Combining and Shortening Prayers in Mina During the Days of Hajj
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Regarding the Makkah resident pilgrim, you said: It is said that in Mina one does not shorten the prayer, but in Muzdalifah and 'Arafah one does shorten it. What is the comment on this?
As for the resident of Makkah who performs Hajj, the scholars who define travel by distance do not consider it permissible for him to combine or shorten prayers, such as Imam Ahmad and al-Shafi'i. For this reason, they do not permit the Makkah resident pilgrim to shorten or combine prayers, even in the past.But the stronger opinion is: [They hold] that travel is not restricted by distance but is restricted by custom and preparation for it. Whatever one prepares for and packs up for is considered travel. According to this opinion, it is permissible for the resident of Makkah to shorten and combine prayers when he performs Hajj.And this is indicated by: [They cite] that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed Hajj with the people of Makkah and did not order them to complete the prayers, saying: "Complete your prayers, O people of Makkah! For we are a people of travel." Based on this, we say that the well-known position of Imam Ahmad and al-Shafi'i is that the residents of Makkah do not combine or shorten prayers, neither in Mina, nor in 'Arafah, nor in Muzdalifah.
As for the second opinion which we considered stronger: When a person is in Muzdalifah or in 'Arafah, he is in a place separate from Makkah, so he may avail himself of the dispensations of travel. However, when he is in Mina, as you know, Mina has become in the present time like a district of Makkah. For this reason, we see that the precaution is not to combine or shorten prayers in Mina. Moreover, there is no combining of prayers in Mina even for non-residents of Makkah, since it is a recommended practice for non-residents to shorten the prayer in Mina without combining. As for Muzdalifah and 'Arafah, they are separate, as I told you first, separate from Makkah, meaning: they have not been connected to it, according to what I have seen, that the construction has not connected them. In any case, if it is assumed that Makkah expands in the future and Muzdalifah becomes part of it like Mina, the ruling is the same.
As for the resident of Makkah who performs Hajj, the scholars who define travel by distance do not consider it permissible for him to combine or shorten prayers, such as Imam Ahmad and al-Shafi'i. For this reason, they do not permit the Makkah resident pilgrim to shorten or combine prayers, even in the past.But the stronger opinion is: [They hold] that travel is not restricted by distance but is restricted by custom and preparation for it. Whatever one prepares for and packs up for is considered travel. According to this opinion, it is permissible for the resident of Makkah to shorten and combine prayers when he performs Hajj.And this is indicated by: [They cite] that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed Hajj with the people of Makkah and did not order them to complete the prayers, saying: "Complete your prayers, O people of Makkah! For we are a people of travel." Based on this, we say that the well-known position of Imam Ahmad and al-Shafi'i is that the residents of Makkah do not combine or shorten prayers, neither in Mina, nor in 'Arafah, nor in Muzdalifah.
As for the second opinion which we considered stronger: When a person is in Muzdalifah or in 'Arafah, he is in a place separate from Makkah, so he may avail himself of the dispensations of travel. However, when he is in Mina, as you know, Mina has become in the present time like a district of Makkah. For this reason, we see that the precaution is not to combine or shorten prayers in Mina. Moreover, there is no combining of prayers in Mina even for non-residents of Makkah, since it is a recommended practice for non-residents to shorten the prayer in Mina without combining. As for Muzdalifah and 'Arafah, they are separate, as I told you first, separate from Makkah, meaning: they have not been connected to it, according to what I have seen, that the construction has not connected them. In any case, if it is assumed that Makkah expands in the future and Muzdalifah becomes part of it like Mina, the ruling is the same.