Is it permissible to combine the Maghrib and 'Isha' prayers during a curfew?

The questioner : Now, I return to the question of our brothers in Khan Younis. They are asking two questions. The first question is: Is it permissible for them to combine 'Isha' with Maghrib, or Maghrib with 'Isha'? Is it permissible to combine them during a curfew? That is, the curfew starts at nine o'clock, and no one is allowed to go out. It is nine and ten... nine and a quarter.

Another questioner : Nine and twenty-five minutes.

The questioner : The adhan is called for 'Isha'. Yes, our brother Samir said that combining is permissible due to the presence of fear. But our brothers said: We will wait until a scholar comes to us. So he said: We hope that if you see him...The Shaykh : ...that you ask him this question. There is another question, but I will keep it for later.

Another questioner : May Allah reward you with good. Despite the fact that Gaza, what you call the Islamists, [says] combining is not permissible. I say combining is not permissible. So what is your opinion, O Shaykh?

The Shaykh : I say that this combining is permissible, but not on the basis of fear, because the fear mentioned in the verse does not mean fear in general; rather, it means fear in war. However, this saves us from this reasoning for which we find no evidence, because the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas in Sahih Muslim suffices us, the text of which is: . Therefore, where there is hardship, there is combining, and where there is no hardship, it is obligatory to separate the two times and perform each prayer in its time with the congregation. Here, there is another issue: the matter revolves around either the Muslims praying the 'Isha' prayer, each in his own home, and thus missing the congregational prayer, or praying it combined as a forward combination with the Maghrib prayer, thereby securing the congregation. It is well known from many authentic hadiths, and praise be to Allah, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) established for his Ummah that when rain falls, the prayer is in the places of rest. It is also well known that he ordered the mu'adhdhin on a rainy night to say: here there are two narrations. One narration says he should say after "Hayya 'ala al-falah": "Pray in your places, pray in your places." The other narration says he should replace "Hayya 'ala al-salah, hayya 'ala al-falah" with: "Pray in your places, pray in your places." If the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) permitted the believers to pray in their homes when it rains, and permitted them to combine the two prayers as a forward combination when there is rain, because they might not be able to go out to the mosque at the time of the last prayer, for example, then out of concern for performing the prayer with the congregation, he (peace and blessings be upon him) permitted them to combine the two prayers due to the excuse of rain. The excuse I mentioned earlier is undoubtedly stronger than these excuses for which the text explicitly mentions them in the authentic hadiths. Added to this is the reasoning of Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him): The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) combined in Madinah without any of the known excuses. Travel is an excuse for combining, and rain is an excuse for combining. Yet he says the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) combined without the excuse of rain or travel. What did he intend by that? He said: He intended not to cause hardship for his Ummah. So, they may combine the 'Isha' prayer as a forward combination with the Maghrib prayer. This is the answer to the first question. Yes.