The 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 prayers without fear or illness."

The questioner: His EminenceThe Shaykh : May Allah preserve you. The 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 prayers without fear or illness," and from Jabir, but one must look into the status of al-Ashnani, who is one of the narrators; he is truthful but makes mistakes, as stated in the takhrij. Should it be written that the hadith is established from Jabir? May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : As for this hadith from the narration of Jabir specifically, I do not recall the status of its chain of narration at the moment. However, what al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) included in his *Sahih* suffices for us. This can be considered a corroborating narration strengthened by the hadith of Jabir, even if we assume its chain is weak. Muslim (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated it with his authentic chain from Abdullah ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) combined the Dhuhr and 'Asr prayers, and the Maghrib and 'Isha' prayers, in Madinah, without travel or rain." In another narration, it says: "without travel or fear." They said: "O Abu al-'Abbas, what did he intend by that?" He said: "He intended not to burden his Ummah."
The hadith is explicit in its indication that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) combined prayers in Madinah while he was a resident. This is confirmed by the fact that it was without travel, and he added: "without rain" as well. In the other narration, it mentions "fear." Combining prayers in the rain is a well-known recommended practice, and therefore he denied that the combining was due to rain, which is a known excuse like travel, because combining in rain is a well-known dispensation as well. 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 (who is truthful in what he narrates) report that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) combined prayers in Madinah without any of the excuses that justify combining? Here, it meets the hadith of Jabir, which states that he combined without an excuse. Abdullah ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) answered the difficulty raised by some of those present when they asked him: "What did he intend by that?" He said: "He intended not to burden his Ummah." That is, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) combined prayers in Madinah without the excuse of rain, let alone the fact that he was a resident and not a traveler, to establish for the residents that it is permissible for them to combine the two prayers while resident. This is not absolute, as some people mistakenly assume from this hadith, which explicitly states that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) combined without any of the known excuses. Therefore, the question arose: "Why did he combine then?" He said: "So that he would not burden his Ummah."
This explanatory phrase from the narrator of the hadith must not be discarded. It must remain firmly in our minds so that we understand this ruling without excess or deficiency. Excess and exaggeration would be for a person to take a dispensation while resident and combine prayers merely as a dispensation, rather than to remove hardship. This is a waste of the obligatory preservation of prayer times, as He (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: . Deficiency, on the other hand, is to spread the view that this ruling is not permissible except in the case of travel. This is a sound hadith; the Messenger (peace be upon him) did combine while resident. However, this combining is not absolute and is not a dispensation as is the case for the traveler, but rather for the cause of removing hardship. So, anyone who faces hardship if he wants to preserve performing the Dhuhr prayer, for example, in its time, and the 'Asr prayer in its time, has his hardship removed by the explicit text of the Noble Qur'an, where the Lord of the Worlds said: . So, when this cause exists, it is permissible for the resident to combine the two prayers. However, if there is no hardship, and it is merely desire and taking a dispensation as is the case in travel, this is not permissible while resident. Thus, this hadith gives us that combining while resident is sometimes permissible and sometimes not. The time when it is permissible is to remove hardship, and the time when it is not permissible is when there is no hardship in preserving the prayers in their times.
Yes.

Another questioner: His EminenceThe Shaykh : May Allah preserve you.

The questioner : We need 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, and he usually knows that this car travels between two prayers, Dhuhr and 'Asr, and then does not stop in a way that allows him to perform the prescribed prayer with wudu, standing, bowing, and prostration. So, he may pray Dhuhr in his town before boarding the car and combine 'Asr with Dhuhr as a forward combination while he is a resident. This is one scenario. There are many scenarios like this that some Muslims face, such as one who is obligated to perform a duty, like a soldier on guard duty from one time to another, who cannot leave his guard during the time of a prayer that can be combined with the one before or after it. In that case, he assesses the situation; either he combines as a forward combination as we mentioned earlier in the case of the traveler, or as a delayed combination. Similarly, a soldier who cannot perform the prayer in the mosque unless he prays alone, it is permissible for him to pray one of the two prayers in the mosque with the congregation, then add the other prayer to it, either as a forward or delayed combination. The general rule is that hardship differs from person to person. So, whoever 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 the capability to which many of the rulings of the Shari'ah are linked, this is seeking the impossible; there is no way to do it, due to the difference of people in assessing these matters. So, each person fears his Lord and observes the ruling of the Shari'ah in its application precisely, not following his desires and not being excessive in his religion, due to his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): .
Yes.