Allah's Messenger: So is it as if the Sunnah of combining the two prayers in rain, in your view, is to combine them before the twilight (al-shafaq) disappears, while in travel one delays it until the twilight disappears? He said: Yes.

Section: Combining [prayers] is not permissible for anyone other than those we have mentioned. Ibn Shubruma said: It is permissible if there is a need or something [similar], as long as one does not make it a habit, based on the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) combined the Dhuhr and 'Asr, and the Maghrib and 'Isha, without fear or rain. It was said to Ibn 'Abbas: Why did he do that? He said: He wanted not to impose hardship upon his Ummah. Our evidence is the general reports regarding [appointed] times, and we have interpreted the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas as referring to a state of illness. It is also possible that it refers to someone upon whom there is hardship, such as a nursing mother, an elderly weak person, and others similar to them who would face hardship in abandoning the combining of prayers. It is also possible that he prayed the first [prayer] at the end of its time and the second at the beginning of its time, for 'Amr ibn Dinar narrated this hadith from Jabir ibn Zayd, from Ibn 'Abbas. 'Amr said: I said to Jabir, O Abu al-Sha'tha': I think he delayed the Dhuhr and hastened the 'Asr, and delayed the Maghrib and hastened the 'Isha'? He said: I think so too.

Section: Among the conditions for the permissibility of combining is the intention to combine in one of the two opinions; the other [opinion] states that this is not required. This is the view of Abu Bakr, and the derivation [of rulings] is based on its requirement. The time for the intention differs according to the type of combining. If one combines during the time of the first [prayer], its time is at the opening takbir (al-ihram) for the first [prayer], according to one of the two opinions, because it is an intention that is required, so it is considered at the opening takbir, like the intention for shortening [prayers]. The second [view] is that its time is from the beginning of the first prayer until its completion; whichever point he intends it at is sufficient, because the time for combining is from finishing the last of the first [prayer] to the commencement of the second. So if he does not