falling, according to the sounder of the two scholarly opinions. This is preferable to their praying in their homes. Indeed, refraining from combining the prayers while praying at home instead is an innovation contrary to the Sunnah, for the Sunnah is to perform the five daily prayers in congregation in the mosques. This is preferable to praying at home, by the consensus of the Muslims.

Combining the prayers in the mosques is preferable to praying them separately at home, by the agreement of the imams who permit combining prayers, such as Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, and Ahmad. And Allah Most High knows best.

He said—may Allah have mercy on him:

Section

As for prayers performed in exceptional circumstances—such as the obligatory prayers in times of fear, illness, and travel; prayers to ward off affliction when its causes arise, such as prayers occasioned by signs like eclipses and similar events; prayers to seek blessings, such as the prayer for rain; and the funeral prayer—the jurists of the hadith tradition, such as Ahmad and others, follow the general body of established reports from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his Companions on this subject. Thus, they permit all the forms of prayer in times of fear that have been reliably transmitted from the Prophet