What Is The Guideline For Combining Two Prayers Due To Rainfall?
By Shaykh Prof. Dr. Saad Al-Khathlan
The guideline for combining prayers due to rain is the presence of unusual hardship. Ordinary or expected hardship does not justify combining prayers. However, if there is exceptional hardship as a result of rain, then it is permissible to combine prayers. This hardship has indicators, for example, when the rainfall significantly affects public life: people stay in their homes, movement on the streets is disrupted, commercial activity slows, work and schools are affected. All of these show that the rain has caused non-routine hardship.
But if the rain only causes slight inconvenience specifically at prayer time -while having no real impact on people’s daily lives, businesses, schools, or movement- then such a situation does not justify combining prayers.
So, what does it mean to say the hardship is limited to prayer time only? If there is no visible hardship in the rest of life, yet someone claims hardship only when it's time for prayer, this is not acceptable. Real hardship affects daily life, businesses, movement, people staying indoors, and so on. That indicates it is a non-routine hardship. But if people’s daily lives are unaffected by the rain and yet someone claims that prayers should be combined, this is a form of blameworthy leniency.
Therefore, balance is required. A person should not be overly strict and never allow combining, nor should they be too lax. If a mosque's imam is uncertain whether there is an unusual hardship that permits combining, then he should default to the original rule: not to combine. The default is that each prayer is performed at its prescribed time.
The Prophet ﷺ, during his Friday khutbah, once made duʿāʾ for rain (istisqāʾ), and rain fell continuously for a whole week -day and night- until the next Friday. Then a man came and said, “O Messenger of Allah, our wealth is being destroyed, and the roads are cut off. Pray to Allah to stop the rain.” So the Prophet ﷺ said:
“O Allah, around us and not upon us. O Allah, on the hills, the small mountains, the valleys, and the places where trees grow.”
Despite this week-long rain, there is no report that the Prophet ﷺ combined the prayers. In fact, there is no explicit ḥadīth stating that he ﷺ ever combined prayers specifically because of rain. The only report used to support combining due to rain is the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās, in which:
The Prophet ﷺ combined Ẓuhr and ʿAṣr, and Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ in Madinah without fear or travel. When asked about it, Ibn ʿAbbās said:
“He did that to avoid hardship for his Ummah.”
However, scholars have differed in interpreting this ḥadīth. Al-Tirmidhī even reported consensus that the apparent meaning of the ḥadīth is not acted upon. Some said the Prophet ﷺ may have combined for a hidden reason not known to Ibn ʿAbbās. Others said there may have been a plague or heavy rain, or that it was a formal (not actual) combining, delaying Ẓuhr to its end time and bringing ʿAṣr forward to its early time, and likewise with Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ, as reported in a narration in al-Nasāʾī.
In any case, this ḥadīth is ambiguous, and must be understood in light of the clear, numerous texts that emphasize the obligation to pray each prayer in its designated time. Combining prayers without a valid excuse is considered a major sin. So the rule is: prayers must be offered on time, unless there is a clear and exceptional hardship.
Some people ask, “Should we combine because of this rain?” The reality is that it varies by neighborhood:
Some areas may have no difficulty justifying combining due to low rainfall, good drainage, or street conditions.
Other areas may suffer flooding or stagnant water, justifying the combining.
The imam of the mosque should use his judgment. If the hardship is unusual, combining is allowed. If not, then no combining. And if in doubt, the original rule applies: do not combine.
However, there is another Sunnah in times of rain:
If there is heavy rain at the time of the adhān, and it is difficult for people to attend the congregational prayer, the muʾadhin should say after the adhān: “Pray in your homes.”
In this case, the congregational prayer is not held, and this is based on authentic Sunnah. The Prophet ﷺ himself did this. This practice is better than combining because it only involves missing the congregational prayer, which is wājib, but drops due to valid excuses, while combining involves praying ʿIshāʾ before its time, and time is a fundamental condition for prayer validity.
So it's better to say “Pray in your homes” when there's a downpour at adhān time than to have people come to the mosque and then combine prayers.
The wisdom behind combining is to attain congregational prayer. If people would otherwise stay home due to hardship, combining allows them to pray together. But if there's heavy rain at adhān time, with non-routine hardship, it's better to excuse people from congregational prayer altogether, and this is a valid excuse.
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