As for the reports whose interpretation is disputed, they include the following.

First is the ḥadīth of Anas—agreed upon as authentic and recorded by al-Bukhārī and Muslim—in which he said:

“Whenever the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, set out before the sun had passed its zenith, he would postpone the Zuhr prayer until the time of ʿAsr; then, when he halted, he would combine the two. If the sun had already declined before he departed, he would perform Zuhr and then mount.”

Second is the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿUmar, likewise reported by the two Imams, who said:

“I saw the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, when pressed to travel quickly, delay Maghrib until he combined it with ʿIshāʾ.”

Third is the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās, transmitted by Mālik and Muslim:

“The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, performed Zuhr and ʿAsr together, and Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ together, with neither fear nor travel involved.”

Those who allow combining interpret these narrations to mean that he deferred Zuhr until the specific time of ʿAsr and then prayed them together. The scholars of Kūfah, however, contend that he merely prayed Zuhr at the end of its time and ʿAsr at the beginning of its time, as set out in the ḥadīth of Gabriel’s leadership. On that basis, they say, the report of Ibn ʿAbbās can be reconciled, for there is unanimous agreement that it is impermissible in non-travel circumstances, without excuse, to pray two prayers together within the time allotted to only one of them.

They also adduce the ḥadīth of Ibn Masʿūd, who said:

“By Him besides Whom there is no god, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, never prayed any ṣalāh except at its appointed time—save two: he combined Zuhr and ʿAsr at ʿArafāt, and Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ at Jamʿ (Muzdalifah).”

They argue that these reports may legitimately be understood either as we have interpreted them or as you have. Since the prayer times have been soundly established and clearly explained, one may not depart from a fixed principle on the basis of evidence that admits more than one possibility.

As for the report whose authenticity itself is disputed, it is what Mālik transmitted from Muʿādh ibn Jabal:

“We set out with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in the year of Tabūk. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, would combine Zuhr with ʿAsr and Maghrib with ʿIshāʾ. One day he delayed the prayer; then he came out and prayed Zuhr and ʿAsr together, went back in, came out again, and prayed Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ together.”

Had this report been sound, it would furnish clearer proof for the permissibility of combining than the foregoing narrations, for its plain sense is that he brought ʿIshāʾ forward to the time of Maghrib—though his opponents might still claim that he actually postponed