Ruling on a Wife Combining Maghrib and 'Isha to Prepare Herself Before Her Husband Arrivesحكم جمع الزوجة بين المغرب والعشاء للتزين لزوجها

Questioner: Some have attributed to the Shaykh a statement that a woman may combine Maghrib and 'Isha in order to adorn herself for her husband. Is that correct?

What I said was conditioned by specific circumstances, not stated as an absolute ruling. I said: if the time needed for her to prepare herself does not fit within the time remaining after 'Isha begins — such that her husband might arrive before she has finished getting ready — then it is permissible for her to bring 'Isha forward and combine it with Maghrib. This applies particularly to a newly married woman who has not yet settled into a routine, such as on her wedding night, and differs from a woman who is accustomed to this and has ample time for it.

But where there is no genuine need — such as with a woman in her ordinary routine, not on her wedding night — she has no license to do this, and it does not count as a valid excuse, because combining prayers without genuine necessity is considered unlawful. It has been reported from 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, with a strong chain through al-Isma'ili, that he said: "Combining the two prayers without an excuse is among the major sins." So if it is customarily understood, among people of righteousness and virtue, that such preparation can simply be completed after the 'Isha prayer, then there is no need to bring it forward, and doing so in that case is to be forbidden.

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