Sayyiduna Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Give the mosques their due right." It was asked to him, "What is their right?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When you sit (in the mosque), perform two rak‘ahs before sitting (this is their right)."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When any one of you enters the mosque, he should perform two rak‘ahs of prayer."

The Imam, through his teacher Abdullah bin Hashim, narrates with the same chain as mentioned above. There is an addition in this: before sitting (he should perform two rak‘ahs).

Sayyiduna Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "When any one of you enters the mosque, he should not sit down without praying two rak‘ahs." This is the hadith of Ibn ‘Ajlan. And in the narration of Ibn Abi ‘Adi, it is: "Whoever enters this mosque (the Prophet’s Mosque)."

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that we were present with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) one day, and he said: "Did you enter the mosque?" I replied, "Yes." He then asked: "Did you pray in the mosque?" I answered, "No." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Go and perform two rak'ahs."

And the explanation of the evidence that the prohibition of sitting in the mosque without offering two rak‘ahs upon entering is for discipline, not for prohibition—rather, it is an encouragement towards goodness and virtue. Imam Abu Bakr, may Allah have mercy on him, says that in the narration of Hazrat Talhah bin ‘Ubaidullah, it is mentioned that a Bedouin came to the service of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and asked,“Which prayers has Allah made obligatory upon me?”The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied:“Five prayers are obligatory, apart from them whatever voluntary prayers you offer.”I have mentioned other similar narrations in the first volume of Kitab al-Kabir, in the Book of Prayer. In this way, the Prophet (peace be upon him) clarified that only five prayers are obligatory, and all prayers besides the five daily prayers are voluntary; none of them are obligatory.

The companion of the Messenger of Allah, Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him), narrates that I entered the mosque while the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was sitting among the people, so I also sat down. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "What prevented you from praying two rak‘ahs before sitting down?" I replied, "O Messenger of Allah, I saw you sitting and the people were also sitting, so I sat as well." The Noble Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "When any one of you enters the mosque, he should not sit until he has prayed two rak‘ahs."

Hazrat Iyad narrates from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him) that Marwan was delivering a sermon when Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him) started performing prayer. So the guards came to make him sit down, but Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him) refused to sit until he had completed the prayer. Then when he finished the prayer, we came to him and said, "May Allah forgive you, these people only wanted to trouble you." He replied, "I will never, ever leave these two rak'ahs while I have heard their command from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)."

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When any one of you comes to the mosque while the Imam is delivering the sermon, he should perform two rak'ahs before sitting down."