Ruling on completing the prayer while traveling
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Is it permissible to complete the prayer while traveling?
Completing the prayer while traveling is not permissible according to some scholars who hold that shortening is obligatory, such as Abu Hanifah. According to others, it is permissible but disliked; and this is the closer view.And the evidence for that is: When 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) completed the prayer at Mina, the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) disapproved of his completing it. However, they prayed with him and completed the prayer. If they had considered shortening to be obligatory, they would not have completed it with him, because they would be adding to the prayer what is not part of it.The closer view to me, finally, is: It is not obligatory, but it is disliked, unless a person prays with an imam who completes the prayer, in which case he must complete it, whether he catches the entire prayer or only part of it.
The questioner: If the traveler is the imam and there are residents behind him, does the dislike remain?The Shaykh: Yes, even if he is the imam and there are residents behind him, he should shorten the prayer.And he says to them: [They would say:] "We completed it because we are a traveling people," until the Sunnah becomes apparent. This is because this Sunnah is unknown to many people, and the common people disapprove of it. But when it becomes well-known and people practice it, it becomes customary among them, and it becomes recognized, just as it is recognized by the Shari'ah. What a person should do, and especially a student of knowledge whose words are followed, is to revive the Sunnah that has been neglected, so that what is recognized does not become disapproved.
Completing the prayer while traveling is not permissible according to some scholars who hold that shortening is obligatory, such as Abu Hanifah. According to others, it is permissible but disliked; and this is the closer view.And the evidence for that is: When 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) completed the prayer at Mina, the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) disapproved of his completing it. However, they prayed with him and completed the prayer. If they had considered shortening to be obligatory, they would not have completed it with him, because they would be adding to the prayer what is not part of it.The closer view to me, finally, is: It is not obligatory, but it is disliked, unless a person prays with an imam who completes the prayer, in which case he must complete it, whether he catches the entire prayer or only part of it.
The questioner: If the traveler is the imam and there are residents behind him, does the dislike remain?The Shaykh: Yes, even if he is the imam and there are residents behind him, he should shorten the prayer.And he says to them: [They would say:] "We completed it because we are a traveling people," until the Sunnah becomes apparent. This is because this Sunnah is unknown to many people, and the common people disapprove of it. But when it becomes well-known and people practice it, it becomes customary among them, and it becomes recognized, just as it is recognized by the Shari'ah. What a person should do, and especially a student of knowledge whose words are followed, is to revive the Sunnah that has been neglected, so that what is recognized does not become disapproved.