602 — Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz ibn Abī Rizmah — whose name was Ghazwān — informed us, saying: al-Faḍl ibn Mūsā narrated to us, from al-A‘mash, from Ḥabīb ibn Abī Thābit, from Sa‘īd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ‘Abbās, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used to pray in Medina, combining the two prayers — the noon (ẓuhr) and the afternoon (‘aṣr), and the sunset (maghrib) and the night (‘ishā’) — not out of fear nor due to rain. It was said to him: “Why?” He said: “So that there would be no hardship upon his community.”

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Ibn Jubayr said to Ibn ‘Abbās: “Why did he do that?” He said: “He intended that no one from his community should be put to hardship.” End quote. This point will come in the hadith following it. In the narration of al-Thawrī, Zuhayr, and Ḥammād, there is no mention of the sunset and night prayers, and they said: “in Medina.”

Qurrah ibn Khālid differed with them, and Muslim (705): (51) cited it via his path, from Abū al-Zubayr, with it, and mentioned that this was during the expedition of Tabūk. Al-Bayhaqī said, 3/167: “It is as if Qurrah ibn Khālid intended the hadith of Abū al-Zubayr from Abū al-Ṭufayl, from Mu‘ādh, for this is the wording of his hadith.” End quote. It is in “Ṣaḥīḥ” Muslim (706): (53).

Qurrah ibn Khālid also narrated it from Abū al-Zubayr, from Jābir, as al-Dāraquṭnī mentioned in “al-‘Ilal” 3/25–26, and he said: “It is plausible that all the reports are preserved, and God knows best.”

Mālik also narrated from Abū al-Zubayr, from Abū al-Ṭufayl, from Mu‘ādh, something similar regarding their departure to Tabūk, and it has preceded under number (587).

See also the narration of Ḥabīb ibn Abī Thābit from Sa‘īd ibn Jubayr that follows, and the earlier narration under number (589).

(1) Its chain is sound. Al-A‘mash: he is Sulaymān ibn Mihrān. It is in “al-Sunan al-Kubrā” under number (1587).

Aḥmad (3323) and Muslim (705): (54) cited it via Wakī‘, and Aḥmad also (1953), Abū Dāwūd (1211), and al-Tirmidhī (187) via Abū Mu‘āwiyah Muḥammad ibn Khāzim — both from al-A‘mash, with this chain, with the wording: “The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, combined the noon and afternoon prayers…” — the hadith.

Ḥabīb ibn Abī Thābit differed in his statement “not out of fear nor due to rain” from Abū al-Zubayr (and it preceded before him), where he said: “not out of fear nor travel,” and that is the correct version, as Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr mentioned in “al-Tamhīd” 12/214. Al-Bayhaqī, 3/167, also favored the narration of Abū al-Zubayr and said: “Al-Bukhārī did not cite it, despite Ḥabīb ibn Abī Thābit being among his conditions — and God knows best — due to the disagreement over Sa‘īd ibn Jubayr regarding its text. The narration of the group from Abū al-Zubayr is more deserving to be preserved, for ‘Amr ibn Dīnār narrated from Jābir ibn Zayd Abī al-Sha‘thā’, from Ibn ‘Abbās, something close in meaning to the narration of Mālik from Abū al-Zubayr.” End quote. And it has preceded =