The ruling on being silent and speaking during the khutbah (sermon) on Friday

* Friday Prayers - - - I go to Jumu'ah prayer, but every time I enter
the prayer-hall of the mosque, I say salaams and the other worshippers
return the greeting, even those who are reading Qur'aan. When the
khutbah has begun, some worshippers come in and say salaams, and the
imam return the greeting in a low voice. Is this permissible?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Those who attend Jumu'ah prayer should be quiet and listen attentively
to the imam when he is preaching. It is not permissible to speak to
others, even if that is to tell them to be quiet. Whoever does that
has engaged in idle talk (laghw), and whoever engages in idletalk, his
Jumu'ah prayer does not count.
It was narrated from AbuHurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said: "If you say to your companion when the
imam is preaching on Friday, 'Be quiet and listen,' you have engaged
in idle talk." Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 892; Muslim,851).
This prohibition also applies to responding to a question about Islam,
let alone any other kind of speech that has to do with worldly
matters.
It was narrated that Abu'l-Darda' said: The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) sat on the minbar and addressed the
people, and he recited a verse. Ubayy ibn Ka'b was next to me, so I
said to him: "O Ubayy, when was this verse revealed?" But he refused
to speak to me, so I asked him again andhe refused to speak to me,
until the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came
down (from the minbar). Then Ubayy said to me: "You have gained
nothing from your Jumu'ah except idletalk." When the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had finished (the
prayer), I went to him and told him (what had happened). He said:
"Ubayy was right. When you hear your imam speaking, then keep quiet
and listen attentively until he has finished." Narrated by Ahmad,
20780; Ibn Maajah, 1111; classed as saheeh by al-Busayri andal-Albaani
in Tamaam al-Mannah, p. 338.
This indicates that it is obligatory to remain silent and listen
attentively, and that it is forbidden to speak while the imam is
delivering the khutbah on Friday.
Ibn 'Abd al-Baarr said:
There is no dispute among the fuqaha' of allregions that it is
obligatory to remain silent and listen attentively to the khutbah, for
those who hear it.
Al-Istidhkaar, 5/43.
Some of them held an odd opinion and said that it is not obligatory,
but they have no evidence to support their view.
Ibn Rushd said, concerning the ruling onremaining silent and listening
attentively to the khutbah:
With regard to those who do not regard it as obligatory, I do not know
that they have anyargument except that the suggestion that it is
obligatory may seem to contradict the verse (interpretation of the
meaning): "So, when theQur'aan is recited, listen to it, and be
silent" [al-A'raaf 7:204] – i.e., that it is not obligatory to remain
silent for anything except the Qur'aan. There is some weakness in this
argument, and Allaah knows best. It is very likely that this hadeeth
did not reach them.
Bidaayat al-Mujtahid, 1/389.
An exception is made from that in the case of speaking to the imam,
orthe imam speaking to the worshippers for some important reason.
It was narrated that Anasibn Maalik said: The people were afflicted
with a drought at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him), andwhilst the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) wasdelivering the khutbah one Friday, a Bedouin
stood up and said: "O Messenger of Allaah, our wealth has been
destroyed and our children are starving. Pray to Allaah for us." So he
raised his hands [and made du'aa']. And it rained that day and the
next and the next and the next, until the following Friday, when that
Bedouin – or he said, someone else – stood up and said: "O Messenger
of Allaah, our houses have been destroyed and our wealth drowned. Pray
toAllaah for us." So he raised his hands… Narrated by al-Bukhaari,891;
Muslim, 897.
It was narrated that Jaabir ibn 'Abd-Allaah said: A man came whilst
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was addressing
the people on Friday, and he [the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him)] said: "Have you prayed, O So and so?" He said,
"No." He said: "Stand up and pray two rak'ahs." Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 888; Muslim, 875.
Whoever quotes these hadeeth as evidence that it is permissible for
worshippers to speak to one another and that it is not obligatory to
remain silent, is not correct.
