Walaikum Sallam
First of all apologies brother....
While traveling, when can I combine and shorten my prayers?
Answered by Sheikh Sulaymân al-`Îsâ, professor at al-Imâm University in Riyadh
Combining between two prayers is permissible for travelers while they are actually in the act of traveling, beginning from the time they actually start their journey. This is allowed in order to facilitate and ease their travel. It is unlawful for residents, regardless of their duration of stay in a locality.
The Zuhr and `Asr prayers can be combined at any time from the start of the time for the Zuhr prayer until the end of the time of the `Asr prayer. The Maghrib and `Ishâ’ prayers can be combined from the start of the time of the Maghrib prayer until the end of the time of the time of the `Ishâ’ prayer.
Shortening the prayer, on the other hand, is permissible as well as being a Sunnah for both travelers and people staying in a locality temporarily. I hold the view that the maximum period of time for a person to remain in one place and still be considered a traveler is four days. If a person stays more than four days in one locality, he should not shorten his prayers. There are, however, a number of other viewpoints on this matter.
Many people confuse the issue of combining prayers with that of shortening them. They have the misconception that the two always go together, while this is not the case.
Question: I have always been taught that a traveler should shorten his prayers if he stays in one locality for 15 days or less. However, recently I have heard that the actual maximum number of days is only four. I am confused about what to do. Please help me out.
Answered by Sheikh Salman al-Oadah
There is considerable scholarly disagreement on this matter. Scholars have offered a number of different opinions about the maximum period of residence before a person ceases being considered a traveler and must perform his prayers in their full form. opinions vary from three days to four, to seven, to ten, to fifteen, to seventeen, to nineteen, and to twenty days.
Other scholars, however, have said that the period residence for a traveler cannot be determined in days. What must be taken into consideration are the circumstances that the person is in.
Those who set a certain maximum period for travel - the majority of scholars, who nevertheless disagree on the number of days - have in their favor a precise and tidy ruling.
Those who do not set a fixed period have the evidence in their favor, since there is no clear-cut hadîth evidence establishing a maximum time limit. However, a problem arises because different people have different ideas of how travel and residency should customarily be defined. Some have taken the idea so far that they considered all sorts of people as travelers - students, ambassadors, and even some workers staying abroad for months and years on end. This is undoubtedly a problem.
I support the opinion that prevailing custom should be used to define who is a traveler and who is a resident. Whenever a term is used in Islamic Law without being defined, then its precise definition is to be determined by custom.
Therefore, if a person is moving about and not staying in one place for a long period of time, then he is a traveler and he will shorten his prayers as long as he is in such a state, unless he prays in congregation with others. He is also permitted to break his fast in Ramadan.
People, like students, who stay in one place for months or years on end have to consider themselves as residents, since they are virtually like the residents of the place where they are staying. They rent apartments on yearly leases and do everything else that a resident does. Students and ambassadors are not people who move frequently and have the intention of returning to their homes or going somewhere else at any time.
It is worth saying that this is a matter of scholarly disagreement, so no one should find fault with what his fellow Muslim chooses to follow in this matter.
Question: I was born and raised in England but for the last year I have been living and working in Holland. My wife lives with me. I go back to England to see my parents and family once every 5-6 weeks, for 2-3 days. Can I shorten my prayers when I go to see my parents? I thought that I could, but people are saying that because I was born and raised in England, it is my home and therefore I cannot shorten my prayers, and because I am living in Holland, I cannot shorten my prayers there either.
Answered by Sheikh Sulaymân al-`Îsâ, professor at al-Imâm University in Riyadh
What you said in your question is that you are living now in a country other than the one where you were born, but sometimes you go to see your parents there.
Accordingly, we advise you that you have the right to shorten your prayer when you visit them. Even though you are going to that country in order to visit your family and it is your country of origin, you may shorten your prayers, because the country which matters in this case is the one you reside in, not your original country.
