What is the distance at which the prayer is shortened? And what are the causes of a lack of humility in prayer?
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The questioner : What is the distance at which the prayer is shortened? And what are the reasons that prevent the worshipper from being humble in prayer?
The Shaykh : This question consists of two parts. The first part is about the distance at which the prayer is shortened. The scholars, including hadith scholars, jurists, and the general body of scholars, have differed on this, with the majority holding that it is sixteen farsakh, which is approximately eighty-two kilometers. Some scholars have held that the journey for which the prayer is shortened has no limit defined by the Shari'ah, because it is not reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he specified this for his Ummah. Therefore, specifying it would be a matter of waiting for a text, meaning it is contingent upon a text from the Shari'ah. If the Shari'ah has not specified it, then the matter reverts to custom. What people have agreed is a journey is a journey, and what people have agreed is not a journey is not a journey. The principle is that anything the Shari'ah has not defined is referred to custom. Accordingly, the poet said:
"And whatever comes without a Shari'ah limit, like the safe place, is defined by custom".
This latter view is the choice of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him). Accordingly, if a person travels about twenty kilometers and stays there for a duration that requires preparing provisions and saddling the mount, it is considered a journey. However, if he goes to such a distance and returns shortly, such as being invited to a wedding feast or the like, then he is not a traveler. This is what the soul inclines to, but it is problematic because it is not regulated, unlike the first opinion which specifies the distance with a definite amount, making it regulated and closer to people's understanding. So if one adopts it, there is no blame on him, if Allah wills.
As for the second part of the question, which is: what helps in humility in prayer? The greatest helper to humility in prayer is for a person to feel that when he stands to pray, he is conversing with Allah (Mighty and Majestic), addressing Him, and that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) responds to this conversation, as established in the authentic hadith of Abu Hurayrah from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: قال الله تعالى: قسمت الصلاة بيني وبين عبدي نصفين، فإذا قال: الحمد لله رب العالمين قال الله: حمدني عبدي، وإذا قال: الرحمان الرحيم قال الله تعالى: أثنى علي عبدي، وإذا قال: مالك يوم الدين قال الله: مجدني عبدي، وإذا قال: إياك نعبد وإياك نستعين قال: هذا بيني وبين عبدي نصفين، وإذا قال: اهدنا الصراط المستقيم قال: هذا لعبدي ولعبدي ما سأل Allah the Exalted said: I have divided the prayer between Me and My servant into two halves. When he says: All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, Allah says: My servant has praised Me. When he says: The Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy, Allah the Exalted says: My servant has extolled Me. When he says: Master of the Day of Judgment, Allah says: My servant has glorified Me. When he says: You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help, He says: This is between Me and My servant, and My servant gets what he asked for. When he says: Guide us to the straight path, He says: This is for My servant, and My servant gets what he asked for. If a person feels this feeling, he must be mindful of what he says and does in his prayer, because he is in the presence of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), who knows what is in his heart and what his soul whispers.
What helps in this is what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided to, which is seeking refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan. If he feels whispers and distractions, he should spit to his left three times and seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan, for that will remove it, by the permission of Allah. But if a person is in congregation, what does he do? How does he spit to his left three times? We say: it is sufficient to seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan without spitting, so as not to harm those around him.
What helps in this is for a person to be free for the prayer, so that he has no distraction, such as holding back urine or stool, or the presence of food he desires, or the like. This is based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Riyad as-Salihin 1753.
What helps in this is staying away from what causes distraction and preoccupation, such as staying away from noise, from those talking, and from those reciting loudly, or the like.
From here we move to an important issue, which is that some people are in the mosque reciting the Qur'an with a high, melodious voice, singing the Qur'an, while those around them are praying, and he distracts them and occupies them from their prayer. This is what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade, where he saw his Companions in the mosque praying and raising their voices, so he said (peace and blessings be upon him): or he said: And in another hadith: Sunan Abi Dawud 1332Sahih (Al-Albani) He made it a nuisance, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) spoke the truth, for the worshipper is harmed by such a situation and is distracted by what he hears from his brother the reciter. So the reciter should lower his voice in such a situation so as not to distract his brothers and ruin their prayers.
We also move to another point regarding what some imams do, we ask Allah for guidance for us and for them, which is raising the prayer through loudspeakers in the minarets. This causes a distraction that many people have complained about, to the extent that if some mosques are close and the wind is blowing towards another mosque or directed towards another mosque, the people of the other mosque are occupied with the recitation of the imam of the second mosque instead of listening to the recitation of their own imam, especially if his recitation is good and his voice is pleasant. People are often occupied with it, to the extent that I have heard that some people said the amen to his recitation of al-Fatihah instead of their own imam. There is no doubt that it occupies the worshippers when they prostrate and bow, while they are listening to his recitation through the loudspeaker on the minaret.
