We are students studying in Makkah for three months or more; do we shorten the prayer or complete it?
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The questioner : May Allah preserve you, O honorable Shaykh. We are students studying in Makkah for three months or more; do we shorten the prayer or complete it? And what is your opinion of the one who says: “You shorten the prayer as long as you are studying, even if you stay for a year”? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : What I have known from the statements of the Salaf is that they distinguished between the one who leaves his city and stays in another city for a temporary stay, without intending to reside there, even if it is for months. Such a person remains under the ruling of a traveler; he shortens and combines the prayers.
As for the one who intends to reside and feels at ease with that, and does in its path what the people of the city themselves do, he is a resident. In light of this, I say: As for the students who travel from their countries to Makkah for months, a year, or two years, I do not imagine these people except that they have resolved in their souls, in their hearts, and in the depths of their chests to reside there. On the other hand, the man who comes to a city in a certain state and does not know when he will return to his city, and he says: “Today I travel, not tomorrow,” and the period extends with him, perhaps more than these three months; this is a case described as not having resolved to reside, but rather being hesitant about it, intending to leave if not today, then tomorrow, at the earliest possible time. As for the one who lives in a city, makes plans for himself, and resolves his affairs to reside in that city for a month, let us say for weeks, he is a resident, and the rulings of a resident apply to him. Yes.
The Shaykh : What I have known from the statements of the Salaf is that they distinguished between the one who leaves his city and stays in another city for a temporary stay, without intending to reside there, even if it is for months. Such a person remains under the ruling of a traveler; he shortens and combines the prayers.
As for the one who intends to reside and feels at ease with that, and does in its path what the people of the city themselves do, he is a resident. In light of this, I say: As for the students who travel from their countries to Makkah for months, a year, or two years, I do not imagine these people except that they have resolved in their souls, in their hearts, and in the depths of their chests to reside there. On the other hand, the man who comes to a city in a certain state and does not know when he will return to his city, and he says: “Today I travel, not tomorrow,” and the period extends with him, perhaps more than these three months; this is a case described as not having resolved to reside, but rather being hesitant about it, intending to leave if not today, then tomorrow, at the earliest possible time. As for the one who lives in a city, makes plans for himself, and resolves his affairs to reside in that city for a month, let us say for weeks, he is a resident, and the rulings of a resident apply to him. Yes.