How long is the period for shortening and combining prayers for a traveler?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh:
And may Allah have mercy on you.
The questioner:
I have three questions, Shaykh. May Allah reward you with good. Please, the first question. The first question is that, with Allah’s permission, we want to travel outside the country on a work assignment that may last a week or two, less or more. We want to combine and shorten the prayers, and we would like the Honorable Shaykh to clarify for us the period in which we shorten the prayer and combine it. Well, this question is for the Shaykh to answer. Thank you.
The Shaykh:
Yes, combining and shortening prayers while traveling, both going and returning, is permissible; in fact, this is better. However, if you settle in a country or any place where you intend to stay for more than four days, then the shortening and combining end, and you must pray every prayer in its proper time without shortening, because you are residents. But if the stay is four days or less, you may shorten the prayer, and there is no need to combine while you are staying. Yes. May Allah reward you.
And may Allah have mercy on you.
The questioner:
I have three questions, Shaykh. May Allah reward you with good. Please, the first question. The first question is that, with Allah’s permission, we want to travel outside the country on a work assignment that may last a week or two, less or more. We want to combine and shorten the prayers, and we would like the Honorable Shaykh to clarify for us the period in which we shorten the prayer and combine it. Well, this question is for the Shaykh to answer. Thank you.
The Shaykh:
Yes, combining and shortening prayers while traveling, both going and returning, is permissible; in fact, this is better. However, if you settle in a country or any place where you intend to stay for more than four days, then the shortening and combining end, and you must pray every prayer in its proper time without shortening, because you are residents. But if the stay is four days or less, you may shorten the prayer, and there is no need to combine while you are staying. Yes. May Allah reward you.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 1902 - كم مدة القصر والجمع للمسافر؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com (0:09)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.