The ruling on combining two prayers without an excuse

Question:
The questioner says: We disagreed, my classmates and I, in the lesson over a hadith that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) combined and there was no rain. Is this, Honorable Shaykh, in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and does it apply in our time as well?

Answer:
This hadith is authentic; the hadith is authentic, and there are two answers regarding it. The first answer is that it is among the difficult matters, among the difficult hadiths, so one should not attempt to interpret it. The second answer is that it is understood to be due to illness. If it was not due to fear or travel, then only illness remains, so it is understood to be due to the excuse of illness, or due to the excuse of rain in a rainy night between Maghrib and 'Isha'. It must have a valid interpretation, or it is said that this is among the difficult hadiths and one should not attempt to interpret it. We return to the authentic, explicit hadiths regarding the prayers in their times, and that one does not combine the two prayers except for a legal excuse, such as illness, such as travel, such as rain. These are the excuses that permit combining the two prayers. Otherwise, the default is that every prayer is prayed in its time. Allah the Exalted said: , and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So why do we leave the explicit, clear, and obvious hadiths and go to a general, difficult hadith? This must either be interpreted and explained by the authentic hadiths and referred back to them, so it becomes part of the ambiguous that is referred back to the clear, or it is said that this is difficult and one leaves it and acts according to the authentic, clear hadiths. Yes.

The presenter:
May Allah reward you,