Will you give information about combining (jam) prayers according to Hanafi madhhab?

The following is stated in the writings that I read in your website: "Combining prayers is appropriate in hajj, while travelling, during an illness and similar situations containing hardship." Can this hardship include those who have no opportunity to perform prayers in workplace?

Dear Brother / Sister,

In Hanafi madhhab, there is no combination of prayers except hajj. Those who combine prayers while travelling do so by imitating Shafii madhhab. Those who cannot find time to perform prayers in their workplace can combine prayers based on the combination understanding of Shafii madhhab. For instance, they can perform the noon prayer just before the time prayer for the afternoon prayer starts and perform the afternoon prayer after that. The practice related to the evening and night prayer is like that too. According to Abu Hanifa and some Shafiis, the reason for combining two prayers is hajj; according to the majority of Shafiis, it is travelling. (Ahmet Davudoğlu, Sahih-i Müslim Terceme ve Şerhi, VI, 438-439).

Apart from Arafat and Muzdalifa, the Prophet (pbuh) sometimes combined the noon and afternoon prayers and the evening and night prayers while travelling and at hard times. Salim b. Abdillah reports the following from his father:

"When the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) hurried in an expedition, he would delay the evening prayer and performed it with the night prayer." (Muslim, Salatu'l Musafirin, 45)

According to a narration from Muadh b. Jabal, he said,

"We were on the Expedition of Tabuk with the Prophet (pbuh). He performed the noon and afternoon prayers and the evening and night prayers together." (Muslim, II/10; Abu Dawud, I/285; Ibn Majah, I/340)

This hadith and similar ones are understood as the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) performing the first prayer at the end of its time and the second prayer at the beginning of its time. The following hadith reported by Ibn Abbas supports this meaning:

"The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) performed the noon and afternoon prayers and the evening and night prayers together in Madinah when there was no fear or rain."

Ibn Abbas was asked what the Messenger of Allah wanted to do by doing so. He said,

"He did not want to cause hardship to his ummah." (Sahih Müslim Trnsl., IV/136,137)

No Islamic scholar said it was permissible to combine two prayers for residents (muqims). Therefore, the hadith of Ibn Abbas above means the first prayer was performed at the end of its time and the second prayer was performed at the beginning of its time.

The following is understood from this: The combination of two prayers except in Arafat and Muzdalifa took place in form only. In fact, both prayers were performed at their own times separately; however, the first prayer was delayed to the end of its time and the second one was performed at the beginning of its time.

The hadiths regarding the issue were not accepted by Hanafis as strong enough to allocate the time, which is one of the conditions of prayer. There is no clear hadith except the one reported by Abut-Tufayl from Hz. Muadh indicating that prayers can be performed by jam at-taqdim (early combination) while travelling. The following is stated in that hadith:

"The Prophet (pbuh) was engaged in the Battle of Tabuk. If he moved off after the evening prayer, he would offer the night prayer earlier and offer it along with the evening prayer." (Abu Dawud, II/18)

Tirmidhi says this hadith is "gharib" and Hakim says, "it is fabricated." Abu Dawud states that it is not a fixed hadith informing that the prayer can be performed before its due time. [Shawkani, Awtar, III/262; Sahih Muslim Translation, IV/136 ff.; Ibn Abidin, Raddul Muhtar, (trnsl by A. Davudoğlu) İstanbul 1982, II/62-63]

In conclusion, it is possible to perform the noon and evening prayers at the end of their time period and the afternoon and night prayers immediately after them and at the beginning of their time period except hajj during travelling, due to an illness or a similar hardship. Thus, the two prayers are performed together but at their own times. This practice is ease of Islam for Muslims.

Questions on Islam