Question

Asalamo alikum,

Is it permissible to combine 2 salah when there is a very high risk or certainty of the next prayer being missed due to circumstance or preferable to make up the missed prayer later in Hanafi school of thought.

Jazakallah .

Answer

In the Hanafi school combining two prayers, whereby one salat is prayed early in the allocated time of the previous prayer, is invalid. It is also impermissible to delay a prayer until the next salat time, though in this case the prayer will be valid and would count as a missed prayer (qada’). The only time combining in this manner is permissible is during Hajj when zuhr and ‘asr are combined in ‘Arafat and maghrib and ‘isha are combined in Muzdalifa.

The permissible method of combining prayers in the Hanafi school is to delay one salat until the end of its allocated time and perform the next salat at the beginning of its allocated time. In this way the two salats are performed together though each in their correct time.

Though actual combining is not allowed there are certain dispensations that one can benefit from. For example, in the Hanafi school there are two opinions regarding the start time for ‘asr salat. One opinion is that ‘asr starts when an object’s shadow is the same length as the object itself and the second opinion is that ‘asr starts when an object’s shadow is double the length of the object. For the purpose of this example, if we were to say that according to the first opinion ‘asr begins at 3:30pm on a given day, whilst according to the second opinion it begins at 4:10pm. As there are two opinions you could use this to your advantage. What this means is that if you are travelling and you need to perform your ‘asr early, you can perform ‘asr from 3:30pm onwards based on the first opinion, rather than waiting until 4:10pm. However, you would then have to ensure that you have performed your zuhr prior to 3:30pm. On the other hand, if you are unable to perform your zuhr prior to 3:30pm then you may perform your zuhr until 4:10pm. However, in this case you would then need to ensure that your ‘asr is only performed after 4:10pm.

In normal circumstances one should try and follow one opinion consistently, however, at times of travel and other needs one may utilise this discretion.

If one can perform salat on time but with some deficiency, it would be best to perform salat on time and then repeat the salat again afterwards. For example, if one is travelling on a plane and permission is not given to stand and pray then one may pray salat in their seats. They will then have to repeat the salat when they are able to perform the salat properly.

If there is no way at all to perform the prayer on time then one would still not be allowed to combine two salats in the time of one of them but they will have to make up the prayer when they can. However, all efforts must be exhausted to perform the salat on time.

الدر المختار وحاشية ابن عابدين (رد المحتار) (1/ 381)

ولا جمع بين فرضين في وقت بعذر) سفر ومطر خلافا للشافعي، وما رواه محمول على الجمع فعلا لا وقتا (فإن جمع فسد لو قدم) الفرض على وقته (وحرم لو عكس) أي أخره عنه (وإن صح) بطريق القضاء (إلا لحاج بعرفة ومزدلفة) كما سيجيء. ولا بأس بالتقليد عند الضرورة لكن بشرط أن يلتزم جميع ما يوجبه ذلك الإمام لما قدمنا أن الحكم الملفق باطل بالإجماع.

Answered by:
Ifta Research Fellow

Checked & Approved by:
Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
Mufti Zubair Patel