Source: Fatāwā Muḥammadiyyah, Vol. 1, p. 533❖ Question:
What is the Sharʿī ruling regarding combining two prayers due to rain?
❖ Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd:
During rainfall and times of severe mud and hardship, it is permissible to combine two prayers (جمع بین الصلوٰتین).
This is supported by the ḥadīth recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī from Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما:
❖ Ḥadīth Evidence:
عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ: " أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ صَلَّى بِالْمَدِينَةِ سَبْعًا وَثَمَانِيًا: الظُّهْرَ وَالعَصْرَ وَالمَغْرِبَ وَالعِشَاءَ "، فَقَالَ أَيُّوبُ: لَعَلَّهُ فِي لَيْلَةٍ مَطِيرَةٍ، قَالَ: عَسَى۔
(Bāb Ta’khīr al-Ẓuhr ilā al-ʿAṣr, vol. 1, p. 77)
Translation:
Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما reported: “The Prophet ﷺ performed in Madinah seven and eight rakʿāt together — meaning, he combined Ẓuhr and ʿAṣr, and Maghrib and ʿIshā.”
Ayyūb (al-Sakhtiyānī) said, “Perhaps it was on a rainy night?”
Jābir bin Zayd replied, “It is hoped that it was so.”
❖ Opinions of the Muḥaddithīn and Fuqahāʾ:
◈ Although Imām al-Shawkānī رحمه الله, after a detailed scholarly analysis, regarded this combination as Jamʿ Ṣūrī (apparent or nominal combination),
◈ Imām Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله, the author of Muttaqī al-Akhbār, concluded:
وَهٰذَا يَدُلُّ بِمَعْنَاهُ عَلَى الجَمْعِ لِلْمَطَرِ وَالْخَوْفِ وَلِلْمَرَضِ۔
(Nayl al-Awṭār, vol. 3, Bāb Jamʿ al-Muqīm li-Maṭar aw li-Ghayrih, p. 218)
Translation:
“This ḥadīth, in its meaning, indicates the permissibility of combining prayers due to rain, fear, or illness.”
❖ Statement of Imām al-Tirmidhī رحمه الله:
At the end of this ḥadīth, Imām al-Tirmidhī رحمه الله stated:
قَالَ بَعْضُ أَهْلِ العِلْمِ: يَجْمَعُ بَيْنَ الصَّلَاتَيْنِ فِي المَطَرِ، وَبِهِ يَقُولُ الشَّافِعِيُّ، وَأَحْمَدُ۔
(Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī)
Translation:
“Some scholars have said: It is permissible to combine two prayers due to rain. This is also the opinion of Imām al-Shāfiʿī and Imām Aḥmad.”
ھٰذا ما عندي، والله أعلم بالصواب
This is what I hold to be correct, and Allah knows best what is right.
