Combining the Maghrib and 'Isha' prayers due to the lateness of the 'Isha' time
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. This questioner says: I was in Belgium,
The Shaykh:
Yes.
The questioner:
and I visited one of the Islamic centers there to perform the prayer. I found that they were combining the Maghrib and 'Isha' prayers on the grounds that 'Isha' is late and close to midnight, and that people are working and tired and cannot stay until the time of 'Isha'. What is the ruling on this combination? Is it permissible for them to do this?
The Shaykh:
It is not permissible to combine the Maghrib and 'Isha' prayers except for rain; that is what the Sunnah has come with. As for the lateness of 'Isha', that does not permit the combination. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. This questioner says: I was in Belgium,
The Shaykh:
Yes.
The questioner:
and I visited one of the Islamic centers there to perform the prayer. I found that they were combining the Maghrib and 'Isha' prayers on the grounds that 'Isha' is late and close to midnight, and that people are working and tired and cannot stay until the time of 'Isha'. What is the ruling on this combination? Is it permissible for them to do this?
The Shaykh:
It is not permissible to combine the Maghrib and 'Isha' prayers except for rain; that is what the Sunnah has come with. As for the lateness of 'Isha', that does not permit the combination. Yes.
Source
شرح إغاثة اللهفان من مصائد الشيطان لابن القيم، الفصل الأول في النية في الطهارة والصلاة — islamhouse.com (55:34)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.