Is it permissible for a traveler to complete the prayer if he leads a resident?

The Shaykh : The traveler imam is not permitted to complete the prayer; rather, he must follow the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in shortening the prayer always and forever. On the one hand, he must follow his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) when he was asked: Therefore, the one who leads people while being a traveler must shorten the prayer. For example, if I lead you, I would pray 'Isha' with you for two rak'ahs. As for you, you must complete it, because the obligation for me is two rak'ahs and the obligation for you is four rak'ahs. It is not permissible for me to accommodate you, or more precisely, it is not permissible for me, while I am your imam, to follow your prayer. Your prayer is the prayer of a resident, and my prayer is the prayer of a traveler. It is not fitting for the imam to become a follower and the follower to become an imam. The follower follows the imam, and the imam follows the follower? No. Therefore, whoever prays while being a resident behind a traveling imam must complete the prayer when the imam says the taslim. And if a traveler follows a resident, his prayer becomes the prayer of a resident, and he must complete it. This is what is explicitly stated in the texts. You may hear otherwise from some people, so beware, and beware again, because it has come in Sahih Muslim from the hadith of Abdullah ibn Abbas that a man said to him: "O Abu al-Abbas"—Abu al-Abbas is the kunya of Abdullah ibn Abbas—"O Abu al-Abbas, why is it that..."The questioner : ...a non-Makkan, meaning not from Makkah. He said to Ibn Abbas, who was from Makkah: "Why is it that when we pray in our homes we shorten, and when we pray here in the Sacred Mosque we complete?" He said: "It is the Sunnah of Abu al-Qasim, the Sunnah of Abu al-Qasim." "The Sunnah of Abu al-Qasim" means that if a traveler prays in his home alone, it is obligatory for him to pray shortened. If he follows the resident imam, he must follow him. This is the second ruling in this authentic hadith in Muslim, from the completion of his saying (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him): Do not differ with him. You are a traveler who followed a resident imam. When he sat for the first tashahhud, you stood up. You said the taslim, differing from him and differing from the authentic Sunnah that we mentioned to you earlier from Ibn Abbas.

The questioner : Did they know that they were required to complete their prayer? Do they now have to repeat the prayer?

The Shaykh : Before answering this question, we must establish a rule and set a principle for all our brothers to follow. Those who shortened the prayer and followed a resident are either independent legal reasoners (mujtahids) or followers (muqallids). If they were independent legal reasoners and prayed shortened—and of course, I think you all understand that by "independent legal reasoners" I mean scholars who exercised independent legal reasoning—then their prayer is valid. Why? Because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say: This independent legal reasoner is not required to repeat the worship he performed through independent legal reasoning. As it came in the authentic hadith that two travelers in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) had the prayer time arrive and they did not find water, so they performed dry ablution with clean earth and prayed. Then they found water. One of them repeated the prayer, and the other did not. When they returned to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and related the story to him, he said to the one who did not repeat: And to the one who repeated: Here is a test question, and we are not being tested. Do you see which one was successful? The one to whom the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Or the one to whom he said: ? What comes to the minds of many people is that the second one is better. And if this answer were correct, it would follow that if these two men encountered a situation like the first one again, do you think they would agree not to repeat the prayer after finding water and having prayed with dry ablution, or would they repeat the prayer? What comes to the minds of many people is that since the one who repeated got two rewards, they should repeat the prayer the second time. But the reality is not so. The one who did not repeat, to whom the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You hit the Sunnah," meaning you hit ten good deeds or more. Because when a Muslim does a good deed, the least written for him is ten good deeds, up to a hundred good deeds, up to seven hundred, up to many times over, and Allah multiplies for whom He wills. As for the one to whom it was said "you have two rewards," he is only being told that Allah does not waste the reward of one who does good. He prayed the second time as an independent legal reasoner, and this prayer will not be wasted for him; he will be written a reward. But since the Messenger indicated that the Sunnah is not to repeat, there is no doubt that going against the Sunnah does not earn the one who goes against the Sunnah a reward; rather, he is blamed. But that one was not blamed because he did not go against the Sunnah which he was ignorant of. From this, we say: If the one who shortened and saw the resident was an independent legal reasoner, he does not repeat. Likewise, if he was not an independent legal reasoner but asked a scholar who issued a fatwa for him regarding what he did, then the one who issued the fatwa for him regarding what he did—again, either he is given two rewards or one reward if he hit the mark, in which case he has two rewards, and so on. But if they put their heads together, put their ignorance together, and exercised independent legal reasoning while not being people qualified for independent legal reasoning, then they must repeat the prayer.

