A glance at the traditions-3

9. In his Sharḥ al-Muwaṭṭa’, Muḥammad az-Zarqānī thus narrates on the authority of Abū ash-Sha‘thā’:

شيءٌ بينهما ليس العصر و الظّهر بالبصرة صلّى عبّاس بن إنّ

.شيءٌ بينهما ليس العِشاء و المغرب و

Verily, (‘Abd Allāh) ibn ‘Abbās performed in Baṣrah ẓuhr and ‘aṣr prayers together without any interval in between, and performed maghrib and ‘ishā’ prayers together without any interval in between.[1]

10. Zarqānī narrates on the authority of Ṭabrānī, from Ibn Mas‘ūd:

و العصر و الظّهر بين – وسلّم [وآله] عليه الله صلى – النّبيّ جمع

.أمّتي تحرّج لئلاّ هٰذا صنعت :فقال ذٰلك، في له فقيل .العشاء و المغرب بين

The Prophet (ṣ) performed ẓuhr and ‘aṣr prayers together, and the maghrib and ‘ishā’ prayers together. When he was asked about the reason for that, he said: I wanted that my ummah would not be put to (unnecessary) difficulty.[2]

11. Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj narrates on the authority of Abū Zubayr from Sa‘īd ibn Jubayr from Ibn ‘Abbās:

– وسلّم [وآله] عليه الله صلى – الله رسول صلّى

.ولاسفرٍ خوفٍ غير في بالمدينة جميعًا العصر و الظّهر

“The Messenger of Allah (ṣ) performed noon and afternoon prayers together in Medina though he was neither in a state of fear nor on travels.”[3]

Abū Zubayr said: I asked Sa‘īd (one of the narrators) why the Prophet did that. He said: I asked Ibn ‘Abbās about it, and he replied that he (the Holy Prophet) wanted that no one among his ummah should be put to (unnecessary) hardship.[4]

12. In his Ṣaḥīḥ, Muslim thus narrates on the authority of Abū Zubayr from Sa‘īd ibn Jubayr from Ibn al-‘Abbās:

– وسلّم [وآله] اليه الله صلى – الله رسول جمع

.ولامطرٍ خوفٍ غير من المدينة فى العشاء و المغرب العصر و الظّهر بين

The Messenger of Allah (ṣ) combined the noon prayer with the afternoon prayer and the sunset prayer with the ‘ishā’ prayer in Medina without being in a state of danger or rainfall.[5]

Then Sa‘īd ibn Jubayr says: I asked Ibn al-‘Abbās: “Why did the Prophet do it?” Ibn al-‘Abbās replied: “He (the Holy Prophet) wanted that no one among his ummah should be put to (unnecessary) hardship”.[6]

13. In his Ṣaḥīḥ, Abū ‘Abd Allāh al-Bukhārī has allocated a special section for this issue under the heading, “Section: Delaying of Ẓuhr Prayer till ‘Aṣr Prayer” [bāb ta’khīr aẓ-ẓuhr ilā’l-‘aṣr],[7] which is itself a solid proof that one may delay performing the ẓuhr prayer and observe it along with the ‘aṣr prayer at the time of the latter. Then, in that section Bukhārī narrates a tradition, which we shall quote below:

– وسلّم [وآله] اليه الله صلى – النّبىّ إنّ

. العشاء و المغرب و العصر و الظّهر وثمانيًا، سبعًا بالمدينة صلّى

 “Verily, the Prophet (ṣ) prayed eight rak‘ahs for the ẓuhr and ‘aṣr, and seven for the maghrib and ‘ishā’ prayers in Medina.”[8]

It is so evident from this tradition that not only that one may delay performing the ẓuhr prayer and observe it along with the ‘aṣr prayer at the time of the latter, but it can also be inferred, based on contextual analogy, that in following the Holy Prophet (ṣ) one may delay performing the maghrib prayer and observe it along with the ‘ishā’ prayer at the time of the latter.