Did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) combine the two prayers when he traveled to Tabuk? For we have found the brothers combining when they settle in the town they traveled to.
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The questioner : ... days when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was in Tabuk, did he combine the two prayers? We have found the brothers combining when they stay in a town during a journey. Are they correct?
The Shaykh : The question is understood, but it is lengthy without benefit, because the crux of the question is its final part. As for asking whether the Messenger (peace be upon him) combined when he was staying in Tabuk, the answer would be, for example, "I do not know," as is the reality, because it is not reported. Or if we assumed he did not combine, would that preclude combining if it is established in other hadiths? So why did you limit the question to combining in the Battle of Tabuk? It has come in the Muwatta of Imam Malik and others that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was on a journey—and I say this with uncertainty, and it may have been the journey to Tabuk—and it does not concern us now from the jurisprudential perspective whether the incident was in Tabuk or elsewhere, but rather it was on a journey. The narrator of the hadith, who is Mu'adh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him), said that when the time for the midday prayer came, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went out, meaning from his tent, and ordered the call to prayer and prayed combining the midday and afternoon prayers. Then he went in. And when the time for the sunset prayer came, he went out again, called the adhan and the iqamah, and prayed the sunset and night prayers combined as well. So combining is established for the traveler who is staying. As for when he is departing and walking, that is a different matter. But this hadith establishes the permissibility of combining even in the case of the traveler staying at a stage of his journey. Therefore, there should be no doubt in the permissibility of this combining.
The Shaykh : The question is understood, but it is lengthy without benefit, because the crux of the question is its final part. As for asking whether the Messenger (peace be upon him) combined when he was staying in Tabuk, the answer would be, for example, "I do not know," as is the reality, because it is not reported. Or if we assumed he did not combine, would that preclude combining if it is established in other hadiths? So why did you limit the question to combining in the Battle of Tabuk? It has come in the Muwatta of Imam Malik and others that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was on a journey—and I say this with uncertainty, and it may have been the journey to Tabuk—and it does not concern us now from the jurisprudential perspective whether the incident was in Tabuk or elsewhere, but rather it was on a journey. The narrator of the hadith, who is Mu'adh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him), said that when the time for the midday prayer came, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went out, meaning from his tent, and ordered the call to prayer and prayed combining the midday and afternoon prayers. Then he went in. And when the time for the sunset prayer came, he went out again, called the adhan and the iqamah, and prayed the sunset and night prayers combined as well. So combining is established for the traveler who is staying. As for when he is departing and walking, that is a different matter. But this hadith establishes the permissibility of combining even in the case of the traveler staying at a stage of his journey. Therefore, there should be no doubt in the permissibility of this combining.