What are the excuses that permit combining the prayers?

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : The excuses, my master, that permit combining, such as cold, mud, and so on, as you know, the scholars have differed on this. We would like you to benefit us with the knowledge that Allah has given you.

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you.

The questioner : Specifically, combining Dhuhr and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha.

The Shaykh : If we look at the hadith of Ibn Abbas mentioned earlier, when he was asked why the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) combined Dhuhr and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha, in Madinah without travel or rain? Then this combining was not for these two known excuses, which are travel and rain. He said: ; so this is a very great hadith in that it fully aligns with the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He): , and also the other verse: ; so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) combined in Madinah without the excuse of travel or rain to remove hardship, meaning as a teaching to the Ummah that it is permissible for any individual or for a group of them to combine without the excuse of travel or rain, but it is required that this combining is not following a desire and not following the habit of staying up late, but rather to remove hardship. Now, removing hardship can be imagined individually and can be imagined collectively. You mentioned in your question severe cold; severe cold affects all the people who leave their homes to pray in the houses of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So, to remove this hardship, it is permissible to combine, even if the word "cold" is not explicitly mentioned, because it is included in the generality of removing hardship. So it is also a permissible matter. And on that basis, consider any situation in which a group of people or an individual is subjected to some hardship; it is permissible for him to combine. Many individuals today who are obligated to perform certain services or hold certain jobs, such as a soldier and such... and the like, these people may not be able to maintain performing every prayer in its time. In that case, we say to them: You may combine to remove hardship, not to make that a rule. So: . But I must draw attention to a disagreement that occurs between some of the congregation in the mosques with the imams of the mosques. The imam, for example, may see combining, either for rain or for cold, but some individuals of the congregation do not see that. For example, he says, "My brother, this is a light rain, meaning it is not strong, and this does not justify combining." This is not something where individuals should intervene with the imam's opinion. I say, with regret, that most of the imams of the mosques do not have fiqh, if I do not say they do not have taqwa. But we say "most" and do not generalize, because there is still good among the people. But what we observe is that many of the imams of the mosques do not have fiqh. He may be righteous, he may be pious, but he does not have fiqh. He does not even know how to pray properly, let alone have the broad fiqh that allows him to handle emergency situations with the evidence of the Shari'ah. Most of them do not know, as the Lord of the Worlds said. Nevertheless, I say: It is not permissible for these individuals to intervene and to overrule this imam. As long as he is their imam... if he sees combining, they combine with him, and if he leaves off combining, it is not permissible for them to combine. If a disagreement arises, like, "My brother, this cold is not severe," the imam may be an old man, like my story, who feels severe cold and sees combining, while the other young people, praise be upon Allah, have... and have strength... and do not see it. So it should not be that there is a disagreement between them in a matter whose solution is in the hands of only this imam who is their role model. Please, do you have anything?

The questioner : ... .