In the Hanbali Madhhab [1] , it is permissible to make jam’ (bring together) of evening and night prayers, (i.e. to perform one immediately after the other,) at home for reasons such as cold weather, winter, mud, and storm, during a journey of 80 kilometres. The sunnats [2] are not performed when making jam’. You make niyyat (intention) when beginning the earlier one of the two salats.
People with duties and jobs inconvenient for them to perform early and late afternoon and evening prayers within their prescribed periods should imitate the Hanbali Madhhab and make jam’ of early and late afternoon prayers and evening and night prayers instead of resigning from office. If they resign from office, they will share the responsibility for the cruelties and irreligious activities likely to be perpetrated by people who will fill the vacancies they have occasioned.
GLOSSARY
[1] madhhab: all of what a profound ‘alim of (especially) Fiqh (usually one of the four-Hanafi, Shafi’i, Maliki, Hanbali) or iman (one of the two, namely Ash-ari, Maturidi) communicated.
[2] sunnat: i) act, thing that was, though not commanded by Allahu ta’ala, done and liked by the Prophet (‘alaihi ‘s-salam) as an ‘ibada (there is thawab if done, but no sin if omitted, yet it causes sin if continually omitted and disbelief if disliked; the Sunna; i) (with fard) all the sunnas as a whole; ii) (with the Book or Qur’an al-karim) the Hadith ash-sharif; iii) (alone) fiqh, Islam.
[2] sunnat: i) act, thing that was, though not commanded by Allahu ta’ala, done and liked by the Prophet (‘alaihi ‘s-salam) as an ‘ibada (there is thawab if done, but no sin if omitted, yet it causes sin if continually omitted and disbelief if disliked; the Sunna; i) (with fard) all the sunnas as a whole; ii) (with the Book or Qur’an al-karim) the Hadith ash-sharif; iii) (alone) fiqh, Islam.