It is known that this has no real benefit at all, and it has this harm. A rational person does not do anything unless its benefit is pure, without harm, or its benefit outweighs its harm. But since there is no benefit in it and it has harm, a rational person does not do it, especially when it reaches him that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade his Companions from raising their voices over one another in recitation.
Furthermore, raising the voice from the minaret with a loudspeaker may even harm the neighbors of the mosque. A neighbor of the mosque may be occupied with his specific portion of recitation, or with reading, or reviewing a legal issue, or other issues of beneficial knowledge, and this distracts him greatly. He may be sick and need rest and sleep after praying Fajr, so when he tries to sleep and hears this voice, sleep is driven away from him.
In any case, this issue, which is raising the voice from the minaret with the prayer, its practitioner does not gain anything, because no benefit results from it, as far as we know. Rather, he is either safe or sinful due to the harm caused to his brothers.
So my advice to my brothers is: to limit themselves, at least, to the iqamah, the call to prayer, in the minaret, and to leave the transmission of the prayer from above the heads of the minarets. When I say this, I am not denying the use of the loudspeaker in prayer, but I am saying: beware of harming your brothers. As for using the loudspeaker in prayer, if there is a need for it without harm, such as if the mosque is large and the congregation is many, then there is nothing wrong with it, and we may say it is recommended. But if there is no need for it, leaving it is better, even inside the mosque, because a person's habit of not enjoying the Qur'an except through this voice transmitted on the loudspeaker has something to be considered.
Therefore, a person should reflect, contemplate, and compare between benefits and harms in these matters and others, and follow what is most pleasing to Allah and farthest from harming the servants of Allah. Then, something less harmful than that has been complained to us, which is the iqamah from the minaret with a loudspeaker. They said: our children wait until they hear the iqamah, then they get up, perform wudu, and go quickly, perhaps missing some of the prayer or all of it, and perhaps they perform wudu without thoroughness. They complained of this in order to argue for prohibiting the transmission of the iqamah from the minaret. But I have some hesitation about this, because hearing the iqamah from outside the mosque is a matter that occurred in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He said (peace and blessings be upon him):Bulugh al-Maram 2:329 This indicates that there is no blame in the iqamah being heard from outside the mosque. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you, O honorable Shaykh, and may Allah bless you and your knowledge, and benefit the Muslims through you.
The Shaykh : This question consists of two parts. The first part is about the distance at which the prayer is shortened. The scholars, including hadith scholars, jurists, and the general body of scholars, have differed on this, with the majority holding that it is sixteen farsakh, which is approximately eighty-two kilometers. Some scholars have held that the journey for which the prayer is shortened has no limit defined by the Shari'ah, because it is not reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he specified this for his Ummah. Therefore, specifying it would be a matter of waiting for a text, meaning it is contingent upon a text from the Shari'ah. If the Shari'ah has not specified it, then the matter reverts to custom. What people have agreed is a journey is a journey, and what people have agreed is not a journey is not a journey. The principle is that anything the Shari'ah has not defined is referred to custom. Accordingly, the poet said:
"And whatever comes without a Shari'ah limit, like the safe place, is defined by custom".
This latter view is the choice of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him). Accordingly, if a person travels about twenty kilometers and stays there for a duration that requires preparing provisions and saddling the mount, it is considered a journey. However, if he goes to such a distance and returns shortly, such as being invited to a wedding feast or the like, then he is not a traveler. This is what the soul inclines to, but it is problematic because it is not regulated, unlike the first opinion which specifies the distance with a definite amount, making it regulated and closer to people's understanding. So if one adopts it, there is no blame on him, if Allah wills.
As for the second part of the question, which is: what helps in humility in prayer? The greatest helper to humility in prayer is for a person to feel that when he stands to pray, he is conversing with Allah (Mighty and Majestic), addressing Him, and that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) responds to this conversation, as established in the authentic hadith of Abu Hurayrah from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: قال الله تعالى: قسمت الصلاة بيني وبين عبدي نصفين، فإذا قال: الحمد لله رب العالمين قال الله: حمدني عبدي، وإذا قال: الرحمان الرحيم قال الله تعالى: أثنى علي عبدي، وإذا قال: مالك يوم الدين قال الله: مجدني عبدي، وإذا قال: إياك نعبد وإياك نستعين قال: هذا بيني وبين عبدي نصفين، وإذا قال: اهدنا الصراط المستقيم قال: هذا لعبدي ولعبدي ما سأل Allah the Exalted said: I have divided the prayer between Me and My servant into two halves. When he says: All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, Allah says: My servant has praised Me. When he says: The Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy, Allah the Exalted says: My servant has extolled Me. When he says: Master of the Day of Judgment, Allah says: My servant has glorified Me. When he says: You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help, He says: This is between Me and My servant, and My servant gets what he asked for. When he says: Guide us to the straight path, He says: This is for My servant, and My servant gets what he asked for. If a person feels this feeling, he must be mindful of what he says and does in his prayer, because he is in the presence of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), who knows what is in his heart and what his soul whispers.
