The Legal Criterion for Shortening and Combining Prayers

Question:
Now, I move on to another questioner who asks, may Allah preserve you, about the legal criterion for shortening and combining prayers in situations like rain, goodness, and blessing?

Answer:
There is no shortening in this case; shortening is for travel, not for rain. This is among the rulings of travel. , and "traveling in the land" means traveling. As for combining prayers while resident, it is permissible in two cases. The first is for a sick person who would be burdened by leaving the combination; he combines Maghrib and 'Isha', and Zuhr and 'Asr, in the time of one of them, if that is easier for him, or if he is unable to perform the repeated ablution (wudu'). He performs wudu' for one prayer and combines the other with it, either before or after. This is the combination for illness.
The second case while resident is with a flood or heavy rain that wets the clothes. If they go out to the mosque or return to their homes, they are exposed to the downpour, their clothes become damp, and they are harmed by it, or they catch a cold because of it, then they combine Maghrib and 'Isha'.
As for one who combines merely because of the presence of clouds, or merely because of light drizzle, this is not permissible for him. The default is that every prayer is in its own time. Allah the Exalted said: So no prayer is accepted outside its time except for the combination that is permissible by the Shari'ah. This combination without a cause is not permissible by the Shari'ah, so his prayer is not accepted if he advances it or delays it from its time. Let these imams be mindful of this, who play with the prayer and bear the responsibility of the prayer of those behind them, because they have misled them. They should fear Allah and not combine except in a situation where they have a clear need for combining. Yes. Some say it is to revive the Sunnah. May Allah bless you. What is the Sunnah here? This is permissible (mubah). Combining is permissible; it is not from the Sunnah. Shortening is what is from the Sunnah, whereas combining is permissible for need, when there is a need. Yes.