matter of fact, Abu Bakr, not Abu Bakr, Abu Bakr. He walked in the masid once. The narration is ink. He saw the prophet sallall.aii Wasamur. He walked in the door. He went into Rur at the door and then he walked in until he got into the room. And so after the prayer, the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam said to him.
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And so he said you know he commended his diligence but he said don't do that again so he commended his diligence but he said don't do it again but he also didn't say make the make the oath it was valid it was valid so the point here is that because we know that if I miss the I've missed the the drive now comes that if I see the imur I rush that rushing is not befitting of the masid or salah. And so the prophet sallall.aii wasallam said to the companion the companions Fore.
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And so he said, "If the salah has begun, do not ever come to salah in a rush ever." and come to the prayer while you are walking calmly and tranquily because you're in prayer as long as you are headed to prayer and so it is impermissible for that rush that running that I need to catch that bour and this also stems from a misunderstanding of what is happening when you are speaking the you know what what what you miss of the prayer. It doesn't mean that you're not rewarded for the sujud. As a matter of fact, you're rewarded more than if you would have just been praying the regular prayers because you have extra there. You have more and each word and each letter and each sujud and each you're going to be rewarded for. It's just not counted as a. So these are two issues I mentioned to you. Do we have any questions about that or anything else for this evening inshallah? Yes.
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Would the from his room.
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Especially in B would come and tell him first and then he would walk out with him. So now the second part, do you recommend the the to make on time or till he sees you coming out? The mu always makes only when the im is in the masid unless it's you know an understanding between the imam and the muin right like for instance the office here you can see I'm in the office correct you can see when I'm walking out when I'm approaching that's okay however it is best and most correct that once the im is in the masid that is when the is to be called and most usually by order of the imm says now make the then the is called now.
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Seven parts of the body that touch the ground making.
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Reason I didn't is because we had a whole about that before but the last two parts are the the edges of the two feet and what's meant by the edges is the I don't know what the physiological name of the part of the body is but the toes would be pointing towards the and the part where the toes meet the front of the foot that part would be what is touching the ground. At least in sujud, a person's toes should be what are touching the ground. There's never a situation where a person is making sujud on the backs of his feet. Right now,.
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What about somebody come second?
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There is a misunderstanding that happens and that is that we know or many of us know that the prophet sallallah.aii alaihi wasallam said whoever prays alone behind the line his prayer is invalid. Now what the meaning of this narration is if there was a place in the row meaning a person comes to the masid finds that the row is not full but they see someone they don't want to stand next to or for whatever reason they pray behind the row on their own or they start a new row by themselves and they end up going through the salah alone behind the row. This person's prayer is invalid. He has to remake his salah. All right? However, if the row is completely full, there's no space for him. What should he do in this situation? And so, Abu Ali brings up a good point, and that is what some people do. Well, let me ask you guys, what what do you think? What have you seen happen? I'm sure we've seen all kinds of stuff. What do people usually do?
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Now we have two incomplete rows. Right now, nobody wins. If I can't win, nobody's going to win. You ever see a a barrel with crabs in it? Right. If I can't be in a row, nobody's going to be in a full row. Right? There is a narration of that mentions as much that if a person comes to the prayer and finds that the row is full, they should then he should pull someone back from the row in front of him and stand with him. This narration is agreed upon as being very weak and some judge it as Imam Muslim does as being fabricated. This narration is not authentic. Right. And it's based on a narrator of hadith who who is who is known amongst the scholars of hadith to bear. And so this is the wrong thing to do. As a matter of fact, when we have something this, a situation this where there's no set narration and we have a very weak narration like this. Okay. Maybe that weak narration in itself is weak but its meaning is correct with regards to the patterns that we learn in the Quran and Sunnah. So let's look at other situations in the Sunnah. What is there anything similar to this or any principle that we can resort to in order to pull someone out of the first row? The answer is no. Absolutely not. And what makes it even worse is that if you're starting to pull someone, they don't want to come out of the front row. Or if you start to pull someone, they don't know what you're doing. Or there's many situations, right? The person stands and makes salah. Allah says Allah does not burden any soul more than it has to offer, more than it it can bear. There's no rope. Am I supposed to create a rope or should I not pray? No, you pray. incorrect as well as well. This issue of waiting for another person.
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For.
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The And so the prophet sallallaihi wasallam prohibited specifically that a person even if they've already made salah and they're in the masid and the is called and the j is made the first j that you should pray again. You have to pray again if you're in the masid. There is no situation where a person is hanging out who is Muslim in the masid while the Jama is going on. Right? And so here this is for someone who's already prayed. How much more so for someone who has not prayed the obligatory prayer. Therefore a person prays by himself. Where do we know this from? Well, I'd mentioned the verse to you. I mentioned the a hadith but we can go a step further. Is there a situation where a woman would pray by herself behind behind the row? Just one woman by herself behind the row. Does that exist? if the brothers are in their row and then one woman comes to make salah and there's no other women, would she pray by herself behind the row? No. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said if you pray by yourself behind the row salah is invalid but the scholars agree that her salah is valid. Why? The reason she's not in a role is a legislative excuse which is mixing between men and women. Right? And that is a legislative excuse. How much more so a physical excuse. There's physically no more room. Right? And so the point here is that a person would never just stand idly by and not pray. That's one option. Another option is to pull someone from the row ahead which now instead of having one one situation which is you know not recommended. Now we have two situations that we've taken one problem and made them into two or the person prays by themsel and that is what the person does and that is what the majority of the Now that's a very good question though that person should align behind the im right he should behind you online.
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Question. Where does the roast start? Where does the roast start? Here here's another issue. You know, she is he he said something really interesting and why I mentioned this, I'm not trying to pick on anybody. We all are born ignorant. All of us, right? Allah tells us Every one of us is born purely ignorant and then Allah teaches us knowledge is a risk from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. however we have an issue not us here specifically but the Muslim world and especially in the west right and the issue is not having the full story having half the story this can be particularly devastating right so a good question here and that is where should a person begin where should they stand okay we at the front the row is full. Now the person where should they stand in relation to the iman? Now where.
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Times have you come in the masid and find people the right side of the imam is very full and the left side is sparse. Especially if the door is on the right side. Then we have a double a double situation. I can get out the door first and I can be on the right side of the im. But this is again due to a misunderstanding. So the companions said other companions said we used to prefer to be on the right side of the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam in prayer because when he would convey a salam at the end of the prayer he would start with our side and he say you start on the right side right and there's you know and so the issue is that we want to pray on the right side. And is that preferable? Well, a lot of us know that it is preferable because of these narrations of the companion saying they preferred that, right? There's a narration that states Allah and his angels make a salah upon the right sides of the rose. This narration is inauthentic. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam did not say that. And so that is preferable. But what's the whole story? That is only preferable when both sides are even. Right? So you come in the right side and the left side are both even behind the im. Then the right side is more preferable than the left. That's the only time. There's another narration. There's also a narration. Put the im in the middle when you start your prayer. That narration is inauthentic, but its meaning is correct. The point isn't to be on the right or left side of the imam. The point is to always be in the place that places you closest to the imam. That's the sunnah. Notice the wording that I'm using here. And that is what puts you closest to the im regardless of right or left side. If the left side places you closer to the imam than the right side, then you would go to the left side. That is the best place. If you are standing in the row and the people on your sides are too far apart for you to be connected to both of them, which side do you go to? You go to the side that puts you closest to the im. When you come to the prayer, you go to the place that in the row that puts you closest to the im. Because this is what the j is. It begins with the imam and everyone musters around the imam. Right? And so the only time the right side is preferable is if the right and left are even. Now the right side is preferable. However, the preferable place is always the place that puts you closest to the im. And you always begin the row right behind the im. If the right side was the po place you were supposed to be on with regards to the imam, we could easily fix that. We could have the imam pray over there and everybody's on his right side. Correct. Problem solved. No, that is not what is intended. What's intended when the fukah say the right side or the companions say the right side what they mean by that is in the in this instance which right or left are even which side would I choose choose the right side right try to be on the right side otherwise the row should never be lopsided where it's to the right too much of the imam or to the left too much of the imam Even if it is sisters praying behind a woman imam, she would stand in the row. She wouldn't stand in front the men stand. The imam, the sister imam would stand in the row, but she would still be where? In the center. She would still be in the center. Now, we could probably have one more question very quickly. try to keep it under half an hour for.
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But it's okay. We we we should we should you know always bring it up you know constantly until it becomes our culture that we know the sunnah becomes our culture. So the chair you have different types of people. Some people are praying on the chair the entire time right and then some people only use the chair for or for instance. And so the point is where does the person place himself in the standing position. That's how we make the row straight. Not in the rur position, not in the sudjul position, in the standing position. So when everybody's lined up, his chest and torso and shoulders or her chest and torso and shoulders should be in line with the rope. Even if the feet are coming out in the front or if the person is standing and they only use the chair for and then the chair should be behind them and they should be standing in the row. So the point of making the row straight is the torso, the shoulders, right? That is when the when we are in the standing position, lining ourselves up for prayer. I place myself in the position that makes me in line, shoulders and chest in line and torso with my two neighbors, male or female. And the chair follows that never the other way. And a person may say, well, what about the row behind you? You know, if the chair is sticking out in the back, if the row is sticking out in the back, then if it is not possible for the row in the back to compensate, they can start a little bit back or they can skip that spot. or they can or it would be good or preferable if the person had himself in a situation where he knows he's going to pray in a chair and it's going to be behind him that he pray at the very end. Right? So as not to disrupt the row behind but we don't we don't build our row based on the row behind us. Right? and say, "What about the row behind us?" No, the row behind us, we cross that bridge when we get to it. We straighten each row on its own. But this issue of not disrupting the row is important. So for instance, sometimes people will bring their small child to the masid and they want the child to pray in the row with them. The child doesn't have wudoo is a very young kid. the kid is, you know, too young to to be able to distinguish or or hold an intention or hold wudoo and they'll put the child between themselves and the person next to them in the row. This is not permissible. This is impermissible to do. The child should be at the very end of the rope so as not to disrupt the rope because that person there who is not making salah or this child who doesn't have etc is disrupting the continuity of the row. Now the row is disrupted. It's as if there is a spot there and the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam said muster together in your rows and don't leave any spaces because I can see a shan walking between you in your open spaces a baby goat walking between the rows. So the prophet sallall.aii wasallam tells us that if there's an open space between the people in the row that a shan will capitalize on this space to disrupt our prayer and disrupt our reward. Now that is enough for tonight. Inshallah we'll continue this next week. Alhamdulillah.