Answer
Wa `alaykum as-Salamu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
- Prayers have due times at which a Muslim should perform them.
- Your wife may combine Maghrib with Isha in the time of the Maghrib. She should pray Maghrib, 3 rakahs, first, and then pray Isha, four rakahs.
Answering your question, Dr. Wael Shehab, PhD, in Islamic Studies from Al-Azhar University and currently the Imam of the Downtown Toronto Masjid in Canada, states:
Every Muslim must do his best to offer each prayer at its fixed time. Allah Almighty says in the Qur’an: {For such prayers are enjoined on believers at stated times.} (An-Nisaa’ 4:103)
A good number of Muslim scholars hold the opinion that a Muslim is allowed to combine prayers (Zhuhr with Asr in the time of either of them, and Maghrib and Isha in the time of either of them) for traveling, illness, and considerable needs and reasons.
However, a Muslim who combines Prayers should not make this as a custom or a habit by regularly combining Prayers.
In the case you mentioned, your wife may combine Maghrib with Isha in the time of the Maghrib. She should pray Maghrib, 3 rakahs, first, and then pray Isha, four rakaah.
However, she should not insist on this and should try to pray each prayer on its due time on some days.
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.