Permissibility of combining prayers by advancing or delaying them while traveling
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The questioner, brother A. S. M. from Ta'if, says in his question: We were a group traveling, and upon arriving at our destination in the wilderness about an hour after the Maghrib prayer, I asked them to hasten to perform wudu so that we could pray Maghrib and Isha shortened and combined. One of the brothers said: "Prayer is not permissible at this time, and you must wait until the Isha adhan is called." I told him: "Prayer is permissible in the time of either one, and when the time of Maghrib ends, the time of Isha enters immediately after it." He said: "There is a time between the two that is not a time for prayer."
The Shaykh: We ask for clarification of the ruling of the Shari'ah in this matter, and what about combining the Dhuhr and Asr prayers with regard to their times? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
The correct view is what you mentioned, for there is no time between the time of Maghrib and the time of Isha in which prayer is prohibited. Likewise, there is no time between Dhuhr and Asr in which prayer is prohibited. Rather, whenever the time of the first prayer ends, the time of the second prayer enters immediately without any interval. The traveler may combine the two prayers in the time of either one, because the two times have become one time for him, just as with the sick person. However, it is better for the traveler, if he is on a journey and departed from his home before the time of the first prayer entered, to delay it until the time of the second prayer so that he combines them by delaying. If he departed from his home after the time of the first prayer had entered, it is prescribed for him to advance the second prayer with the first and combine them by advancing, following the example of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in that.
As for the traveler who is staying, it is better for him not to combine, but to pray each prayer in its time shortened without combining, if his stay is four days or less. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stayed in Mina during the Farewell Pilgrimage on the Day of Sacrifice and the eleventh and twelfth days of the days of Tashriq, and he prayed each prayer in its time and did not combine. However, if the traveler intends to stay for more than four days, the most cautious course in this case is to pray each prayer in its time in full without shortening, according to the majority of scholars. May Allah guide them all.
The questioner, brother A. S. M. from Ta'if, says in his question: We were a group traveling, and upon arriving at our destination in the wilderness about an hour after the Maghrib prayer, I asked them to hasten to perform wudu so that we could pray Maghrib and Isha shortened and combined. One of the brothers said: "Prayer is not permissible at this time, and you must wait until the Isha adhan is called." I told him: "Prayer is permissible in the time of either one, and when the time of Maghrib ends, the time of Isha enters immediately after it." He said: "There is a time between the two that is not a time for prayer."
The Shaykh: We ask for clarification of the ruling of the Shari'ah in this matter, and what about combining the Dhuhr and Asr prayers with regard to their times? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
The correct view is what you mentioned, for there is no time between the time of Maghrib and the time of Isha in which prayer is prohibited. Likewise, there is no time between Dhuhr and Asr in which prayer is prohibited. Rather, whenever the time of the first prayer ends, the time of the second prayer enters immediately without any interval. The traveler may combine the two prayers in the time of either one, because the two times have become one time for him, just as with the sick person. However, it is better for the traveler, if he is on a journey and departed from his home before the time of the first prayer entered, to delay it until the time of the second prayer so that he combines them by delaying. If he departed from his home after the time of the first prayer had entered, it is prescribed for him to advance the second prayer with the first and combine them by advancing, following the example of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in that.
As for the traveler who is staying, it is better for him not to combine, but to pray each prayer in its time shortened without combining, if his stay is four days or less. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stayed in Mina during the Farewell Pilgrimage on the Day of Sacrifice and the eleventh and twelfth days of the days of Tashriq, and he prayed each prayer in its time and did not combine. However, if the traveler intends to stay for more than four days, the most cautious course in this case is to pray each prayer in its time in full without shortening, according to the majority of scholars. May Allah guide them all.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.