the Day of Arafah, so he stays in Namirah, or if he wishes, in Arafah, until the sun passes its meridian. Then the Imam delivers a sermon in which he teaches the people their rituals, concerning the place of standing (wuquf) and its time, the departure from Arafat, their spending the night in Muzdalifah, and the gathering of pebbles for stoning the Jamarat, because of what preceded in the hadith of Jabir, that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did that (1). Then he commands the adhan, and he descends and prays the Dhuhr and Asr prayers, combining them, and performing an iqamah for each prayer. Abu Thawr said: The mu'adhdhin calls the adhan when the Imam ascends the minbar and sits. When the mu'adhdhin finishes, the Imam stands and delivers the khutbah. It was also said: He calls the adhan at the end of the Imam's khutbah. The hadith of Jabir indicates that he called the adhan after the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) finished his khutbah. Whatever he does is good. As for his saying: "And if he performs the adhan, there is no harm," it is as if he held that he has the choice between whether to call the adhan for the first prayer or not. Ahmad said the same, because both are narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The adhan is better, and this is the view of al-Shafi'i, Abu Thawr, and the People of Opinion (Ashab al-Ra'y). Malik said: He calls the adhan for each prayer. Following what has come down in the Sunnah is more appropriate, and it is also in accordance with analogy (qiyas), as is the case in all combined prayers and missed prayers. The statement of al-Khiraqi: "And if he misses it with the Imam, he prays in his own dwelling," means that the individual (2) combines them just as he would combine them with the Imam. Ibn Umar did this. This was also the view of Ata, Malik, al-Shafi'i, Ishaq, Abu Thawr, and the two companions of Abu Hanifah. Al-Nakha'i, al-Thawri, and Abu Hanifah said: He does not combine them except with the Imam; [because for every prayer there is a limited time, and that is only omitted when combining with the Imam] (3). So if there is no Imam, we return to the original rule. Our evidence is that when Ibn Umar would miss the combination of Dhuhr and Asr with the Imam at Arafah, he would combine them individually. Also, every combination that is permissible with the Imam is permissible individually, like combining the two Isha prayers at Jam' (4). Their claim that combination is only permissible in a congregation is incorrect, because they have already acknowledged that the Imam may combine them even if he is alone.