Is it disliked under Sharee‘ah to combine the Jumu‘ah and ‘Asr prayers due to rain? Do the Saudi scholars prohibit this action?

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According to the Shaafi‘i school of Fiqh, combining the Jumu‘ah (i.e. Friday) and ‘Asr prayers at the earlier time due to rain is permissible. However, this is impermissible according to the Hanbali and Maaliki schools of Fiqh. In addition, they are of the opinion that it is impermissible to combine the Thuhr and ‘Asr prayers due to rain except in travel.

In Al-Mudawwanah, Sahnoon said: "I said to Ibn Al-Qaasim, 'Is it permissible to combine the Thuhr and ‘Asr prayers due to mud and rain when one is not traveling just as it is permissible to combine the Maghrib and ‘Ishaa’ prayers according to Maalik?' He said, 'Maalik said that it is impermissible to combine the Thuhr and ‘Asr prayers if not in travel and we do not view this to be the same as Maghrib and ‘Ishaa’.'"

In Al-Mughni, Ibn Qudaamah said: "Combining the Thuhr and ‘Asr prayers (due to rain) is impermissible."

In Al-Majmoo’, An-Nawawi said: "Combining the Jumu‘ah and ‘Asr prayers due to rain is permissible."

The Shaafi‘i scholar, Al-Bujayrimi said: "When there is rain, it is permissible for a resident to combine prayers as in travel, even if they are Jumu‘ah and ‘Asr (at the time of the first)."

This means that disallowing combining the Thuhr and ‘Asr prayers or Jumu‘ah and ‘Asr prayers is not an opinion specific to Saudi scholars. Rather, it is the opinion of Hanbali and Maaliki scholars. It is also the opinion of Hanafi scholars based on their principle of disallowing the combining of prayers except in ‘Arafah and Muzdalifah.