Is the distance from Jeddah to Makkah in these days subject to the rulings of travel?

Question:
May Allah reward you. Your Eminence the Shaykh, the questioner asks: Is the distance from Jeddah to Makkah in these days a travel distance that entails the rulings of travel?

Answer:
No. Makkah and Jeddah have drawn close; there is no longer an empty distance between them, no empty stretch of land free of buildings reaching eighty kilometers. They have drawn close, so what lies between Jeddah and Makkah is no longer a distance for shortening the prayer, due to the closeness of the buildings of the two towns. Yes, it was a distance for shortening the prayer at first. Makkah was not small, and Jeddah was also small, and the distance between them reached eighty kilometers, or a hundred kilometers, so it was a distance for shortening the prayer in the past. But after the development and expansion of the built-up area, there is no longer a distance between them. Yes.