Is it better for the traveler to shorten the prayer without combining, or to combine and shorten?

Q: Some people assume that combining and shortening are inseparable, so there is no combining without shortening and no shortening without combining. What is your opinion on this? And is it better for the traveler to shorten without combining, or to combine and shorten?

A: For the one for whom Allah has prescribed shortening, namely the traveler, it is permissible for him to combine, but there is no inseparable link between them. He may shorten without combining, and leaving off the combining is better if the traveler is staying in a place and not traveling, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did in Mina during the Farewell Pilgrimage, for he shortened and did not combine. He combined shortening and combining in the Expedition of Tabuk, which indicates a broadness in this matter.
And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would shorten and combine when he was on a moving mount and not settled in a place. As for combining, its ruling is broader; it is permissible for the sick person, and it is also permissible for Muslims in their mosques when there is rain or slippery ground between Maghrib and 'Isha', and between Zuhr and 'Asr. It is not permissible for them to shorten, because shortening is specific to travel only. And success is from Allah.