the five daily prayers in the mosques in congregation, and this is preferable to praying in one’s home, by the unanimous agreement of the Muslims. (1)
Scholars have differed over the permissibility of combining Zuhr and ʿAsr on account of the excuses that allow combining while one is resident. Some maintain that only Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ may be joined, because the texts speak of combining the prayers on a rainy night. The second opinion holds that Zuhr and ʿAsr may likewise be combined, for the wording does not exclude combining on a rainy day; the effective cause is hardship, and whenever hardship is present—by night or by day—combining is permissible. (2)
Al-ʿAllāmah Muḥammad ibn Qāsim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “According to the other view, it is permissible to combine the two midday prayers just as the two evening prayers. This was chosen by al-Qāḍī, Abū’l-Khaṭṭāb, the Shaykh, and others. Al-Wazīr transmitted no other position from Aḥmad; he preferred it, affirmed it categorically, and more than one scholar declared it sound. It is also the school of al-Shāfiʿī.” (3)
Al-ʿAllāmah al-Saʿdī (may Allah have mercy on him) said: