Continuation of the previous question regarding the discussion of the dispensation for combining prayers due to pressing need or dire necessity.

The Shaykh : ... The hadith of 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him both), in which he said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) combined the Zuhr and 'Asr prayers, and the Maghrib and 'Isha' prayers, in Madinah, without fear or rain. They asked: What did he intend by that, O Abu al-'Abbas? He said: He intended not to burden his Ummah." If this observer actually envisions that such a burden will occur, he must estimate the time for which he is tasked with the observation. If he envisions, for example, that the observation will last from before the Zuhr prayer until after the 'Asr prayer, he delays the Zuhr prayer until after the time for the 'Asr prayer has entered, and he prays them as a combined delayed prayer. Conversely, if we envision that he is tasked with performing this duty of observation after Zuhr, he combines the 'Asr prayer with the Zuhr prayer as a combined advanced prayer. We say the same regarding Maghrib and 'Isha'. Even if we narrow the scenario that some of us have imagined, such that he says he was tasked with observation from before the dawn until after the sun has risen, and he is occupied with prayer... we say in that case that this prayer is never dropped from him; because the prayer was not dropped in a realistic scenario, which is what is called in books of Islamic jurisprudence the prayer of fear. In this situation, the prayer is obligatory, even if it is greatly simplified and abbreviated. If we actually envision that a Muslim is tasked with this duty of observation in a tight time frame, such as the Fajr prayer, he must combine his performance of this obligatory prayer with the observation. I actually do not envision now what this observer does? Because I can, for example, envision if he is ordered to press certain buttons, for example, to give a specific signal to the plane that wants to land at the airport; then his matter is easy; because during the prayer, while he is standing praying, he can do this, and he can stand by the side of the pressure device, meaning: the machine, and so on. Therefore, this is among the meanings of His saying (the Exalted): , but I personally do not know how this person's function is?

The questioner : He talks with the commander.

The Shaykh : He talks, okay... the prayer, and I have come to you with the narrowest scenario, such as the Fajr prayer, which is not permissible to delay from its time ever. So he can, if he envisions this to be possible, he can simplify the prayer so that it does not take more than a minute, and he does not envision that he is talking at every moment, talking at every moment such that he is unable to pray two rak'ahs. The important thing is , the one afflicted is the one who estimates the circumstance, observing first the performance of what Allah has made obligatory upon him in this tight time, and not like the time of Zuhr and 'Asr on one hand, and Maghrib and 'Isha' on the other hand; so this afflicted one is the one who estimates the time, so he must maintain the command of Allah regarding prayer on one hand, and perform the function that he envisions that if he errs in it, great corruption will occur in souls and bodies.