than to need—if he had offered each prayer at its own time, something whose permissibility is known to laypeople and scholars alike—to cite this unqualified account of an action as evidence for that, or to say: “He intended thereby not to impose hardship on his community.” He knew that offering the prayers at their respective times had already been prescribed in the hadiths on prayer times. Ibn ʿAbbās himself was among those who narrated the hadiths on prayer times, including the account of “Gabriel leading him in prayer beside the House. On the second day, he offered the noon prayer when the shadow of everything equalled its height, and the afternoon prayer when the shadow of everything was twice its height.”

If the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, combined the prayers only in this manner, what would be remarkable about that? It is well known that, on the second day, he offered both prayers at the end of their respective times and said:

“The time is between these two.”

It would therefore be all the more permissible for him to offer only the first prayer at the end of its time.

How could it be fitting for Ibn ʿAbbās to say, “He did that so as not to impose hardship on his community,” when the ordinarily recognized prayer times allow greater latitude and remove hardship more effectively than the manner of combining prayers they have described? How could he cite this action as evidence against someone who objected to his delaying the prayer, if the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had merely prayed within its specifically allotted time? Would not the Prophet’s delaying the sunset prayer, when he offered it on its own before the twilight disappeared, and his delaying the night prayer until a third or half of the night had passed have provided him with sufficient evidence without resorting to this?

Rather, Ibn ʿAbbās intended to explain that it is permissible to delay the sunset prayer until the time of the night prayer, thereby showing that there is greater latitude when combining prayers than otherwise. It is through this that hardship is removed from the community. Furthermore, it is authentically reported from Ibn ʿAbbās