They arrived in their country and, before entering the built-up area, they prayed the 'Isha' prayer shortened at the airport.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
May Allah reward you. This is a question from the listener Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad al-Mutaww from Riyadh. He says: We arrived from our journey to Riyadh when the time for the 'Isha' prayer had entered. A man led us in prayer and shortened the prayer on the grounds that we had not yet reached the built-up area, so we shortened it with him. Is our prayer valid? Is it permissible to take advantage of the dispensations for travel in a place like the Riyadh airport for the people of Riyadh? And is this before their departure or after their return?
The Shaykh:
If a traveler leaves the town and the prayer becomes obligatory for him after he has left the town, he shortens it. If the prayer becomes obligatory for him after he has left the town, he shortens it. But if the prayer becomes obligatory for him while he is in the town and then he leaves before praying, he is required to complete the prayer, because it became obligatory for him while he was a resident in the town. Likewise, if a person arrives from a journey, he may shorten the prayer until he enters the built-up area. As long as he has not reached the inhabited part of the town and has not entered the built-up area, he is considered a traveler and may shorten the prayer. Yes.
The presenter:
And the airport in a place like Riyadh is considered the same.
The Shaykh:
Airports differ. Some airports are within the town, and those are part of the town, so shortening the prayer is not permissible in them. And those airports that are outside the town and outside the town's buildings are in the ruling of open space; the ruling of the outside applies, and one shortens the prayer there. Yes.
The questioner:
If the distance between me and the town is, for example, ten kilometers or so.
The Shaykh:
There is no requirement to specify a certain distance. The important thing is that it is outside the buildings, independent, outside the construction, and separate.
May Allah reward you. This is a question from the listener Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad al-Mutaww from Riyadh. He says: We arrived from our journey to Riyadh when the time for the 'Isha' prayer had entered. A man led us in prayer and shortened the prayer on the grounds that we had not yet reached the built-up area, so we shortened it with him. Is our prayer valid? Is it permissible to take advantage of the dispensations for travel in a place like the Riyadh airport for the people of Riyadh? And is this before their departure or after their return?
The Shaykh:
If a traveler leaves the town and the prayer becomes obligatory for him after he has left the town, he shortens it. If the prayer becomes obligatory for him after he has left the town, he shortens it. But if the prayer becomes obligatory for him while he is in the town and then he leaves before praying, he is required to complete the prayer, because it became obligatory for him while he was a resident in the town. Likewise, if a person arrives from a journey, he may shorten the prayer until he enters the built-up area. As long as he has not reached the inhabited part of the town and has not entered the built-up area, he is considered a traveler and may shorten the prayer. Yes.
The presenter:
And the airport in a place like Riyadh is considered the same.
The Shaykh:
Airports differ. Some airports are within the town, and those are part of the town, so shortening the prayer is not permissible in them. And those airports that are outside the town and outside the town's buildings are in the ruling of open space; the ruling of the outside applies, and one shortens the prayer there. Yes.
The questioner:
If the distance between me and the town is, for example, ten kilometers or so.
The Shaykh:
There is no requirement to specify a certain distance. The important thing is that it is outside the buildings, independent, outside the construction, and separate.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 5517- وصلوا بلدهم وقبل دخول العمران صلوا العشاء قصرا في المطار - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.