The ruling on combining prayers when it rains

The Shaykh:
And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.

The questioner:
We ask your permission, our Shaykh, Shaykh Salih, to take these questions that have come to us from our dear listeners. I will begin with this question from one of the brothers, who says: What is the criterion for combining prayers when it rains?

The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, all praise is for Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. Combining prayers is done when there is hardship, such as in travel, in illness, in severe cold wind, in rain, and other such cases. If rain falls on the believers that makes it difficult for them to perform the prayer at its proper time, there is no harm in their combining them, just as the traveler combines. The traveler combines the midday and afternoon prayers, and the sunset and night prayers. So combine the two prayers, and there is no blame on you for doing so, because the legitimate reason is present.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged the community to do what is gentle and what is good for them. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
If the rain is light, with no hardship, and clothes do not get wet from it, and walking on the ground is not difficult due to the abundance of water and mud, then combining is not prescribed in that case. Likewise, prayers are not combined when there is heavy cloud cover or heavy fog, or when there are forecasts of rain. Combining is only done when hardship occurs, whether it is rain or something else. The default is that each prayer is performed in its own time. Allah the Exalted said: Therefore, a prayer is not accepted outside its time except for the combining that is permissible by the Shari'ah. As for combining without a cause, the prayer is not accepted. It is obligatory for the imams to be mindful of this, because they are responsible for the prayers of those behind them. They should fear Allah and not combine except at the time of hardship. Yes.

The presenter:
May Allah reward you.