Shortening your prayers is unlawful in the country where you are presently living, whether or not it was your original country. You can shorten the prayer in any country or city wherein you do not take up long-term residence.
Question: I work at an Islamic bookstore located within an Islamic Center. When there is heavy rain or snow, we combine the prayers, like Zuhr and `Asr. What do I do if I know I plan to not leave work until Maghrib time and the Imam combines Zuhr and `Asr? Should I pray with them and count that as my `Asr, even though I intend to remain at the Islamic Center until the normal time for Asr?
Answered by Sheikh Sulaymân al-Tuwayjirî
You should pray with them. When a congregational prayer is held by the people who attend the mosque, you pray with them, even if you are staying in the mosque, so that you do not miss the congregational prayer.
Legally, everyone is excused. Your staying in the mosque for some time does not prevent you from praying with them and benefitting from this legitimate concession.
Allah likes people to benefit from His concessions just as He likes them to obey His commands.
Question: With the advancements in technology that we are experiencing and the ease of travel that ensues from it, the hardships of moving from one place to another have been considerably reduced as compared to the past. The facility (allowance) to shorten our prayers was suited for people traveling in camel caravans so they could save on time and therefore travel during suitable hours in the desert terrain. People now say that due to the ease of travel by modern means of conveyance, the option of shortening our prayers no longer exists. What is the ruling in this regard? If the ruling still applies, what would the minimum distance for travel be today?
Answered by Sheikh Sa`d al-Shuwayrikh
The rulings set forth in Islamic Law are general rulings that are suitable for every time and place. They are rulings that shall endure until the Day of Judgment.
Among these Islamic rulings is the ruling that a traveler can shorten his prayer. One aspect of the wisdom behind this ruling is that it helps to reduce the hardship that is faced by the traveler. However, this is not the reason for this ruling. Therefore, the ruling does not become invalidated in the absence of difficulty. Therefore, the problem brought up by the questioner really does not exist from a legal standpoint.
Shortening prayer is Sunnah, as stated by the majority of the people of knowledge. It is to shorten the four unit prayers to two units, these prayers being Zuhr, `Asr and `Ishâ’.
The Maghrib and Fajr prayers are not shortened.
Travel is defined by what is considered travel according to prevailing customs. The sacred texts do not set any specific minimum distance for determining what constitutes travel. Therefore, whatever people see according to prevailing custom to be travel is travel, and the rulings associated with travel will be applicable.
The distance of travel according to the majority of the people of knowledge has been determined to be eighty kilometers or more. Other scholars have maintained that there is no way of determining such a limit for the distance that constitutes travel. Whatever people call travel will be considered travel. This is the opinion that was adopted by Ibn Taymiyah.
Regarding the time limit that a person can stay in one place and continue to shorten his prayers, this has been given as being up to four days. If he is staying for more than four days, then the person should complete his prayers in full. This is the opinion adopted by the majority.
There are no other conditions.
And Allah knows best.
Question: We know that the Prophet (peace be upon him), when combining and shortening the prayers during travel, did not seperate them with voluntary prayers. However, inthe cases where he combined between prayers as a resident, did he offer Sunnah prayers between them? Is it permissible to offer Sunnah prayers between prayers that one combines?
Answered by Sheikh Khâlid al-Mushaykih, professor at al-Imâm University, al-Qasîm branch
Under certain circumstances, it is permissible for the worshipper to combine Zuhr with `Asr at the time of either of those two prayers. Likewise, under the same circumstances, the worshipper may offer Maghrib with `Ishâ’ together at the time of either of those two prayers.
A condition for the validity of offering two prayers together is to avoid any separation between them. This means that praying them one after the other, in immediate succession, is a condition for the valid combination of the two prayers.
The evidence for this is the hadîth that the Prophet (peace be upon him) prayed the two midday prayers (meaning Zuhr and `Asr) and the two evening prayers (meaning maghrib and `Ishâ’) as eight units and seven units, respectively. [Sahîh al-Bukhârî (529)]
However, it is alright to separate between the two prayers with a small interval of time, as mentioned in the Shâfi`î school of Islamic jurisprudence. A small interval of time is of no legal consequence.
