Date : 09-02-2010

Question :

We have endowed a place of prayer in our motorcar showroom, but it has no Imam. However, all prayers are performed there save dawn and Friday in addition to calling Adhan (The call to prayer) from it so that whoever hears it answers the call, be they neighbors or passersby. Is it permissible to combine prayers in it?


The Answer :

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds, and may His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all of his family and companions.



From the perspective of Sharia, combining two prayers, Noon with Afternoon or Sunset with Evening, due to rain, is permissible. Moreover, Muslim jurists have mentioned the conditions that render the combination of two prayers valid. They are:



1. If the rain was falling when Takbir (Verbal glorification of Allah by saying "Allah Akabr" usually at the beginning of prayer) was mentioned to engage in prayers and at the Tsleem of the first prayer (The final salutation at the end of prayer).



2. The prayer must be offered in congregation.



3. If the person experienced hardship on his way to prayer. 4.Having the intention to combine prayers. Nevertheless, it is not a condition for the permissibility to combine prayers that the Friday prayer and congregational prayers are offered in that place. Rather, combination is permissible under the condition that the place of prayer is far away and the person is likely to be harmed by the rain.



Therefore, if that place of prayer was too difficult to reach by people who don`t live nearby that it is hard for them to return to it, then they are permitted to combine prayers. Yet, if the people were living near the place of prayer and there was no hardship then they are not allowed to combine prayers since there is no valid reason for that. And Allah Knows Best.