Is completing the prayer while traveling permissible?
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The questioner : All right, Shaykh, regarding completing the prayer while traveling.
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : Is completing the prayer permissible?
The Shaykh : Completing the prayer while traveling is not permissible according to some scholars who hold that shortening is obligatory, such as Abu Hanifah.
According to the others, it is permissible, but it is disliked. This is the closest view: that it is permissible but disliked.
The evidence for this is that 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 would pray with him and complete the prayer. If they had held that shortening was obligatory, they would not have completed it with him, because they would have been adding to the prayer what is not part of it.
So, in my final view, the closest position is that it is not obligatory, but it is disliked, unless a person prays with an imam who completes the prayer. In that case, he is required to complete it, whether he catches the entire prayer or only part of it.
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : Is completing the prayer permissible?
The Shaykh : Completing the prayer while traveling is not permissible according to some scholars who hold that shortening is obligatory, such as Abu Hanifah.
According to the others, it is permissible, but it is disliked. This is the closest view: that it is permissible but disliked.
The evidence for this is that 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 would pray with him and complete the prayer. If they had held that shortening was obligatory, they would not have completed it with him, because they would have been adding to the prayer what is not part of it.
So, in my final view, the closest position is that it is not obligatory, but it is disliked, unless a person prays with an imam who completes the prayer. In that case, he is required to complete it, whether he catches the entire prayer or only part of it.