Praise be to Allah.
If one who is not travelling puts two prayers together, such as if it is raining or he is sick, or for some other reason, then he may offer the regular Sunnah (Sunnah raatibah) prayers, but he is not obliged to do that, because they are sunnah and are not obligatory. If he puts Zuhr and ‘Asr together, he may pray the regular Sunnah prayer that comes before Zuhr, then put the two prayers together, then pray the regular Sunnah prayer that comes after Zuhr after he has prayed ‘Asr.
If he puts Maghrib and ‘Isha’ together, after praying them, he may pray the regular Sunnah prayer of Maghrib, then that of ‘Isha’.
An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in Rawdat at-Taalibeen (1/402):
When putting ‘Isha’ and Maghrib together, he should pray the two obligatory prayers, then the Sunnah of Maghrib, then the Sunnah of ‘Isha’, then Witr.
In the case of Zuhr, the correct view, as stated by the scholars, is that he may pray the Sunnah prayer of Zuhr that comes before it, then pray Zuhr, then pray ‘Asr, then pray the Sunnah prayer of Zuhr that comes after it, then pray the Sunnah of ‘Asr. End quote.
Zakariyya al-Ansaari (may Allah have mercy on him) said in Asna al-Mataalib (1/245):
If he puts Zuhr and ‘Asr together at the time of the earlier prayer, or even at the time of the later prayer, he may pray the Sunnah prayer of Zuhr that comes before it, then pray the two obligatory prayers, Zuhr then ‘Asr, then the rest of the regular Sunnah prayers, i.e., the Sunnah prayer of Zuhr that comes after it, then the Sunnah of ‘Asr.
In the case of Maghrib and ‘Isha’, he should pray the two obligatory prayers, then the regular Sunnah of Maghrib, then the Sunnah of ‘Isha’, then Witr. End quote.
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: If he puts prayers together at the time of the earlier prayer, then he may pray the Sunnah of the second prayer, and pray Witr before the time of the second prayer begins, because its Sunnah is connected to it, so it is connected to it in terms of both its performance and its time. The time of Witr is between ‘Isha’ prayer and Fajr prayer, and he has prayed ‘Isha’, so the time for Witr has begun. End quote.
Al-Mughni (2/61-62).
It says in al-Insaaf (2/344): He may pray the Sunnah of Zuhr after praying ‘Asr, and that is not disliked (makrooh). This was stated by most of our companions. It was also said that that is not permissible. End quote.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked:
Should the regular Sunnah prayers that are offered before and after [the obligatory prayers] be done when putting two prayers together, such as Zuhr and ‘Asr, or Maghrib and ‘Isha’? If they should be done, then how are these regular Sunnahs to be done? Should they be done after the prayers or before?
He replied:
A person who is sick [may put prayers together], or the people may put prayers together because of rain, such as delaying Zuhr until ‘Asr. In that case, the regular Sunnah prayer of four rak‘ahs may be offered first, then after finishing ‘Asr, one may offer the regular Sunnah prayer that comes after Zuhr.
Maghrib and ‘Isha’ may be put together, then after finishing them, one may offer the regular Sunnah of Maghrib first, then the regular Sunnah of ‘Isha’. End quote.
Liqaa’ al-Baab al-Maftooh (147/15).
And Allah knows best.
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