Ibn Qudaamah said:
What they quote as evidence may be understood as referring only to the
one who speaks to the imam or towhom the imam speaks, because that
does not distract anyone from listening to his khutbah. Hence the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) asked him, "Have
you prayed?" and he replied;and 'Umar asked 'Uthmaan a question, when
he came in whilst he was preaching, and he answered. Thus we should
understand thesereports in this manner, in order to reconcile the
reports. It is not correct to draw an analogy withanything else,
because when the imaam speaks,he interrupts his khutbah, so he is not
talking to the other person during the khutbah as such, unlike when
others speak during the khutbah.
Al-Mughni, 2/85
With regard to saying Yarhamuk-Allaah (may Allaah have mercy on you)
to one who sneezesor returning salaams whilst the imam is delivering
the khutbah, the scholars differed concerning that.
Al-Tirmidhi said in his Sunan, following the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah,
"If you say to your companion…":
They differed concerning returning salaams and saying Yarhamuk-Allaah
(may Allaah have mercy on you) to one who sneezes. Some scholars
granted a concession allowing returning salaams and saying
Yarhamuk-Allaah (may Allaah have mercy on you) to one who
sneezeswhilst the imam is delivering the khutbah. This is the view of
Ahmad and Ishaaq. But some of the scholars among the Taabi'een and
others regarded that as makrooh. This is the view of al-Shaafa'i.
It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa'imah (8/242):
It is not permissible to say Yarhamuk-Allaah (may Allaah have mercy on
you) to one who sneezes or to return salaams whilst the imam is
delivering the khutbah, according to the correct scholarly opinion,
because both ofthem involve speaking, which is forbidden when the imam
is delivering the khutbah, because of the general meaning of the
hadeeth.
It also says (8/243):
It is not permissible for the one who enters whilst the imam is
delivering the khutbah on Friday, if he can hear the khutbah, to greet
the people in the mosque, and those in the mosque should not return
his greeting whilst the imam is delivering the khutbah.
And it says (8/244):
It is not permissible to speak whilst the khateebis delivering the
Friday sermon except for one who speaks to the imam for an important
reason.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen said:
It is haraam to give salaams during the Friday khutbah, so it is not
permissible for one who enters the mosque whilst the imam is
delivering the khutbah to give salaams, and it is also haraam to
return the greeting.
Fataawa Ibn 'Uthaymeen, 16/100
Shaykh al-Albaani said:
If someone says "Be quiet!", this is not regarded as idle talk (laghw)
from a linguisticpoint of view, because itcomes under the heading of
enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil. However the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) called it laghw
that is not permissible. This comes under the heading of giving
precedence to what is more important (namely being silent and
listening to the preaching of the khateeb) over what is important
(namely enjoining what is good during the khutbah). As this is the
case, everything that comes under the heading of enjoining what is
good comes under the same ruling as enjoining whatis good – so how
about if it of less importance than that? Undoubtedly in that case it
is more appropriate that it not be allowed and it comes under the
heading of laghw (idle talk).
Al-Ajwabah al-Naafi'ah, p. 45
Conclusion:
Those who attend Jumu'ah prayers have to be silent and listen
attentively to the imam. It is not permissible to speak whilst the
imam is delivering the khutbah, except in the cases indicated by the
evidence, such as speaking to the khateeb or responding to him, orin
cases of necessity suchas saving a blind man from falling and so on.
Greeting the imam with salaam or returning the greeting of one who
comes in also come under this prohibition, because there is no
concession allowing oneto speak with the imam except in cases of need,
which does not include giving or returning greetings.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen said in al-Sharh al-Mumti', 5/140:
It is not permissible for the imam to say anything that serves no
purpose, rather it shouldbe for a reason connected with the prayer or
other suitable topics. But if the imam says something that serves no
purpose, that is not permissible.
If there is a need, then it is permissible. For example, if a listener
does not understand something that the khateeb says in his khutbah, or
if the khateeb makes a mistake in reciting a verse that alters the
meaning, or if he omits aphrase from a verse, andso on.
Other reasons in which the imam may speak for a purpose include
problems with the loudspeakers, in which the imam may speak to the
engineer and ask him to see what is wrong.
And Allaah knows best.

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