Dought & clear, - Putting two prayers together when not travelling.

--
"Published by, M NajimudeeN Bsc - INDIA|®|"- - - - *-Translator:->
http://translate.google.com/m/ -
-
-

I live in Britain and I pray in a mosque that is near where I live,
but the congregation in this mosque puts Maghrib and 'Isha' prayers
together at the time of Maghrib. The reason they give for that is that
the time period between'Isha' and Fajr prayer is very short and is not
sufficient for rest. Please note that the imam of the mosque gives as
evidence for that the fact that according to the report of Ibn
'Abbaas, the Prophet (blessing and peace of Allah be upon him) put
together Zuhr and 'Asr, and Maghrib and 'Isha', in Madinah with no
excuse.
Praise be to Allah.
The shar'i texts clearly indicate that it is obligatory to offer the
five daily prayers at the specified times, and that it is not
permissible to put together Zuhr and 'Asr, and Maghrib and 'Isha',
without any excuse such as sickness, travelling, rain and the like
which would make it difficult to offer each prayer at its own time.
Allah, may He be exalted,says (interpretation of the meaning):
"Verily, the prayer is enjoined on the believers at fixed hours"
[an-Nisa' 4:103], i.e., the prayer is obligatory at specific and known
times.
See: Fath al-Baari by Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, 3/7-8
Ibn Abi Shaybah (2/346) narrated from Abu Moosa al-Ash'ari and 'Umar
ibn al-Khattaab (may Allah be pleased with them) that they said:
"Putting prayers together without any excuse is a major sin."
With regard to the report narrated by Muslim (1/489) from Ibn 'Abbaas
(may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) put together Zuhr and 'Asr,
and Maghrib and 'Isha', when there was no fear and he was not
travelling and it was not raining – this does not mean that he put
prayers together without any excuse. Rather it was said to Ibn 'Abbaas
concerning that:What made him do that?He said: He wanted not to make
things difficult for his ummah. In other words, he did not want to
cause them hardship and difficulty. This indicates that there was an
excuse for putting prayers together in this hadeeth, and were it
notfor putting the prayers together it would have caused hardship for
the people.
Al-'Allaamah Ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his
comment on Fath al-Baari (2/24): The correct way to interpret the
hadeeth mentioned is that he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) put together the prayers mentioned because of some difficulty
that occurred on that day, such as widespread sickness, severe cold or
mud and the like. This is indicatedby the fact that when he was asked
about this putting the prayers together, Ibn 'Abbaas said: "so that he
would not make things difficultfor his ummah." This is a clear answer
which indicates that there was an excuse. End quote.
Based on that, quoting this hadeeth as evidenceis not appropriate.
What is required is to offer each prayer at the time specified for it
in sharee'ah. If there is an excuse or reason for putting prayers
together, such as sickness or rain, then there is nothing wrong with
putting prayers together in that case.
And Allah knows best.