What helps in this is what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided to, which is seeking refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan. If he feels whispers and distractions, he should spit to his left three times and seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan, for that will remove it, by the permission of Allah. But if a person is in congregation, what does he do? How does he spit to his left three times? We say: it is sufficient to seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan without spitting, so as not to harm those around him.
What helps in this is for a person to be free for the prayer, so that he has no distraction, such as holding back urine or stool, or the presence of food he desires, or the like. This is based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
No Salat (prayer) should be performed when the food has been served, nor should it be performed when a person is in need of relieving himself.
لا صلاة بحضرة طعام، ولا وهو يُدافعه الأخبثانWhat helps in this is staying away from what causes distraction and preoccupation, such as staying away from noise, from those talking, and from those reciting loudly, or the like.
From here we move to an important issue, which is that some people are in the mosque reciting the Qur'an with a high, melodious voice, singing the Qur'an, while those around them are praying, and he distracts them and occupies them from their prayer. This is what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade, where he saw his Companions in the mosque praying and raising their voices, so he said (peace and blessings be upon him):
Do not raise your voices over one another in the Qur'an.
لا يجهر بعضكم على بعضكم في القرءانin the recitation
في القراءةOne should not trouble the other
لا يؤذين بعضكم بعضاًWe also move to another point regarding what some imams do, we ask Allah for guidance for us and for them, which is raising the prayer through loudspeakers in the minarets. This causes a distraction that many people have complained about, to the extent that if some mosques are close and the wind is blowing towards another mosque or directed towards another mosque, the people of the other mosque are occupied with the recitation of the imam of the second mosque instead of listening to the recitation of their own imam, especially if his recitation is good and his voice is pleasant. People are often occupied with it, to the extent that I have heard that some people said the amen to his recitation of al-Fatihah instead of their own imam. There is no doubt that it occupies the worshippers when they prostrate and bow, while they are listening to his recitation through the loudspeaker on the minaret.
It is known that this has no real benefit at all, and it has this harm. A rational person does not do anything unless its benefit is pure, without harm, or its benefit outweighs its harm. But since there is no benefit in it and it has harm, a rational person does not do it, especially when it reaches him that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade his Companions from raising their voices over one another in recitation.
Furthermore, raising the voice from the minaret with a loudspeaker may even harm the neighbors of the mosque. A neighbor of the mosque may be occupied with his specific portion of recitation, or with reading, or reviewing a legal issue, or other issues of beneficial knowledge, and this distracts him greatly. He may be sick and need rest and sleep after praying Fajr, so when he tries to sleep and hears this voice, sleep is driven away from him.
In any case, this issue, which is raising the voice from the minaret with the prayer, its practitioner does not gain anything, because no benefit results from it, as far as we know. Rather, he is either safe or sinful due to the harm caused to his brothers.
So my advice to my brothers is: to limit themselves, at least, to the iqamah, the call to prayer, in the minaret, and to leave the transmission of the prayer from above the heads of the minarets. When I say this, I am not denying the use of the loudspeaker in prayer, but I am saying: beware of harming your brothers. As for using the loudspeaker in prayer, if there is a need for it without harm, such as if the mosque is large and the congregation is many, then there is nothing wrong with it, and we may say it is recommended. But if there is no need for it, leaving it is better, even inside the mosque, because a person's habit of not enjoying the Qur'an except through this voice transmitted on the loudspeaker has something to be considered.
Therefore, a person should reflect, contemplate, and compare between benefits and harms in these matters and others, and follow what is most pleasing to Allah and farthest from harming the servants of Allah. Then, something less harmful than that has been complained to us, which is the iqamah from the minaret with a loudspeaker. They said: our children wait until they hear the iqamah, then they get up, perform wudu, and go quickly, perhaps missing some of the prayer or all of it, and perhaps they perform wudu without thoroughness. They complained of this in order to argue for prohibiting the transmission of the iqamah from the minaret. But I have some hesitation about this, because hearing the iqamah from outside the mosque is a matter that occurred in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He said (peace and blessings be upon him):
If you hear the Iqamah, you must walk to the prayer (place) with tranquility and dignity, and do not hasten; and whatever portion of the prayer you get (along with the Imam) offer it, and complete afterwards whatever you missed.
إذا سمعتم الإقامة فامشوا إلى الصلاة وعليكم السكينة والوقار ولا تسرعوا، فما أدركتم فصلوا، وما فاتكم فأتمواThe questioner : May Allah reward you, O honorable Shaykh, and may Allah bless you and your knowledge, and benefit the Muslims through you.