I heard that the times for prayer are originally three: at Fajr, from Dhuhr until before Maghrib, and from Maghrib until the end of the night, but the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)

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The questioner : I heard that the times for prayer are originally three: at Fajr, from Dhuhr until before Maghrib, and from Maghrib until the end of the night. However, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) specified that it is better to pray Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha in their known times. And that it is permissible to pray in only three times a day, as the Shi'ah do...?

The Shaykh : Allah the Exalted said:

Establish prayer at the decline of the sun [from its meridian] until the darkness of the night and [also] the Qur'an of dawn. Indeed, the recitation of dawn is ever witnessed.

أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ لِدُلُوكِ الشَّمْسِ إِلَى غَسَقِ اللَّيْلِ وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا

[Al-Isra 17:78]

This is the verse to which the questioner referred.The questioner : It contains three times.
The declining of the sun means its setting and its deviation from the middle of the sky, until the darkness of the night, which is the time for the Maghrib prayer, and the recitation of Fajr, which is the Fajr prayer. These are three times. The first time, meaning the period from the declining of the sun, includes the Dhuhr and Asr prayers. Therefore, it is permissible to combine them during travel, certainly, as established in many hadiths, and in the case of staying in one place due to dire necessity. The darkness of the night includes the Maghrib and Isha prayers. Therefore, it is also established to combine them during travel without restriction, and in the case of staying in one place for a stronger public benefit.
And the recitation of Fajr, meaning the Fajr prayer. These are three times, but as I perceive from the questioner,The questioner : it has been established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) by the mass-transmitted Sunnah

That Jibril (peace be upon him) came down to him and taught him the times of prayer in two days. On the first day, he prayed Fajr for him in the faint light of dawn. On the second day, he prayed Fajr for him when it was light, at a time when the sun was about to rise. He prayed Dhuhr on the first day when the sun had deviated from the middle of the sky, and on the second day he prayed Dhuhr when the shadow of a thing was equal to it, and the time for Asr was about to enter. He prayed Asr on the first day after the time for Dhuhr had passed, and on the second day he prayed Asr before the sun turned yellow. He prayed Maghrib on the first day after the sun had set, and on the second day he prayed Maghrib before the red twilight had set. He prayed Isha on the first day after the time for Maghrib had entered, and on the other day he prayed Isha in the middle of the night. And he said to him: The time is between these two.

أن جبريل - عليه الصلاة والسلام - نزل عليه وعلمه مواقيت الصلاة في يومين اثنين . في أول يوم صلى له صلاة الفجر في الغلس ، في اليوم الثاني صلى له صلاة الفجر مع الإسفار وقتها كادت الشمس تطلع . وصلى في اليوم الأول الظهر عند ميلان الشمس عن وسط السماء ، وفي اليوم الثاني صلى له الظهر عندما صار ظل الشيء مثله ، ويكاد يدخل وقت العصر . صلاة العصر صلاها في اليوم الأول بعد أن خرج وقت الظهر ، في اليوم الثاني صلى العصر قبل اصفرار الشمس . في اليوم الأول صلى المغرب بعد غروب الشمس ، اليوم الثاني صلى المغرب عند قبيل غروب الشفق الأحمر . في اليوم الأول صلى العشاء بعد دخول وقت المغرب ، وفي اليوم الآخر كان صلى العشاء في منتصف الليل وقال له : الوقت بين هذين

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Therefore, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) continued to lead the Muslims in prayer in his mosque, five prayers in five times. However, he

He once led all the people in prayer in Madinah, combining Dhuhr and Asr, without fear, travel, or rain.

قد صلى ذات يومٍ بالناس جميعًا صلاة الظهر والعصر في المدينة ، من غير خوف ولا سفر ولا مطر

combined Dhuhr and Asr, and combined Isha with Maghrib. Ibn Abbas narrated this to his followers, the Tabi'un. They said to him, "O Abu al-Abbas, what did he intend by that?" He said, "He intended not to burden his Ummah." That is, when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) combined the prayers with them in Madinah, and there was no rain, no travel, and no fear of the excuses that permit combining. So it was asked of him why the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did that? He said, "He intended not to burden his Ummah." So it is permissible for a Muslim, in order to avoid hardship, to combine the two prayers in the case of staying in one place, but on the condition that his habit is to separate the prayers and perform each of the five prayers in its known time according to the Sunnah. This is how we should do it: we separate where the Messenger of Allah separated, so we pray each prayer in its time, and we combine where the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) combined, as a dispensation or to remove hardship.

Source www.al-albany.com

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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