I have a son who is twelve years old and he is asking: Is it permissible for him to join ‘Isha’ with Maghrib and pray it immediately after Maghrib, because he gets up very early to pray Fajr before the sun rises, then he goes to school and in a few months from now the time for Fajr will be very early and the time of ‘Isha’ will be very late for him because of his studies, it will be at 11.45 p.m.


Praise be to Allaah.

The basic principle is that each prayer should be offered at
the time appointed for it by sharee’ah, because Allaah says (interpretation
of the meaning): 

“Verily, As‑Salaah (the prayer) is enjoined on the
believers at fixed hours”

[al-Nisa’ 4:103] 

Joining two prayers is not permissible unless there is a
reason such as travelling, rain or hardship. If the time for ‘Isha’ is very
late and the time for Fajr is early, such that it will cause hardship to
offer ‘Isha’ on time, in that case there is nothing wrong with joining it to
Maghrib at the time of the earlier prayer. 

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was
asked about a country in which the disappearance of the red afterglow which
signals the onset of the time for ‘Isha’ comes very late and it is too hard
for them to wait for it. 

He replied: 

If the red afterglow does not disappear until dawn comes, or
it disappears at a time when there is not enough time to pray ‘Isha’ before
dawn comes, then they come under the rulings of those who have no time for
‘Isha’. They should estimate its time based on the nearest country to them
where there is considerable time to pray ‘Isha’, and it was also suggested
that they should base it on the prayer times in Makkah, because it is the
mother of cities (Umm al-Qura). 

If the red afterglow disappears a long time before ‘Isha’ and
there is enough time to pray ‘Isha’, then they must wait until it
disappears, unless waiting for it will cause them hardship. In that case it
is permissible for them to join ‘Isha’ with Maghrib at the time of the
earlier prayer, so as to ward off hardship and difficulty, because Allaah
says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Allaah intends for you ease, and He does not want to make
things difficult for you”

[al-Baqarah 2:185] 

“and [Allaah] has not laid upon you in religion any
hardship”

[al-Hajj 22:78] 

In Saheeh Muslim it is narrated from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn
‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) joined Zuhr and ‘Asr, and Maghrib and
‘Isha’, in Madeenah at a time when there was no fear and no rain. They said:
What did he intend by that? He said: “He intended that his ummah should not
be put in difficulty” i.e., that they should not be faced with hardship due
to not joining prayers. May Allaah help us all to do that which is good and
right. End quote from Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen
(12/206). 

And Allaah knows best.