Can the khateeb be interrupted in his Khutbah on Friday?

Praise be to Allaah. 

Firstly:
speaking during the khutbah when the khateeb is speaking on the minbar is
haraam and the one who does that is committing a sin, even if he speaks
words of Dhikr (remembrance of Allaah) at this time.

 Jumu’ah
should be a time of sitting still and keeping quiet, and the worshipper
should be humble in body and soul and listen to the exhortation and
knowledge which the general Muslim public needs to hear. It is not
permissible to speak even if it is to enjoin what is good and forbid what
is evil. Even though this (enjoining what is good and forbidding what is
evil) is one of the most important duties of the Muslim, it is not allowed
at this time (during the khutbah) and one cannot even say “Shush!” or
“Listen!” The evidence (daleel) for that is as follows: 

It was
reported from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said: “If you say to your companion ‘Listen!’
whilst the imaam is preaching on Friday, you have spoken laghw
(idle talk).” (Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 892; Muslim, 851).

 Look
– may Allaah bless you – even if you say to a person, “Listen!”
– which is enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil – Islam
counts this as laghw (idle talk) which is forbidden at the time of
Jumu’ah.

 The
matter is even more serious than that. Listen to the hadeeth which comes
next:

 It
was reported that Abu’l-Dardaa’ said: “The Prophet
(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) sat on the minbar and addressed the
people, and recited an aayah. Ubayy ibn Ka’b was beside me and I said to
him, ‘O Ubayy, when was this aayah revealed?’ He refused to answer me.
I asked him again and he ignored me, and I asked him again and he still
ignored me, refusing to speak to me until the Messenger of Allaah

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had come down from the minbar.
Then Ubayy said to me, ‘All you got from your Jumu’ah was speaking
idle talk (laghw).’ When the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) left, I went to him and told him what had
happened. He said, ‘Ubayy spoke the truth. If you hear your imaam
speaking, then listen to him until he finishes.’” (Narrated
by Ibn Maajah, 1111; Ahmad, 20780. Classed as saheeh by al-Busayri and by
Shaykh al-Albaani in Tamaam al-Minnah, p. 338). 

Asking
about an aayah on the day of Jumu’ah cancels out the reward of
Jumu’ah, so how about people who speak about their business or crops or
other worldly matters? Another kind of negligence on some people’s part
is when they make the khutbah a time for taking a nap and cannot enjoy
their sleep except during the time of Jumu’ah.

 Even
saying “Yarhamuk Allaah” (may Allaah have mercy on you) to
someone who sneezes, or returning salaams during the time of Jumu’ah is
not permitted. Al-Nawawi says in al-Majmoo’: 

The
saheeh texts forbid saying “Yarhamuk Allaah” to someone who
sneezes and returning salaams. (Tamaam
al-Minnah, p. 335).

 The
same applies to all adhkaar (dhikr) such as istighfaar
(seeking forgiveness) or tasbeeh (saying Subhaan Allaah) etc. It is
not permissible to say them out loud even though this is dhikr. The
khutbah is a kind of dhikr or remembrance of Allaah, because Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning):

“O you who believe
(Muslims)! When the call is proclaimed for the Salaat (prayer) on the day
of Friday (Jumu’ah prayers), come to the remembrance of Allaah…”
[al-Jumu’ah 62:9]

This
includes the khutbah and the prayer; both of them are remembrance of
Allaah (dhikr). Other kinds of dhikr such as tasbeeh etc., are Sunnah and
may be done at all other times; the khutbah and listening to it, on the
other hand, form an obligatory (waajib) form of dhikr which is prescribed
for a short and specific time, during which focusing on the khutbah takes
precedence over focusing on any other kind of good deed or worship.

 Similarly,
saying “Ameen” to the imaam’s du’aa’ and sending blessings on
the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) if he is
mentioned during the khutbah, should be done silently by the members of
thecongregation, not out loud.

 Secondly:
the ban on speaking and making dhikr applies whilst the khateeb is
actually speaking on the minbar. If he is on the minbar but he is not
speaking, then there is no prohibition on speaking and remembering Allaah
(making dhikr), because it says in the hadeeth quoted above, “…whilst
the imaam is preaching…”

 So
the ban on speaking is confined to the time when the imaam is actually
giving the khutbah.

 Concerning
the hadeeth, “When the khateeb ascends the minbar, there should be no
prayer and no speaking” – this is a false hadeeth with no basis. (al-Silsilat
al-Da’eefah, p. 87).

 Thirdly:
occasions when it is permitted to speak or move whilst the khateeb is
speaking from the minbar:

If a
person is faced with some need which he cannot put off dealing with, such
as drowsiness, the need to relieve himself, or pain which means he has to
move. The evidence (daleel) for that is the hadeeth: “If any one of you
become drowsy in the mosque on the day of Jumu’ah, let him move from
where he is to another spot.” (Narrated
by Abu Dawood, 1119; al-Tirmidhi, 526. Classed as saheeh by Shaykh
al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, 468).

Al-Bayhaqi added the phrase “and whilst the imaam is
giving the khutbah”. This was also classed as saheeh by al-Albaani.

It is
permissible to do things which are permitted even during the prayer, such
as guiding a blind person so that he does not fall; or paying attention to
the necessities of life in matters which may lead to death or may affect
the common good – such as the worshippers asking the imaam to pray for
rain for them.

It was
reported that Anas ibn Maalik said: a man entered the mosque on the day of
Jumu’ah from the direction of the courtyard whilst the Messenger of
Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was standing and
giving the khutbah. He turned to the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said, “O Messenger of Allaah, our
wealth (livestock) has been destroyed and our means of transportation
(camels) has been cut off; pray to Allaah to help us.” So the Messenger
of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) raised his
hands… (Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 967; Muslim, 897).

It is permissible for a member of the congregation to
correct the imaam if he makes a mistake in an aayah, or to prompt him if
necessary, whilst he is standing on the minbar. It is also permissible to
refute the khateeb if he says something that amounts to shirk, bid’ah
(innovation) or munkar (reprehensible error) during the khutbah, so long
as that will not lead to a greater evil or fitnah happening in the mosque.
If that is the case, then one should wait until after the khutbah and then
speak to the imaam, pointing out what is wrong. If the imaam speaks words
of falsehood, it is not obligatory to listen to him. It was reported that
some of the Salaf used to speak when the oppressor al-Hajjaaj was cursing
‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him) on the minbar; they said, “We
were not commanded to listen to this!”

It is
permissible to pray Tahiyyat al-Masjid (two rak’ahs “greeting the
mosque”); indeed, this is obligatory, even if the khateeb is on the
minbar giving the khutbah.

This is
because of the hadeeth of Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allaah who said: a man came
whilst the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was
addressing the people on the day of Jumu’ah. He 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).

If a person sees another person talking, it is not
permissible to tell him to be quiet by speaking to him, as stated above,
but one can indicate to him to be quiet by making a gesture, such as
placing one’s finger on one’s lips. And Allaah knows best.