Bismillahi Al-Rahmani Al-Rahim

Question regarding Hanafi Digest 283
Q
Hanafi Digest 283 includes

(Item: The positions on combining prayers while resident, without fear,
travel or rain.)

Our madhhab (i.e. the Shafi`i madhha) and the madhhab of Abu Hanifa,
Malik, and Ahmad, and the overwhelming majority of the scholars is that
it is not valid..

Is this correct?

A
al-salamu `alaykum

No. The claim that according to the Hanbali madhhab it is invalid to combine prayers while resident, without fear, travel or rain is incorrect.

Previous messages on the group clearly indicate this:

Bismillahi Al-Rahmani Al-Rahim

Joining Prayers Out Of Hardship
Q
al-salamu `alaykum
..I work at an eye clinic and have to see patients. Usually during Dhur - Asr. It is hard to find a place to make salah without someone calling the police on you or something. For now I will make salah in my car, but I am interested in learning the Hanbali madthab if they can join for this reason, insha'allah.

A
wa `alaykum al-salam

Someone who has a valid excuse to not pray jama`atan (in a group) or jum`uah (the Friday prayer) is also allowed to join between
        (1) Dhuhr & `Asr
        (2) Maghrib & `Isha'
praying in either one of those times. The reasons that allow this go back to hardship, such as:
  • a sick person who would be subject to further injury or a delay in their recovery or finds it difficult to remove inexcusable filth
  • a mother who breast feeds her child
  • someone who faces losing property
  • someone who fears for himself
  • someone who fears for people he is legally charged with (such as his wife and children)
  • someone who fears for animals he is charged with (such as someone hired to herd cattle)
  • someone who fears for property that he is charged with (such as someone hired as a guard or checkout clerk)
When the reason permitting joining ceases, it is not longer permissible to use this ruling.

As an additional note: this ruling is a rukhsa, a legal dispensation. If any of the above reasons is a result of disobedience, then it is highly unlikely that it is not permissible to use this rukhsa. Someone working in a liquor store--Allah is our refuge from this--is most likely not eligible for this dispensation.

So you should be able to join out of personal safety; and there are some pretty odd circumstances in the West.

And Allah knows best.

[See Nail Al-Ma'arib, end of the section on the group prayer (1:181-82), and joining between prayers (1:189).]

wa al-salamu `alaykum
--musa

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Bismillahi Al-Rahmani Al-Rahim

Joining Prayers Because Of Nursing
Q
In Reliance of the Traveller - f15.18 (3), it seems to say that in Hanbali fiqh, nursing mothers can join prayers (like a traveller can). Has that ever been dicussed on the Hanbali fiqh list?

A
The Hanbali madhhab allows prayers to be joined for reasons other than travel. A previous message (titled: Joining Prayers Out Of Hardship) discussed the general cases in which this is possible. One of the cases where it permissible to join between Zuhr & `Asr or Maghrib & `Isha' is when a woman breast feeds. The reason for this is the difficulty of making sure that the clothes are clean, which is one of the basic excuses for joining between prayers.

This ruling can be found in the following books: Al-Mubdi` (2:118), Al-Furu` (2:57), Kashshaf Al-Qina` (2:6), Al-Raud Al-Murbi` (278), and Al-Muharar (1:134), and Kutub Wa Rasa'il Wa Fatawa Ibn Taymiyyah Fi Al-Fiqh (24:28) to name a few.

The same ruling applies to women who have irregular vaginal bleeding and anyone who cannot keep ablution long enough to pray.

And Allah knows best.

wa al-salamu `alaykum
--musa