What is the authenticity of Jabir's hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) combined the two prayers without fear or excuse?

The questioner : Your Eminence, the Shaykh (may Allah preserve him), Shaykh al-Islam said in *al-Fatawa*: "It is established from al-Tahawi the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas:

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) combined without fear or excuse.

جمع صلى الله عليه وسلم من غير خوف ولا علة

from Jabir, but one must look into the status of al-Ashnani, who is one of the narrators", and he is truthful but makes mistakes, as stated in *al-Taqrib*. Does he mean that the hadith is established from Jabir? May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : This hadith is from the narration of Jabir specifically; its chain of narration does not come to mind right now, but what al-Imam Muslim included in his *Sahih* suffices for us. This can be considered a corroborating narration that strengthens Jabir's hadith, even if we assume its chain is weak.
Muslim's hadith is narrated by him with his authentic chain from 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: . The hadith is explicit in its indication that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) combined the prayers in Madinah while he was a resident. He confirmed this by stating it was without travel, and added that it was also without rain. In the other narration, it was without fear. Combining prayers in the rain is a known recommended practice, and therefore he denied that the combining was for the reason of rain, which is a known excuse like travel, for combining in that case is also a known dispensation. Some of those present were surprised by this report, because the established understanding is that combining is only for the traveler. So how could Ibn 'Abbas—and he is truthful in what he narrates—report that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) combined in Madinah without any of the excuses that justify combining? Here it meets with Jabir's hadith, which states that he combined without an excuse. 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) answered the difficulty that arose in the minds of some of those present when they said to him: .