Another questioner : Peace be upon you

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace

The Shaykh: Is it clear?

The Shaykh : Is the answer clear?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: Okay

The questioner : Our Shaykh, what happened with the brother today is that he followed the imam, and the imam intended to shorten. He prayed two rak'ahs shortened. It was a mistake on his part; he intended to complete. His intention was to complete the prayer, so it was a mistake on his part. He prayed with the imam, and after he prayed, he said the taslim with the imam. After he said the taslim with the imam, the brothers reminded him, so he stood up and prayed two rak'ahs with the intention that he was a traveler shortening. What is upon him?

The Shaykh : How did he stand up and pray two rak'ahs?

The questioner: He

Another questioner : After we spoke, the imam intended to shorten.

The Shaykh: That is correct.

Another questioner : I did not hear it.

The Shaykh : Ah.

Another questioner : My intention was to complete.

The Shaykh : A resident.

Another questioner : Yes, my intention was to complete four rak'ahs.

The Shaykh: Okay

Another questioner : But it was a mistake on my part; I said the taslim with the imam.

The Shaykh : Yes.

Another questioner : So when I asked them, I said to them, "Why did you pray two rak'ahs?" They said, "We are travelers." So I stood up and established the prayer anew and prayed two rak'ahs with the intention of shortening. Is my prayer valid? Or do I have to repeat it four times?

The Shaykh : No, you do not have to repeat it. Your prayer is valid and in accordance with the Sunnah.

Another questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh: Yes, that is right.

Another questioner : May Allah reward you.

The questioner : The imam prayed as a traveler and shortened, and the follower was a resident. When the imam said the taslim, he heard him praying shortened. At the time of the taslim, he realized that he had shortened. Here he wants to change his intention. If the intention changes, does the prayer remain valid?

The Shaykh : The intention changes from what to what? What is the matter? Why does he want to change the intention?
Another questioner: From completing to shortening.

The Shaykh : Is he first a resident or a traveler?

The questioner : No, he is a resident, the follower.

The Shaykh : Every question has an answer. Be patient a little. Let Abu 'Umar put down his weapon. Is he a resident, or are you imagining he is a traveler?

The questioner : No, he is a resident, the one we are talking about.

The Shaykh : He is a resident? Why does he want to change his intention to that of a traveler when he is a resident?

The questioner : He intended with the imam...

The Shaykh : I understood. I am asking now and I want the answer so that I can give you the answer. Otherwise, if you lose me, you lose the answer.

The questioner : Authentic

The Shaykh : In any case, you will not lose anything. I will tell you: If he is a resident and the imam is a traveler, it is impossible for him to change his intention, because his reality imposes on him that he is a resident. So how does he want to change his intention from the intention of a resident to the intention of a traveler? This is impossible, and if it happens, the prayer is invalid. Are we clear up to here?

The questioner : Yes, yes.

The Shaykh : The second hypothesis is that he is a traveler like the imam, but as some schools of jurisprudence say, it is better for the traveler to complete, though shortening is permissible, but completing is better. This is the position of the Shafi'is. So can you say now that this resident intended to complete? Excuse me, this traveler intended to complete. Why? Because he sees that completing is better for the traveler, even though shortening is permissible. So we have depicted the previous scenario where this follower was a resident. If he changed his intention, it means he invalidated his prayer, because by changing his intention, he did not become a traveler; he remained a resident and prayed two rak'ahs, and this is an invalid prayer for a resident. The second scenario: suppose he is a traveler, but a traveler who has a specific opinion on the issue of the traveler completing. Is it obligatory as we believe and as we mentioned to you earlier from his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) when they asked him: If he sees that shortening is obligatory and he is a traveler, how can he intend to complete? So we cannot imagine anything except that he is one of those who see the permissibility of completing for the traveler, even if this answer is the weaker position, because they see that shortening is better. But if he completed, it is permissible. So when he intended to complete and he was a traveler, something occurred that changed his intention. There is no harm in that, because he changed from the less preferred to the more preferred, from the permissible to the obligatory in reality. So the issue is not resolved except by these scenarios. Is it clear?

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : Now we hear from Abu 'Abdullah.

Another questioner : May Allah reward you, our Shaykh. Regarding the brothers who came from Aqaba to al-Qayrawan, and their imam combined...

