Benefits of the Hadith: (The prayer was made obligatory as two units...)

The Shaykh : This contains evidence that the prayer of the traveler is only two units, because the prayer was first made obligatory as two units: the midday, afternoon, and night prayers. As for the dawn prayer, it was made obligatory as two units and remained so. As for the sunset prayer, it is three units and was not shortened because shortening it is difficult, and because it is the odd-numbered prayer of the day. If it were shortened, it would be one and a half units, which is impossible. If it were made two units, the odd-numbered nature would be lost. So it had to be three units. Now, why was it not shortened to one unit? That would be... in the prayer, where two-thirds of it were removed, so it became necessary for it to be three units, and that is how it is. When was it increased? It is stated in Sahih al-Bukhari that the prayer of the resident was increased after the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) migrated. So the resident prayer became four units. Some scholars derived from this hadith the obligation of shortening the prayer while traveling, based on her (may Allah be pleased with her) saying that it remained as the first obligation. They said this is correct because the two units in the traveler's prayer are an obligation. However, there is a point to consider in this argumentation upon reflection, because the meaning of "it remained as the first obligation" is that it was not increased. This does not contradict the view that shortening is a recommended practice and not obligatory. Supporting the view that shortening is a recommended practice is that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) in the time of Uthman, when he completed the prayer in Mina and they disapproved of it and expressed regret, they prayed four units with him out of fear of discord and division. If they had believed that shortening was obligatory, they would not have prayed four units with him, because one who believes that shortening is obligatory must have his prayer invalidated if he completes it, just as if he prayed the midday prayer eight units. This indicates that shortening is among the recommended practices. I used to think it was an obligation, but after reflection, it became clear to me that it is a recommended practice, meaning shortening. However, there is no doubt that it is disliked due to the strength of the disagreement.