Benefit Four: Al-Rawḍ and its marginal commentary state: “If the traveller is a sailor or the like, accompanied by his family and with no intention of settling in any town, he must perform the prayer in full, taking the ruling of a resident, because his journey is continuous.” A second narration, however, allows him the concessions, and this was the choice of al-Muwaffaq, the Shaykh, and others. They said, “Whether his family is with him or not, the concession applies, for such travel is more taxing,” and this is also the position of the other three imams.

Benefit Five: Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyya remarked, “Combining prayers is an incidental dispensation granted for need. The jurists of hadith—Aḥmad and others—recommend leaving it unless a need arises. Of all the legal schools, Aḥmad’s is the most accommodating, for he explicitly allows combining whenever there is a genuine need or pressing occupation.”