If a follower experiences hardship due to the distance of his home, may he combine prayers?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Well, Shaykh; regarding the hardship, I mean, the imam in this situation—for example, I am the imam, and I do not find any hardship... the place is close, and there is an internal staircase, and so on. But the worshippers are in hardship, the followers, because of the distance of their homes and the poor condition of the roads.
The Shaykh : This is not what justifies it. You know the hadith of the blind man, 'Amr ibn Umm Maktum.
The questioner : No, I am asking about combining prayers.
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : About combining prayers.
Another questioner : He is asking about...
The Shaykh : My answer is a fortiori, by way of a fortiori reasoning; because combining is a dispensation, and congregational prayer is obligatory. So if the obligatory act is not dropped by such excuses that you are presenting, then a fortiori, combining is not permissible. He came with an excuse that is not an excuse in the Shari'ah; and therefore I rejected it with the hadith of 'Amr ibn Umm Maktum. You came with a legal excuse, which is rain or cold or something similar; in that case, even if the imam—without likeness, as they say in our region in Syria—had his house next to the mosque, as the house of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was, he would not go out into the open. He would go from his chamber to his mosque, and he would combine them. This imam has a precedent in the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); because the excuse was present.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : As for him, he came with a non-legal excuse... because not everyone is able to attend.
The questioner : I usually, when I combine, I mean I go, I mean.
The Shaykh : A witness from among his people testified [Everyone laughs!].
The questioner : I mean, usually I do not sit in the house, it is not that I am fleeing from the congregation, but I am afraid... I mean.
The Shaykh : But it is reported about you something other than this.
The questioner : Of course, there are times when I am sitting.
The Shaykh : That is it; so you said: "Perhaps," and I am afraid of it, it is a lot [The Shaykh laughs!].
The Shaykh : This is not what justifies it. You know the hadith of the blind man, 'Amr ibn Umm Maktum.
The questioner : No, I am asking about combining prayers.
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : About combining prayers.
Another questioner : He is asking about...
The Shaykh : My answer is a fortiori, by way of a fortiori reasoning; because combining is a dispensation, and congregational prayer is obligatory. So if the obligatory act is not dropped by such excuses that you are presenting, then a fortiori, combining is not permissible. He came with an excuse that is not an excuse in the Shari'ah; and therefore I rejected it with the hadith of 'Amr ibn Umm Maktum. You came with a legal excuse, which is rain or cold or something similar; in that case, even if the imam—without likeness, as they say in our region in Syria—had his house next to the mosque, as the house of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was, he would not go out into the open. He would go from his chamber to his mosque, and he would combine them. This imam has a precedent in the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); because the excuse was present.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : As for him, he came with a non-legal excuse... because not everyone is able to attend.
The questioner : I usually, when I combine, I mean I go, I mean.
The Shaykh : A witness from among his people testified [Everyone laughs!].
The questioner : I mean, usually I do not sit in the house, it is not that I am fleeing from the congregation, but I am afraid... I mean.
The Shaykh : But it is reported about you something other than this.
The questioner : Of course, there are times when I am sitting.
The Shaykh : That is it; so you said: "Perhaps," and I am afraid of it, it is a lot [The Shaykh laughs!].
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.