regarding the determination of the duration for which shortening the prayer is permissible during travel based on the prevailing custom in the country?

The Shaykh : What is this custom, exactly?

The questioner : I say: Regarding the fact that no text has come from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) specifying the duration of travel, what is the travel in which the prayer is shortened and the fasting person breaks his fast in Ramadan? So there were disagreements, as you know, between the Imams and between the Companions first, before the Imams, then the Imams and others. So, as I understand it, the custom is the criterion, there is no text, meaning we proceed by sequence, and we arrive at the fact that the custom is what? The criterion in this matter, meaning the custom differs among people; it may be travel for this person and not travel for that person, and so on. And the Shari'ah usually is not like this; that this is permissible and this is not permissible, and this is the disagreement in this. So we need a decision in the matter, and who, I mean, other than Ibn Taymiyyah said that, by Allah, the custom is the criterion in this matter, considering that this matter, as you know, is not with the Imams or with the Companions that the custom is the criterion in this matter? The word "travel" is often disputed about very much.

The Shaykh : Ibn Taymiyyah—my brother—... the definition, he is expressing a definition that exists in the minds of the Muslims who were addressed by the verses and hadiths in which the word "travel" is mentioned. So Ibn Taymiyyah did not bring something new, meaning when our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) said: , the word "gha'it" when Ibn Taymiyyah explains it, he does not bring a new meaning, but rather he is conveying the old, known meaning. But the old, known meaning, people did not explain it because they did not need to.

The questioner : Not written down, for example?

The Shaykh : Yes, that is it, they did not need to, like the science of grammar and morphology; they were speaking in standard Arabic, but they did not need to establish rules that clarify when the subject and the object are, when it is raised and when it is accused, and so on. So when Ibn Taymiyyah said that the definition of travel returns to the custom, he is not bringing an interpretation from himself, but rather he is expressing the opinion that existed on the day the verse was revealed: . He is saying the reference in this is to the custom, so this is not his opinion, but rather it is an expression of the reality that was known in the early time, the time of the revelation of the Qur'an, from one aspect.
From another aspect, your saying that it was not a custom for Zayd among the people, and others may differ from him; this has no relation to the custom. This is a personal opinion. The custom is the custom of the people, the custom of the nation or the tribe or the clan that lives in a certain place, not an individual among the individuals where there is a difference in the issue. Meaning, you at least mentioned that it is a person, so the issue is not a personal issue, the issue is a group issue. So in that case, there is no difference.

The questioner : I mean, simply—for example—frankly, we go to—for example—"Al-Ghawr" on many trips.

The Shaykh : Correct, you reminded me...

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Who says... from here to "Al-Ghawr" is travel?

The questioner : No, I, according to what we read in the narrations.

The Shaykh : ... Who says now that the one going to "Al-Ghawr" is a traveler?

The questioner : No, no one.

The Shaykh : Yes, that is it, so then...

The questioner : From the saying of some of the Companions that if I traveled a mile, I would shorten, we are relying on this...

The Shaykh : Now you have destroyed what you built, you were talking about the custom in travel, now you have returned to the fixed distance.

The questioner : No, I do not adopt this opinion, of course, I do not adopt it... in such an action, I do not adopt it.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : Which is that the custom is defined in this.

The Shaykh : Strange, what were you looking for?

The questioner : I am looking, I want to see where the custom came from, meaning why did Ibn Taymiyyah say the custom?

The Shaykh : Okay, do you know now where it came from?

The questioner: Of course.

The Shaykh : And we told you as an example that it reached us that you, in "Al-Ghawr," you shorten. Okay, this is not travel in the custom of all people, why are you shortening then? You return and say if what? You went out or traveled, so you shortened, good; this confirms for you that travel does not have fixed distances. Okay, but if he traveled a mile; was it travel for him or not?

The questioner : It seems that it was travel for him...

The Shaykh : So then, if he traveled less than a mile, for example, yes, do you think he would consider it travel or not? You do not know.

The questioner: No.

The Shaykh : You do not know, it may be another trip...