The Criterion for the Traveler and the One Who Has Residences in Two Cities

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah preserve you and bless your life and your knowledge, and may He benefit the Muslim community through you. When is a man considered a traveler? Does this depend on his current state, or on the existence of a residence? If I have two residences in two cities, and I come to one of them for a day or two, then leave, am I considered a traveler or not? In other words, does the ruling depend on the state of affairs, or on the existence of a residence?

Answer:
The criterion is settlement. The city in which you are settled, to which you moved and where you established yourself, is your city.
As for the city from which you moved, it is not your city. Even if you have houses there, unless you have a wife there, in which case it is a different matter. If you have a wife there, you are settled there. But if you do not have a wife there, and you are merely passing through, and it was your original homeland, you are still considered a traveler. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was from the people of Makkah, was he not? And yet, when he came to Makkah in the Year of the Conquest, and when he came to it for the Farewell Pilgrimage, he would shorten the prayer. He had houses there, and it was his original city, but he had emigrated from it and settled in Madinah. Yes.