Section: It is permissible to combine [prayers] due to illness, and this is the opinion of 'Ata' and Malik. The scholars of logic (Ashab al-Ra'y) and al-Shafi'i said: It is not permissible, for the reports [regarding] specific times are established and should not be abandoned based on a speculative matter. Our proof is what Ibn 'Abbas narrated, saying: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) combined the Dhuhr and 'Asr, and the Maghrib and 'Isha', without fear or rain. In another narration: Without fear or travel. Both were recorded by Muslim (35). We have reached a consensus that combining is not permissible without an excuse; [therefore] it is established that it was due to illness. It has been narrated from Abu 'Abd Allah [Ahmad ibn Hanbal] that he said regarding the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas: 'In my view, this is a concession for the sick person and the nursing mother.' It is also established that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) commanded Sahlah bint Suhayl and Hamnah bint Jahsh, when they were suffering from irregular vaginal bleeding (mustahada), to delay the Dhuhr and hasten the 'Asr, and to combine (36) between them with a single ghusl (37). Thus, he permitted them to combine due to the irregular bleeding. The reports regarding [prayer] timings are specific to the situations in which we have reached a consensus on the permissibility of combining; therefore, the location of the dispute is excluded [from them] by what we have mentioned.
(34) Omitted from: The original text. (35) The first narration was recorded by Muslim, in: Chapter on Combining Between Two Prayers While Resident, from the Book of Travelers. Sahih Muslim 1/490. It was also recorded by Abu Dawud, in: Chapter on Combining Between Two Prayers, from the Book of Travel. Sunan Abi Dawud 1/276. Al-Nasa'i, in: Chapter on Combining Between Two Prayers While Resident, from the Book of Timings. Al-Mujtaba 1/233. And Imam Ahmad, in: Al-Musnad 1/283. The second [narration] was recorded by Muslim, in: Chapter on Combining Between Two Prayers While Resident, from the Book of Travelers. Sahih Muslim 1/491. It was also recorded by Abu Dawud, in: Chapter on Combining Between Two Prayers, from the Book of Travel. Sunan Abi Dawud 1/276. Al-Tirmidhi, in: Chapter on What Was Related Regarding Combining Between Two Prayers, from the Chapters of Prayer. 'Aridat al-Ahwadhi 1/303. Al-Nasa'i, in: Chapter on Combining Between Two Prayers While Resident, from the Book of Prayer. Al-Mujtaba 1/234. And Imam Ahmad, in: Al-Musnad 1/223, 346, 354. (36) In M: "And combining". (37) The hadith of Sahlah bint Suhayl was recorded by Abu Dawud, in: Chapter on He Who Said: Combine Between Two Prayers and Perform One Ghusl for Both, from the Book of Purification. Sunan Abi Dawud 1/70. The hadith of Hamnah bint Jahsh was recorded by Abu Dawud, in: Chapter on He Who Said: When Menstruation Arrives, Cease Prayer, from the Book of Purification. Sunan Abi Dawud 1/67. Al-Tirmidhi, in: Chapter on the Mustahada (Woman with irregular bleeding): That She Combines Between Two Prayers with One Ghusl, from the Chapters of Purification. 'Aridat al-Ahwadhi 1/201-203. Ibn Majah, in: Chapter on What Was Related Regarding the Virgin Who Begins as a Mustahada... etc., from the Book of Purification. Sunan Ibn Majah 1/205, 206.
