What are examples of hardship that permit combining the two prayers for a resident?
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The questioner : We want examples of hardship?
The Shaykh : Examples of hardship! We can provide some of these, but they differ from person to person, for example:
A person wants to travel from his town to another town by car, for instance, and he usually knows that this car travels between the two prayers, Zuhr and 'Asr, and then does not stop in a way that allows him to perform the prescribed prayer with wudu, standing, bowing, and prostration. In that case, he may pray Zuhr in his town before boarding the car and combine the prayer of 'Asr with the prayer of Zuhr by advancing it, while he is a resident. This is one scenario.
More common than this scenario is what some Muslims face: a person who is obligated to perform a duty, such as a soldier who is on guard from one time to another and cannot leave his post during a prayer that can be combined with the one before it or the one after it. In that case, he assesses the situation, and either combines by advancing as we mentioned earlier in the case of the traveler, or combines by delaying. Likewise, a soldier who is not able to perform the prayer in the mosque unless he prays alone is permitted to pray one of the two prayers in the mosque with the congregation and then add the other prayer to it, either by advancing or by delaying.
The essence of the matter is that hardship varies from person to person. So, if a person feels that he is falling into some hardship, it is permissible for him to combine; otherwise, it is not. As for describing for every person what constitutes hardship, or describing for every person what is the ability to which many of the rulings of the Shari'ah are linked, that is seeking the impossible; there is no way to do that, because people differ in their assessment of these matters. So, each person should fear his Lord and observe the ruling of the Shari'ah in its application with precision, not following his desires and not being excessive in his religion, due to his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Yes.
The Shaykh : Examples of hardship! We can provide some of these, but they differ from person to person, for example:
A person wants to travel from his town to another town by car, for instance, and he usually knows that this car travels between the two prayers, Zuhr and 'Asr, and then does not stop in a way that allows him to perform the prescribed prayer with wudu, standing, bowing, and prostration. In that case, he may pray Zuhr in his town before boarding the car and combine the prayer of 'Asr with the prayer of Zuhr by advancing it, while he is a resident. This is one scenario.
More common than this scenario is what some Muslims face: a person who is obligated to perform a duty, such as a soldier who is on guard from one time to another and cannot leave his post during a prayer that can be combined with the one before it or the one after it. In that case, he assesses the situation, and either combines by advancing as we mentioned earlier in the case of the traveler, or combines by delaying. Likewise, a soldier who is not able to perform the prayer in the mosque unless he prays alone is permitted to pray one of the two prayers in the mosque with the congregation and then add the other prayer to it, either by advancing or by delaying.
The essence of the matter is that hardship varies from person to person. So, if a person feels that he is falling into some hardship, it is permissible for him to combine; otherwise, it is not. As for describing for every person what constitutes hardship, or describing for every person what is the ability to which many of the rulings of the Shari'ah are linked, that is seeking the impossible; there is no way to do that, because people differ in their assessment of these matters. So, each person should fear his Lord and observe the ruling of the Shari'ah in its application with precision, not following his desires and not being excessive in his religion, due to his saying (peace and blessings be upon him):