Prayer is the most important relation between created and creator, the best program of education, means of purifying ourselves and self constitution, dissuasive from prostitution and forbidden acts and is the reason to get closer to Allah, and performing prayer in congregation causes Muslims to be powerful and keeps the unity of their formation and increases vivacity and exaltation of Islamic society.

Primarily, prayer is performed five times a day, and heart and soul of person continuously is being washed in the pure stream of grace of Allah. Holy prophet (s.a.) knew prayer as the reason of clarity of his eyes and said: “Clarity of my eyes is in prayer”.¹ He knew that as ascension of a believer and said: “Prayer is the ascension of a believer”².

And introduced prayer as the means of approaching pious persons to Allah, “Prayer is the means of approaching of pious person”.³

Here we discuss about the issue that is it a obligatory ruling to separate prayers in five times which acting in other way invalidates that (like performing prayer before time) or it is possible to perform prayer in three times (noon and after noon together, and sunset and night together)?

Shiite scholars, as following Ahl -e- Bait (a.s.), generally believe that it is allowed to perform prayers in three time although it is a lot better to do it in five times.

But most of Sonni Faqihs, except a little group, believe that performing prayer in five times is obligatory (only has permitted conjunction of noon and afternoon prayers of day of Arafa in Arafat and sunset and night of Eid -e- Qurban (festivity of sacrifice and getting close to Allah) in Mash’ar Alharaam, and lots of them also permitted to conjunct two prayers during travel or in rainy weather which going to mosque for performing Jama’at prayer is hard).

According to Shiite Faqihs, as it is said before, while emphasizing the preference of performing prayer in five times, permission of doing this in three times is known as a divine gift for facilitating in performing prayers and expanding it to all people, and they know this issue in harmony with the soul of Islam which is “Religion is tolerant and easy”.

And experience showed that insisting on performing prayer in five times, sometimes mainly causes forgetting prayer at all and a group of people leave prayer.

1- Makarem Alakhlagh, page 461.
2- Although we did not find this sentence in quoting books but it is very famous that Allame Majlesi refers to that among his expressions. (Bahar Alanvaar, vol. 79, page 248 and 303)
3- Kafi, vol. 3, page 256, Hadith 26.