Combining prayers for the sake of rain

Question:
The questioner: What is the ruling on combining the Zuhr and 'Asr prayers, and combining the Maghrib and 'Isha' prayers for the sake of rain? I ask for detail on this, because there is much talk about it, and it happens in ... mosques when the imam is asked to combine and he refuses?

Answer:
Yes. Combining Maghrib and 'Isha' for the sake of severe mud or rain falling from the sky that wets the clothes and causes hardship for the ma'mums (those praying behind the imam) is permissible in this case to remove the hardship from the ma'mums. One combines Maghrib and 'Isha' by bringing the later prayer forward, in order to remove the hardship from the ma'mums. There is nothing wrong with this, and this is known in the madhhab (school of jurisprudence), and no one among the scholars of this land has denied it. However, the issue lies in the realization of the cause. Some of the brothers hasten to combine as soon as they see a little rain, even though no hardship has occurred, there is no mud, and there is no rain falling; rather, they see clouds in the sky and expect rain to fall, or light rain falls that causes no hardship and there is no mud on the ground. There is no need to combine in such cases, because the prayers are obligatory at specific times. Allah the Exalted said: "Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers at specified times." Therefore, it is not permissible to combine except for a legitimate Shari'ah reason. The presence of mud or accumulated water on the asphalt roads that makes it difficult for people to cross, or continuous falling rain, in such cases combining is better in order to remove the hardship from the Muslims. This is between Maghrib and 'Isha'. As for Zuhr and 'Asr, it was not known among the scholars of this land that they combine between Zuhr and 'Asr. The majority are against combining between Zuhr and 'Asr; rather, this is specific to Maghrib and 'Isha' only. There is no justification for combining between Zuhr and 'Asr, because this was known among the scholars of this land from the time of Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab to our time. Secondly, Zuhr and 'Asr differ from Maghrib and 'Isha' because Zuhr and 'Asr are in the daytime when people are at their work in their shops, offices, and markets, whereas people need to go home for Maghrib and 'Isha'. Also, Maghrib and 'Isha' are usually in darkness; a person may fall into water or a stream due to the darkness of the night, unlike the day which is bright and has no darkness, so there is no need to combine. What we see is that one should not combine between Zuhr and 'Asr, but rather combine between Maghrib and 'Isha' if the need arises due to the presence of rain or mud. In fact, Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him) in his time combined one of the brothers, so he summoned him and rebuked him, and nearly removed him from the mosque for combining between Zuhr and 'Asr; he nearly removed him from the mosque.