When does a traveler begin to shorten the prayer? Is there a specific distance for him?

The Shaykh : ... regarding shortening the prayer, this varies depending on the situation. Travel is not related solely to the distance a person covers, but rather to his preparation, readiness, and provisioning. Travel is related to the customary limit; if the distance one covers leaving his home is such that he is known to be a traveler, then he is a traveler, otherwise he is not. Therefore, travel and its absence are not defined by a specific distance. You might travel one hundred kilometers and, for example, not be a traveler, or travel one hundred and one kilometers and become a traveler. There is nothing of this in the Book or the Sunnah. The issue is related to the prevailing custom and what is known, and this undoubtedly differs from one country to another.

The questioner : For example, from ... an hour and a half.

The Shaykh : The answer is the same; it does not depend on the distance the traveler covers, but on you. I assume for you, as I learned from Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), who was in our country, Damascus. He described a scenario: he said, if a man leaves Damascus for its outskirts to hunt, and then, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , meaning the hunt did not satisfy him, he walks a bit more and reaches a village, and so on, bit by bit, bit by bit, bit by bit, until he finds himself having reached Aleppo. Between Aleppo and Damascus is four hundred kilometers. He said: this man is not considered a traveler. Why? Because first, he did not leave with the intention of traveling, nor did he prepare for travel; rather, he left ... to hunt and for recreation. So, if the issue were based on covering distances, this man would be considered a traveler, but he covered four hundred kilometers.

The questioner : I mean, did his travel become prolonged by gradual extension?

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : As for now, for example.

The Shaykh : No problem; I am giving you an example, do not argue with the example. I mean—no offense—if I told you "Zayd is a lion," you would not say to me, "Zayd has no tail, and this one has a tail," because the point is one thing. What is the point in the example? "Zayd is a lion" means he is brave. What is the intent of the question regarding the previous analogy? That a person may leave his town, cover four hundred kilometers, and not be considered a traveler. Do not tell me, "Well, you walked bit by bit, and this one walked with a long stride," because that is not the detail intended. The intent is that one may cover a distance while not being a traveler. I will give you another example that may be closer. The scholars mentioned that a man has two wives, each in a different town, and suppose the distance between the towns is one hundred or two hundred kilometers. So you went to your wife, and he has two wives. You traveled with him to the other town. He is a resident in the other town, and you are a traveler. Why? The situation is different. He has family and a residence there, and you do not. So, as soon as he enters the second town, he becomes a resident, and you are a traveler. The distance you covered is the same, the town you descended into is the same, and the town you left from is the same. So issues differ according to ... in them. Therefore, the established ruling on the subject is that travel is not restricted by a distance the Muslim covers, but rather it is related to custom.