We travel weekly, approximately, to areas more than one hundred kilometers away. Is it permissible for us to shorten the prayer in this case?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : The Egyptian listener says: We travel weekly, approximately, to areas more than one hundred kilometers away. Is it permissible for us to shorten the prayer in this case? And is it permissible to perform the 'Isha' prayer when we arrive home? We ask for your guidance.
The Shaykh : If a person travels this distance, he shortens the prayer, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted:[An-Nisa 4:101] Unless he is in a town, in which case he is obligated to attend the congregation. If he attends the congregation, he will complete the prayer, because if a traveler follows an imam who completes the prayer, he is obligated to complete it, whether the traveler who followed the imam who completes the prayer caught the prayer from the beginning or from the end. Accordingly, if the traveler catches two rak'ahs with the imam, it is obligatory for him to perform two rak'ahs after the imam's taslim, due to the generality of the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): Sahih al-Bukhari 635 This includes both the traveler and the resident. And because Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) was asked: What is the matter with a man who prays four rak'ahs with the imam and prays two rak'ahs alone, meaning the traveler? He said: "That is the sunnah (recommended practice)."
Based on this, we say that if a traveler arrives in a town where the congregation is held, it is obligatory for him to attend the congregation, even if he has companions with whom he could pray in congregation. It is obligatory for all of them to attend the congregation, unless there is hardship in doing so, such as the mosque being far away or its location being unknown to them. In that case, they pray in congregation. As for the questioner's statement about whether he prays when he arrives at his home.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : I do not know what he intends by this question. If he means that if he arrives at his home and has not yet prayed the four-rak'ah prayer, does he pray it shortened or complete? The answer is that we say: If a person arrives in his town and has not yet prayed, it is obligatory for him to complete the prayer, because the journey has ended. An example of this is a man who reaches the time for the midday prayer while he is traveling.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : So he intended to combine the prayers by delaying them, so he delayed the midday prayer until he arrived in the town after the call to prayer for the afternoon prayer. In this case, it is obligatory for him to pray the midday prayer as four rak'ahs and the afternoon prayer as four rak'ahs, because the journey has ended, and shortening is only permissible while a person is traveling. Therefore, the stronger position among the opinions of the scholars is that if a man reaches the time for prayer while he is in his town, and then he goes out as a traveler before praying, he prays it shortened. That is, if the call to prayer for the midday prayer is made and you are in your town, and then you travel before praying the midday prayer, you pray it as two rak'ahs. And the reverse is the reverse: if the call to prayer for the midday prayer is made and you are traveling, and then you arrive in your town, it is obligatory for you to pray four rak'ahs, because the criterion is the act of praying. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : If a person travels this distance, he shortens the prayer, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted:
And when you travel throughout the land, there is no blame upon you for shortening the prayer
وَإِذا ضَرَبتُم فِي الأَرضِ فَلَيسَ عَلَيكُم جُناحٌ أَن تَقصُروا مِنَ الصَّلاةِand pray whatever you get (with the people) and complete the rest which you have missed
ما أدركتم فصلوا وما فاتكم فأتمواBased on this, we say that if a traveler arrives in a town where the congregation is held, it is obligatory for him to attend the congregation, even if he has companions with whom he could pray in congregation. It is obligatory for all of them to attend the congregation, unless there is hardship in doing so, such as the mosque being far away or its location being unknown to them. In that case, they pray in congregation. As for the questioner's statement about whether he prays when he arrives at his home.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : I do not know what he intends by this question. If he means that if he arrives at his home and has not yet prayed the four-rak'ah prayer, does he pray it shortened or complete? The answer is that we say: If a person arrives in his town and has not yet prayed, it is obligatory for him to complete the prayer, because the journey has ended. An example of this is a man who reaches the time for the midday prayer while he is traveling.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : So he intended to combine the prayers by delaying them, so he delayed the midday prayer until he arrived in the town after the call to prayer for the afternoon prayer. In this case, it is obligatory for him to pray the midday prayer as four rak'ahs and the afternoon prayer as four rak'ahs, because the journey has ended, and shortening is only permissible while a person is traveling. Therefore, the stronger position among the opinions of the scholars is that if a man reaches the time for prayer while he is in his town, and then he goes out as a traveler before praying, he prays it shortened. That is, if the call to prayer for the midday prayer is made and you are in your town, and then you travel before praying the midday prayer, you pray it as two rak'ahs. And the reverse is the reverse: if the call to prayer for the midday prayer is made and you are traveling, and then you arrive in your town, it is obligatory for you to pray four rak'ahs, because the criterion is the act of praying. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.