al-Bukhari (2) narrated from Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid that he said: Abdullah performed Hajj, and we came (3) to Muzdalifah at the time of the Adhan for the night prayer (al-atamah), or close to that. He ordered a man who then called the Adhan and performed the Iqamah. Then he prayed Maghrib, followed by two rak'ahs. Then he called for his dinner. Then he ordered—I think (4)—so he called the Adhan and performed the Iqamah, then he prayed Isha. He then said: I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) do it. This is because when the combination is [performed] during the time of the second, separating them does not cause any harm.

Section: It is the Sunnah to hasten with the two prayers and to pray them before setting down the luggage, based on what we mentioned regarding the hadith of Usamah. In some of its wordings, it states that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) performed the Iqamah for Maghrib (5), then the people made their camels kneel in their places and did not unload until he performed the Iqamah for the last Isha prayer, then he prayed, and then they unloaded. This was narrated by Muslim (6). It is the Sunnah not to perform voluntary prayers (tatawwu') between them. Ibn al-Mundhir said: I am not aware of them disagreeing on this. It has been narrated from Ibn Mas'ud that he did perform voluntary prayers between them, and he attributed it to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) (7). Our evidence is the hadith of Usamah and Ibn Umar (6) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not pray between them, and their hadith is more authentic. This has already been discussed (8) regarding the abandonment of separation between them.

Section: If one prays Maghrib before reaching Muzdalifah and does not combine them, he has acted against the Sunnah, but his prayer is valid. This is the opinion of Ata, Urwah, al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, Sa'id ibn Jubayr, Malik, al-Shafi'i, Ishaq, Abu Thawr, Abu Yusuf, and Ibn al-Mundhir.