Why did the Prophet (pbuh&h) change praying separately five daily prayers, into praying them in three times?

[Once] Sa’id ibn Jubayr[1] asked Ibn ʿAbbās[2],

“Why did the Prophet (pbuh&h) change praying separately five daily prayers[3], into praying them in three times?”

[Ibn Abbas] replied, “It was for his nation [Muslims in general], not to be bothered.”

 

1-     Also known as Abū Muḥammad, was originally from Kūfah, in modern-day Iraq. He was regarded as one of the leading members of the Tabi’in. Sa’īd is held in the highest esteem by scholars of the Shi’a Islamic tradition and was considered one of the leading jurists of the time. He also narrated several hadith from Ibn Abbas.

2-     Many hadiths have been narrated from Ibn Abbas, in both Shi’a and Sunni sources. An exegesis of Qur’an, attributed to him, have been published many times. He is the ancestor of the Abbasid Caliphs.

3-     The Shi’ah acknowledge the five obligatory daily prayers. However, they frequently combine the noon and afternoon prayers by offering them consecutively during the time period defined by the start of noon and the end of afternoon. They also consider it permissible to combine the evening and night prayers in a similar manner. This practice is in complete agreement with the Qur’an as well as authentic traditions from the Prophet (pbuh&h)

 

Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Vol. 2, P. 151