Is it valid to pray Asr as a shortened prayer ten minutes before its Adhan, knowing that Dhuhr was prayed as a shortened prayer without combining, and that the traveler was delayed from returning to his hometown?

The issue of "Muwalat" (succession/non-interruption) between two prayers in a "Jam' Al-Taqdim" (combining prayers by performing the second prayer at the time of the first) is a matter of scholarly disagreement. The majority of jurists hold that it is a condition for the validity of combining prayers, and that a long separation invalidates it. Others, however, including Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, are of the view that it is not a condition, and that observing it negates the purpose of the dispensation.

Therefore, according to the majority opinion, whoever prays Asr after a long interval (following Dhuhr in Jam' Al-Taqdim) is obligated to repeat it, whereas according to Sheikh Al-Islam's opinion, they are not. The more cautious approach is to repeat it to avoid the disagreement.