Taken from: “Ahkam wa Masail in the Light of the Qur’an and Hadith”, Volume 02
❀ Question:
- Can a resident (non-traveler) offer the following prayer earlier due to an important task, knowing that the task will consume much time and may hinder praying on time?
- Can a sick person combine two prayers?
❀ Answer:
✦ A resident may occasionally perform jamʿ ṣūrī (apparent combining) in times of need.
However, for a non-traveling person, performing jamʿ taqdīm (advancing the next prayer) or jamʿ ta’khīr (delaying the earlier one) is not proven from the Qur’an or Sunnah.
Whereas, for a traveler, both forms of combining (jamʿ taqdīm and jamʿ ta’khīr) are authentically established from the Prophet ﷺ.
✿ Combining Prayers Due to Illness or Rain:
Combining prayers via jamʿ taqdīm or jamʿ ta’khīr due to illness or rain is not directly established from the Prophet ﷺ.
However, jamʿ ṣūrī—wherein one prayer is delayed to the end of its time and the next is prayed at its beginning—is permissible and even recorded in the practice of the Prophet ﷺ without any excuse.
✦ Evidence from the Sunnah:
Ibn ʿAbbas رضي الله عنهما reported:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ combined Zuhr and ʿAsr, and Maghrib and ʿIsha in Madinah without any fear or rain.”
When asked about this, he replied:
“So that he would not place a burden upon his Ummah.”
(Sahih Muslim, Kitab Salat al-Musafirin; Jami‘ al-Tirmidhi, Kitab al-Salah)
Another narration:
ʿAbdullah ibn Shaqiq narrates:
One time, Ibn ʿAbbas رضي الله عنهما began delivering a sermon in Basrah after the ‘Asr prayer until the stars appeared. Someone said: “The time for Maghrib has arrived.”
He responded: “Do not teach me the Sunnah. I have seen the Prophet ﷺ combine Zuhr with ʿAsr, and Maghrib with ʿIsha.”
ʿAbdullah ibn Shaqiq says: I had doubts, so I asked Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه, who confirmed it.
✿ Key Guidelines:
- In exceptional circumstances, combining two prayers in residence is allowed.
- However, doing so habitually or for convenience, such as business-related delay or laziness, is strictly impermissible and a major sin.
- Every prayer must be performed in its prescribed time, unless a genuine and urgent necessity occurs.
✧ The Prophet ﷺ, during rain, would instruct the muezzin to announce:
“أَلَا صَلُّوا فِي رِحَالِكُمْ“ — “Take heed! Pray in your homes.”
(Abu Dawud, Kitab al-Salah, Bab al-Takhalluf ʿan al-Jama‘ah fi al-Laylah al-Bāridah)
✔ Summary:
① A resident may not combine prayers (via jamʿ taqdīm or ta’khīr) except in cases of unavoidable hardship.
② A sick person may resort to jamʿ ṣūrī if genuinely necessary, but clear evidence for full combining is absent in residence.
③ Combining prayers as a routine or out of laziness or work is not allowed and constitutes a major sin.
Wallāhu Aʿlam.
