Combining prayers in Jama'at while on a journey

10-3-2002 | IslamWeb

Question:

What is the Fatwa on the following:Jama'at was being conducted for Isha prayers while I was on journey. I stopped to combine Maghrib and Isha prayers. Can I join Jama'at or pray separately since I have to pray Salat al-Maghrib?

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the World; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

If one encounters a group of Muslims performing Isha prayer in congregation and he has not yet performed al-Maghrib prayer, he has many choices:
First, he may wait till they complete one Raka'h and then join them with the intention of al-Maghrib prayer and finish the prayer with the Imam. And the disorganization that occurs in the prayer does not effect the prayer since it was due to following the Imam.
Second, he may join the prayer with them from beginning and perform the prayer as they perform. But, when the Imam stands for the fourth Raka'h, he may finish his prayer after performing Tashahud or he may remain sitting after the Tashahud and finish his prayer with Imam.
Third, he may join the prayer with the intention of supererogatory prayer and after finishing it he has to perform al-Maghrib and then al-Isha.
Fourth, he may quickly perform al-Maghrib individually and then join the group to perform al-Isha, and if he misses a Raka'h or more, he should complete it when Imam finishes the prayer.
Allah knows best.