What is the distance that permits the dispensations of shortening or combining prayers?
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The questioner : May Allah reward you with good. A group of teachers travel to remote villages, approximately more than one hundred kilometers away, and they avail themselves of the travel dispensations by combining the Dhuhr and Asr prayers, even though they arrive at their homes at approximately one-thirty. They say: “You have issued a fatwa for us.” Is it permissible for them to avail themselves of the travel dispensations? And if it is not permissible, is it permissible for them to combine the Dhuhr and Asr prayers without shortening, or not?
The Shaykh : Yes, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed regarding the travel that permits the dispensations. Some of them define it by distance, saying: “The distance is eighty-three kilometers. If a person exceeds it, even by half a cubit, the dispensations become permissible for him.” Based on this opinion, these people are among those who are entitled to the dispensations, because you say: one hundred kilometers or more. Do you understand? I understood?
These people say: He is entitled to shorten, to break his fast, and to combine, even if he covers this distance, meaning eighty-three kilometers, in half an hour or less. According to this opinion, it means that these people should shorten if they encounter the prayer while they are not in their town, and it is permissible for them to combine. As for the second opinion, which was chosen by the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and is closer to the truth, it states: The criterion is what people call travel. These people who go in the morning and return in the evening or before the evening are not considered travelers, so they do not shorten. As for combining, if it is difficult for them to wait for the Asr prayer, meaning that they arrive at their town while tired and they fear that if they sleep they will not wake up, then they may combine. But it is combining without shortening; however, it is combining without shortening.
The questioner : Meaning, it is not permissible for them to avail themselves of the travel dispensations; rather, it is only permissible for them to combine.
The Shaykh : This is according to the opinion of the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and those who agreed with him.
The questioner : The fatwa that they attribute to you, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : No, we do not issue a fatwa for them. We say: The one who goes to teach at a distance of one hundred or two hundred kilometers and returns on the same day is not a traveler, so he does not avail himself of the dispensations, meaning he does not shorten. But the issue of combining is another matter, because combining is permissible if there is hardship for a person in waiting for the second prayer.
The questioner : What if the combining is almost daily?
The Shaykh : Even if it is almost daily.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : Yes, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed regarding the travel that permits the dispensations. Some of them define it by distance, saying: “The distance is eighty-three kilometers. If a person exceeds it, even by half a cubit, the dispensations become permissible for him.” Based on this opinion, these people are among those who are entitled to the dispensations, because you say: one hundred kilometers or more. Do you understand? I understood?
These people say: He is entitled to shorten, to break his fast, and to combine, even if he covers this distance, meaning eighty-three kilometers, in half an hour or less. According to this opinion, it means that these people should shorten if they encounter the prayer while they are not in their town, and it is permissible for them to combine. As for the second opinion, which was chosen by the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and is closer to the truth, it states: The criterion is what people call travel. These people who go in the morning and return in the evening or before the evening are not considered travelers, so they do not shorten. As for combining, if it is difficult for them to wait for the Asr prayer, meaning that they arrive at their town while tired and they fear that if they sleep they will not wake up, then they may combine. But it is combining without shortening; however, it is combining without shortening.
The questioner : Meaning, it is not permissible for them to avail themselves of the travel dispensations; rather, it is only permissible for them to combine.
The Shaykh : This is according to the opinion of the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and those who agreed with him.
The questioner : The fatwa that they attribute to you, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : No, we do not issue a fatwa for them. We say: The one who goes to teach at a distance of one hundred or two hundred kilometers and returns on the same day is not a traveler, so he does not avail himself of the dispensations, meaning he does not shorten. But the issue of combining is another matter, because combining is permissible if there is hardship for a person in waiting for the second prayer.
The questioner : What if the combining is almost daily?
The Shaykh : Even if it is almost daily.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.