What are the rulings on combining and shortening prayers for the traveler?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, we came for an 'Umrah of four or five days. Is it permissible for us to combine or shorten the prayers and not pray in al-Masjid al-Haram?
Answer:
If you intend to stay in Makkah or elsewhere for more than four days, it is not permissible for you to shorten the prayers. The limit for shortening is four days or less, or for a person who does not know when he will travel and has not set a specific time, he may shorten. But you are near al-Masjid al-Haram, isolating yourselves from the Muslims. Praying in al-Masjid al-Haram brings you increased reward and virtue, and attending the congregation of the Muslims. Do not deprive yourselves. You say, "We are travelers," but you came seeking reward. How can you be deficient in this?
Honorable Shaykh, we came for an 'Umrah of four or five days. Is it permissible for us to combine or shorten the prayers and not pray in al-Masjid al-Haram?
Answer:
If you intend to stay in Makkah or elsewhere for more than four days, it is not permissible for you to shorten the prayers. The limit for shortening is four days or less, or for a person who does not know when he will travel and has not set a specific time, he may shorten. But you are near al-Masjid al-Haram, isolating yourselves from the Muslims. Praying in al-Masjid al-Haram brings you increased reward and virtue, and attending the congregation of the Muslims. Do not deprive yourselves. You say, "We are travelers," but you came seeking reward. How can you be deficient in this?
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما هي أحكام الجمع والقصر للمسافر؟ للشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.