The Ruling on Combining Prayers Without a Valid Reason

The Ruling on Combining Prayers Without a Valid Reason

By: Dr Mohammad Akram Nadwi
Oxford

Question: My student Subaida from Kerala in India asked me the following question:
Salam Sheikh,
Did Prophet (PBUH) combine Zuhr & Asr, Maghrib & Isha in Madinah sometimes, even when there was no rain or when he was not travelling (without a specific reason)?
If YES, then can we do the same when required?
Please can you answer this, Sheikh? 🙏 Many are asking this…

Answer: Salam,
The fundamental rule in Islam is that the five daily prayers must be performed in their prescribed times, as Allah says: إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ كَانَتْ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ كِتَابًا مَوْقُوتًا “Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers a decree of specified times.” (Surah An-Nisaʾ 4:103)

This establishes that each prayer has a fixed time and it is obligatory upon believers to observe it within that time. Combining prayers (Jamʿ) is permitted only in cases of genuine hardship, such as travelling, illness, or rain for the masjid congregation, to ease the burden of worship.

In Sahih Muslim, Ibn ʿAbbas (RA) reports: جَمَعَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ بَيْنَ الظُّهْرِ وَالْعَصْرِ، وَالْمَغْرِبِ وَالْعِشَاءِ بِالْمَدِينَةِ فِي غَيْرِ خَوْفٍ وَلَا مَطَرٍ “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) combined Zuhr and ʿAsr, and Maghrib and ʿIsha in Madinah without fear and without rain.”
This appears to describe combining without an apparent reason. However, Imam Tirmidhi, in his ʿIlal, clarifies: “All that is in this book of hadiths is acted upon and some of the people of knowledge have adopted them, except two hadiths, the hadith of Ibn ʿAbbas that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) combined between Zuhr and ʿAsr at Madinah and Maghrib and ʿIsha without fear, nor travel nor rain…”

This means that the scholars did not consider this hadith as evidence for routinely combining prayers without a valid reason, and I have explained the weakness in relying upon it in detail in my commentary on Sahih Muslim.

Indeed, Imam Nawawi, in his Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, explains this was not a habitual practice. Many scholars understand it as Jamʿ Suri—apparent combining. In that case, the Prophet (PBUH) delayed Zuhr until near its end and prayed ʿAsr at its beginning, likewise delaying Maghrib and praying ʿIsha at its outset. Thus each prayer remained within its proper time, albeit closely following the prior one.

Therefore, the correct scholarly position is that it is not permissible to combine prayers without a valid reason and to do so habitually is not acceptable. The Sunnah is to observe each prayer in its proper time unless there is genuine need, such as travel, illness, or rain for the congregation.

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