The Shaykh : Excuse me, did you comment on my previous research, or on this current one?

Another questioner : On the previous research that the brother Abu Lu'ay asked about, and I told him, "Your prayer is complete," right?

The Shaykh : Yes, that is correct.

Another questioner : The brother came from Aqaba to al-Qayrawan, and his imam came from Aqaba to al-Qayrawan.

The Shaykh : I answered this question by saying that either he is a mujtahid (a scholar qualified to derive rulings) or he is a muqallid (one who follows a scholar without knowing his evidence). I answered based on both possibilities. Then I said: if he is a muqallid and a mufti (a scholar who issues fatwas) issued a ruling for him, and the mufti was mistaken, then the sin is on the one who issued the ruling, and his prayer is valid. But if they acted on their own heads and exercised independent legal reasoning on their own, then they must repeat the prayer. So I answered this issue.

Another questioner : May Allah reward you with good. I do not think, our Shaykh, that the discussion here is about "acting on their own heads."

The Shaykh : No, let it remain covered.

Another questioner : It is not Abu Lu'ay who said he needed it, right?

The Shaykh : Based on what I heard from Abu Lu'ay, I gave him the answer. Why did I say to him, "You have hit the Sunnah (the Prophet's way)"? Because he did not classify himself as one who exercises independent legal reasoning without being qualified to do so, such that it would be said to him, "You must repeat the prayer." Also, he did not mention to me that he is one of the residents there and came here, and so on. So now, after the remarks you have made, I want to clarify why I told him, "You have hit the Sunnah." I do not mean by this phrase that "you have hit the Sunnah" in the sense that the only obligation for the traveler is to shorten the prayer. I did not mean that, nor did I mean anything else. This is something that all those present should know. It has been established... give your alert to the door...

The Shaykh : Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar _The Shaykh : He repeats with the mu'adhdhin (the one who calls to prayer): "And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah." It is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in more than one incident that occurred to him that he would conclude his prayer before completing it for a profound wisdom. For example, this mu'adhdhin must be alerted; he says, "I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" with a kasrah on the final letter (Rasoola). This is a mistake. You must draw his attention to lengthen the vowel (say Rasoolu) or the meaning is not correct. It is narrated about a Bedouin man, a natural Arab, who heard a mu'adhdhin say, "I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" (with the kasrah). He sat listening, wondering what is wrong with "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah," because "Muhammad" is a name, and in the language of grammarians, "Rasoola" is an attribute for Muhammad. Here the name came, so where is the predicate? If someone said, "Muhammad," that is the subject; what is its predicate? "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" completes the sentence. But if he said, "I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" (with the kasrah), then "Rasoola" becomes a substitute for "Muhammad," and the predicate did not come. So the natural Bedouin Arab criticized this mu'adhdhin because he did not bring the predicate. But if he said, "I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" (with the dammah), that is correct speech. So, my brother, the adhan (the call to prayer) is like a verse from the Qur'an; it is not permissible for one to distort it. So whoever among you has a connection to this should know, with gentleness and kindness. Of course, the summary is: it is authentically reported from the Messenger (peace be upon him) that once he prayed the midday prayer (Zuhr) with five rak'ahs, once he prayed the midday prayer with three rak'ahs, once he prayed the afternoon prayer ('Asr) with two rak'ahs, and once he prayed the sunset prayer (Maghrib) with two rak'ahs. I have no connection to all these incidents except the last one, when he prayed the sunset prayer with two rak'ahs. The people left, and this leaving indicates something. It is natural for people that most of them are busy with fulfilling this obligation and then leaving. There is no harm. Our Lord said regarding the best of the prayers in the week, which is the Friday prayer (Jumu'ah): There is no harm. But will the Bedouin, who has the greatest reward and merit, sit in the mosque and complete the adhkar (the remembrance of Allah) and the recitations, and then if he is going home, he will come there and perform the post-prayer Sunnah (recommended practice) of two or four rak'ahs in the mosque? But if the imam concluded the prayer from here, and they concluded from here, and he left for his shop and trade, we have no objection to him, because he fulfilled the obligation. And so it was with most of the people in this story: when the Messenger (peace be upon him) prayed the sunset prayer with two rak'ahs, of course, those who knew that the Messenger (peace be upon him) prayed two rak'ahs, and that the sunset prayer is three, but at that time it was a time of legislation. They always assumed that when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did an action, that was the Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law). And the Shari'ah has abrogating and abrogated verses, and so on. So many of the people left.