Explaining the wisdom of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in what He decrees for His creation, the wisdom of cold, and the ruling on combining prayers in it.
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The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets and the Imam of the Pious, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. As for what follows:
This is the first meeting of the month of Rajab, the seventh day of it, in the year 1413. We ask Allah the Exalted to make it a beneficial meeting.
This day, and the two or three days before it, coincide with days of severe cold. This is good for humans and plants, for some diseases and microbes are not killed except by severe cold, just as some are not killed except by severe heat. So Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has wisdom in what He decrees for His creation and in what He legislates for them. Just as He (Mighty and Majestic) is Wise in His legislation, He is likewise Wise in His decree. And among the mercy of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) is that there is no contradiction between divine decree and destiny and the Shari'ah. Whenever divine decree and destiny become severe, the Shari'ah lightens what corresponds to that severity.
An example of this is that if the cold becomes severe with a wind that harms people, it is permissible for a person to combine the midday and afternoon prayers, and the sunset and night prayers. This is based on what is established in Sahih Muslim from 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): : meaning that he did not place them in difficulty. This indicates that the wisdom of the prescription of combining is to remove hardship from the Muslims, and it indicates that if there is no hardship, combining is not permissible.
The hardship in cold only occurs if it is accompanied by wind, a cold wind. But if it is not accompanied by wind, a person protects himself from the cold by wearing many clothes and is not harmed by it. For this reason, if a questioner asked us: Is combining permissible merely due to severe cold?
We would say: No, it is not permissible except on the condition that it is accompanied by a cold wind that harms people, or if it is accompanied by the falling of snow. If snow is falling, it certainly causes harm, so in that case combining is permissible. But mere cold is not an excuse that permits combining. Whoever combines the two prayers without a Shari'ah excuse is sinful, and the prayer he combined with the one before it is not valid and is not counted. Rather, he must repeat it.
And if it was a combination by delaying, his first prayer was a prayer performed outside its time, and he is sinful for that.
I wanted to point out this issue because some people told me that they combined two nights ago because of the cold, without there being any wind that harms people, and this is not permissible for them.
This is the first meeting of the month of Rajab, the seventh day of it, in the year 1413. We ask Allah the Exalted to make it a beneficial meeting.
This day, and the two or three days before it, coincide with days of severe cold. This is good for humans and plants, for some diseases and microbes are not killed except by severe cold, just as some are not killed except by severe heat. So Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has wisdom in what He decrees for His creation and in what He legislates for them. Just as He (Mighty and Majestic) is Wise in His legislation, He is likewise Wise in His decree. And among the mercy of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) is that there is no contradiction between divine decree and destiny and the Shari'ah. Whenever divine decree and destiny become severe, the Shari'ah lightens what corresponds to that severity.
An example of this is that if the cold becomes severe with a wind that harms people, it is permissible for a person to combine the midday and afternoon prayers, and the sunset and night prayers. This is based on what is established in Sahih Muslim from 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both):
That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) combined in Madinah without fear or rain. They said to Ibn 'Abbas: What did he intend by that? He said: He intended not to place his Ummah in difficulty.
أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم جمع في المدينة من غير خوف ولا مطر، قالوا لابن عباس: ما أراد بذلك؟ قال: أراد ألا يحرج أمتهThe hardship in cold only occurs if it is accompanied by wind, a cold wind. But if it is not accompanied by wind, a person protects himself from the cold by wearing many clothes and is not harmed by it. For this reason, if a questioner asked us: Is combining permissible merely due to severe cold?
We would say: No, it is not permissible except on the condition that it is accompanied by a cold wind that harms people, or if it is accompanied by the falling of snow. If snow is falling, it certainly causes harm, so in that case combining is permissible. But mere cold is not an excuse that permits combining. Whoever combines the two prayers without a Shari'ah excuse is sinful, and the prayer he combined with the one before it is not valid and is not counted. Rather, he must repeat it.
And if it was a combination by delaying, his first prayer was a prayer performed outside its time, and he is sinful for that.
I wanted to point out this issue because some people told me that they combined two nights ago because of the cold, without there being any wind that harms people, and this is not permissible for them.