However, no voluntary prayer can be performed between the two combined prayers, neither during travel nor during residence, since that would constitute a tangible separation between the two prayers.
And Allah knows best.
Question: I follow the opinion of Ibn Taymiyah and others – that travel is best defined by prevailing customs and not by a specific distance. However, I read in a lot of places that scholars say that a journey must be at least 80 km one-way for a person to shorten his prayers. How do they come up with this number?
Answered by Sheikh Muhammad Muhammad Sâlim `Abd al-Wadûd
Many scholars are of the opinion that a traveler cannot shorten his prayers or break his fast unless he is undertaking a journey of at least 88 kilometers.
The chief line of evidence cited by scholars who hold this view is as follows:
1. It is narrated with a weak line of transmission that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “People of Mecca! Do not shorten your prayers on a journey of less that four barîd – the distance between Mecca and `Asfân.” [Mu`jam al-Tabarânî al-Kabîr (11162), Sunan al-Dâraqutnî (1/387), and Sunan al-Bayhaqî (3/137)]
2. Though the hadîth is weak, this ruling is established as being the opinion of the Companion Ibn `Abbâs.
When people asked him if they could shorten their prayers on the way from Mecca to `Arafah, he replied: “No. But you can do so if you are going to `Asfân, Jeddah, or Ta’if.” [al-Talkhîs al-Habîr (2/46)]
3. It was the practice of both Ibn `Abbâs and Ibn `Umar to shorten their prayers and break their fasts whenever they undertook a journey of more than four barîd.
Ibn `Umar, for instance, shortened his prayers on a journey from Madinah to the town of Dhât al-Nasb, which was at a distance of four barîd. [Fath al-Bârî (2/566)]
One barîd is equal to 22.176 km. This means that four barîd equals 88.704 km. This is where that number comes from.
This distance is, in fact, roughly the distance between Mecca and Jeddah.
It is important to understand that those who set this as a minimum distance for a journey are talking about the full distance of the journey one-way, and not the distance when a person can start shortening his prayers. He can start shortening his prayers as soon as he departs from his own locality, as long as the journey he is taking is at least 88 km long.
It is also important to note that this distance of 88 km is not something that all scholars agree upon. There is considerable disagreement on this matter from the earliest times to the present. There are roughly twenty different scholarly views on the issue.
And Allah knows best.
Question: I was a traveler, and I passed through a town on Friday. At the time of Jumu`ah, I stayed in my hotel room and offered the Zuhr prayer as two units and immediately thereafter offered the `Asr prayer as two units, sice I was combining the two prayers as a traveler? Was I correct in doing so? If I had offered the Jumu`ah prayer in the mosque, could I have offerd the `Asr prayer immediately thereafter in combination with it?
Answered by Sheikh `Abd al-Rahmân al-`Ajlân, lecturer at the Grand Mosque in Mecca
A traveler does not have to attend Jumu`ah. Therefore, your combining the two prayers in your hotel room was correct, as long as you intended the first prayer to be the Zuhr prayer and not the Jumu`ah prayer.
It is not permissible to combine the Jumu`ah and `Asr prayers together. Therefore, if you had gone to the mosque to offer the Jumu`ah prayer, you would not have been allowed to offer the `Asr prayer along with it.
However, if a traveler is in a town on Friday with a mosque nearby where he can hear the call to the Jumu`ah prayer, it is better for him to attend the Jumu`ah prayer and forego the option of combining his prayers.
He does not have to do so, especially if it will cause him hardship on his journey. He is fully within his rights to pray Zuhr instead of Jumu`ah and combine his prayers.
And Allah knows best.
I hope that this is what you want to know. YOU HAVE MENTIONED CLEARLY WHAT YOU WANT TO KNOW.
Masallama
