Warning regarding combining prayers for residents or travelers on a temporary journey.

The Shaykh : This means that if a traveler stays for a temporary period in a residence of his, whether it is a house under a tent or a house of mud and stone, he remains under the ruling of travel. If he wishes to take the dispensation and combine the two prayers, he may do so, even if there is no hardship in performing each prayer in its proper time. This applies to the traveler. As for the resident, he may not combine unless he finds some hardship in performing the prayer in its proper time; only then is this actual combination permissible for him. There are many, and very many, examples and cases of this. The best example that can be presented is one who has a job, such as being a police officer, a soldier, a guard, or something similar, and is unable to perform every prayer in its time because he is obligated to this duty, which he cannot be lax about or deviate from. In that case, he looks at which of the two combinations removes the hardship from him. For instance, if he finds himself outside of work when the midday prayer time arrives, and he knows that he will take over his duty before the afternoon prayer, and he is unable to pray this prayer because he is bound by this duty, then he finds the hardship. What does he do with this prayer? If he plans for himself, he combines in this situation by combining in advance: he prays the midday prayer in the mosque and adds the afternoon prayer to it. When he goes to his work, his conscience is clear and his mind and heart are at ease. And the reverse is the reverse: if he is at his job when the midday prayer time arrives, but he knows that he will be free from his work after midday for a period, he intends to delay the midday prayer until the time of the afternoon prayer. He does not pray the afternoon prayer except shortly after finishing the midday prayer in the time of the afternoon prayer. This is what I wanted to remind you of, on the occasion of that hadith which I began before the sunset prayer.