If a man travels to the cold Western countries and intends to stay there for a period of two months; is it permissible for him to combine and shorten the prayers?

The questioner : For example, during the summer vacation, we go to the European countries—the cold countries—there, for instance, I am scheduled to stay for two months... back to our country, also, for the full two months, am I able to shorten and combine?

The Shaykh : This is another issue, and the answer to it is as follows: If the one who settles in a foreign land intends to stay for a fixed period, such as the two months you mentioned; then this intention alone is not what makes him a resident and takes him out of the status of a traveler. Rather, it should be looked at from another angle regarding this temporary intention. When he intended to stay, did his residence become settled simply by the intention, free from the hardships of travel and the problems of residence and work, and the like? If that is the case, then he is a resident and prays the prayer of a resident. But if the matter is otherwise—he is sound and intended to stay for two months, why? Because his commercial or other works are estimated to not end until this period—but he is pursued by a lot of work—then in that case, he remains a traveler, even if he intended this fixed stay.
I also mentioned, in a past occasion, the narration that is established from some of the Companions when they went out as mujahideen in the path of Allah, and they came to the river of Khurasan, which is a cold land, and the Arabs in the Hijaz and in those lands did not know it. So the snow fell heavily and blocked their path back to their country. There is no doubt that a person estimates that these snows will not disappear overnight. So they estimated that they had to stay there for a long time, and a very long time. But they were imprisoned and confined, wishing to return to their country as soon as possible. And so they continued to shorten the prayer for six months—may Allah have mercy on you—they continued to shorten the prayer for six months, while they knew that they could not return within one or two months.
The conclusion is that the issue has precision, and in brief, it does not relate only to whether the traveler intended to stay for more than four days. Rather, it should be observed whether he is at rest as if he were in his own country, or whether he is still following up his commercial works and the like? If it is the former, then he is in the ruling of a resident. And if it is the latter, then he is in the ruling of a traveler.
And in the end, I say: , meaning it is he who should estimate, after this clarification, whether he is a resident or a traveler? Otherwise, it is not possible to give a general ruling for all individuals. And an example, for instance, is two men who go out from one town to another. So one of them, when he settles in this other town, is a traveler, and the other is a resident. Why? Because this other one moved from his town where he was a resident to the other town, and he has a wife there, and he has children there. So he moved from a town of residence to a town of residence. What made him a resident in the other town? It is that he has a wife and children there, unlike the first man. So it is not permissible for us to treat the two men in the same way, and say, since you are a traveler, then the one who has a wife in the other town is a traveler... So the matter is as He, the Exalted, said: .