Guiding the hadiths regarding combining the two prayers without an excuse
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Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, it is reported that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) combined the two prayers without fear or rain. How is this to be understood?
Answer:
Yes, this is reported in Sahih Muslim, in al-Tirmidhi, and in others, but it is among the ambiguous or general hadiths. It is to be understood in light of the other texts, which indicate that he only combined them for an excuse. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) never combined them without an excuse; he only combined them for an excuse, whether due to illness, rain, or travel. This hadith is to be understood in light of the other hadiths.
This is the answer, and it is the best of the answers: that it is to be understood in light of the other hadiths, that he did it for an excuse that permits combining. The second opinion is that this hadith is not acted upon. Imam al-Tirmidhi says: There is no hadith in my book on which the Ummah agreed to leave acting upon it except this hadith. Except this hadith.
So many scholars paused regarding it and left acting upon it because it contradicts the authentic hadiths. A third answer is that they understand this as a formal combination, meaning he delayed the first prayer to the end of its time and brought forward the second prayer to the beginning of its time, and prayed them both together in the form of a combination, whereas it is not a combination; each prayer was in its own time.
But the best of the answers is the first: that this ambiguous hadith is to be understood in light of the clear hadiths, and that he did not combine except for an excuse, peace and blessings be upon him. Yes.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, it is reported that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) combined the two prayers without fear or rain. How is this to be understood?
Answer:
Yes, this is reported in Sahih Muslim, in al-Tirmidhi, and in others, but it is among the ambiguous or general hadiths. It is to be understood in light of the other texts, which indicate that he only combined them for an excuse. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) never combined them without an excuse; he only combined them for an excuse, whether due to illness, rain, or travel. This hadith is to be understood in light of the other hadiths.
This is the answer, and it is the best of the answers: that it is to be understood in light of the other hadiths, that he did it for an excuse that permits combining. The second opinion is that this hadith is not acted upon. Imam al-Tirmidhi says: There is no hadith in my book on which the Ummah agreed to leave acting upon it except this hadith. Except this hadith.
So many scholars paused regarding it and left acting upon it because it contradicts the authentic hadiths. A third answer is that they understand this as a formal combination, meaning he delayed the first prayer to the end of its time and brought forward the second prayer to the beginning of its time, and prayed them both together in the form of a combination, whereas it is not a combination; each prayer was in its own time.
But the best of the answers is the first: that this ambiguous hadith is to be understood in light of the clear hadiths, and that he did not combine except for an excuse, peace and blessings be upon him. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، كيف يوجه أن رسول الله –صلى الله عليه وسلم جمع بين الصلاتين من غير خوف ولا مطر؟ للشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.