in his home while not travelling, where she might see him without the men being present. The obligatory prayers were different: whether resident or travelling, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, always offered them as the imam leading his Companions, unless he had an excuse such as illness or being away to attend to some need. Thus, he was absent when he went to reconcile the people of Qubā’, and on one journey he was absent while purifying himself, so they appointed ʿAbd al-Rahmān ibn ʿAwf to lead them in the dawn prayer. When the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, arrived, he commended their action and affirmed that it was correct.

If he had offered the prayers in full, it would have been with the men praying behind him, so they would certainly have known of it. They would also have had every reason and incentive to report it, since it would have differed from his customary practice on his journeys. Had he done so occasionally, they would have been strongly motivated to report it, just as they reported his wiping over leather socks when he did so, even though he usually performed ablution by washing his feet. Likewise, they reported his occasionally combining two prayers, even though he usually offered each prayer within its own prescribed time.

Moreover, a departure from his customary practice would have been more apparent than the difference between one portion of time and another. People do not perceive the passage of time as readily as they perceive the differences they witness in the grounds for an exemption. The latter can be seen with the eye and requires neither reflection nor inference, unlike determining that the time for the noon or sunset prayer has ended, which requires careful attention.

For this reason, a group of scholars held that, outside ʿArafah and Muzdalifah, his combining prayers consisted only of performing the second prayer early and delaying the first until the end of its time. And it has