We request clarification of some of the rulings on shortening the prayer for the traveler?
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The questioner : Yes, I affirm and acknowledge that.
The Shaykh : All right, please go ahead.
The questioner : I memorize more than you do.
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner : And I recite from the Book of Allah more than you do.
The Shaykh : Oh Allah.
The questioner : Could you give us more clarification?
The Shaykh : Why did you shorten the prayer?!
The questioner : I shortened it based on what I heard from you.
The Shaykh : And what is it?
The questioner : That we are travelers.
The Shaykh : Where did we travel? Where did you hear that from me?
The questioner : I mean, within the scope of what you asked, you heard from Abu Salih.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : About the distance and so on.
The Shaykh : That is what you heard just now. As for before? Hehehe. All right. What you heard from me, I said: A traveler is one who has moved from one place to another and is seeking, for example, pasture or grass or something similar. This is a matter different from what we are discussing. We left our town to return in the evening.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, in my understanding, the issue does not relate to covering a specific distance, but rather to two things: the foundation of which is intention, and the other is leaving the town. If the intention to travel is present and one leaves the town, the rulings of travel apply, and one does not look at the distance covered, whether long or short. As for the original condition being absent, which is the intention, in that case, the one who leaves, even if he covers a long distance or less or more, is not a traveler, because travel is among the rulings connected to this hadith about which some scholars of Islam said it is one-third of IslamSahih al-Bukhari 1. The truth is that this is one of the very precise issues in which the views of scholars have differed, and they did not agree on anything clear at all, such that a speaker could say:
"This is the truth, with no obscurity in it *** So leave me alone regarding the plans of the road"
No one can say this, but all he can say is that I choose this, I choose that. So I chose what I understood from the treatise of Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) on this issue. He has a specific treatise on the rulings of travel. He gave a wonderful example from which the researcher and student of knowledge can understand that travel has no relation to covering a long distance as opposed to a short one. As for it having no relation to covering a short distance, I think this is not a matter of what? Discussion. Because it is established from the Messenger (peace be upon him) that he used to go out from Madinah to al-Baqi' to greet them and then return. He used to go out to the martyrs at Uhud to greet them and then return. He did not consider himself a traveler, even though he left the town. And conversely: if one intends a long journey, excuse me, if he covers a long distance, that does not mean that merely by covering this distance he becomes a traveler. The example he gave is as follows: He is a Damascene, like me, and around Damascus there are known villages. He gave an example of a town known to this day as Dumah. He said: If a man leaves Damascus seeking hunting to Dumah—fifty kilometers—there is no doubt that in our custom, if the basic condition is present, which is the intention to travel, it is travel. He says: This man is not considered a traveler because he left to hunt and then return. But what happened is that he did not find the game he was seeking, so he continued the journey, and continued, and continued, and took a route to reach Homs! And between Homs and Damascus is about four hundred kilometers today by car. He says this is not a traveler, even though he covered distances for which a traveler does not have a single distance, because the first condition, which is the intention to travel, was not from this person. And on this basis, we can say that a car driver who will go out, for example, from Amman early in the morning to Ma'an to Aqaba and return in the evening, is not a traveler, because by virtue of his work he does not intend to travel, but intends to perform this work to make a living. So we must observe in the matter of travel the basic condition, which is intention. And by observing this intention, the ruling differs for two people who cover the same distance, but one is a traveler and the other is not considered a traveler; that is due to the difference in their intentions.
The Shaykh : All right, please go ahead.
The questioner : I memorize more than you do.
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner : And I recite from the Book of Allah more than you do.
The Shaykh : Oh Allah.
The questioner : Could you give us more clarification?
The Shaykh : Why did you shorten the prayer?!
The questioner : I shortened it based on what I heard from you.
The Shaykh : And what is it?
The questioner : That we are travelers.
The Shaykh : Where did we travel? Where did you hear that from me?
The questioner : I mean, within the scope of what you asked, you heard from Abu Salih.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : About the distance and so on.
The Shaykh : That is what you heard just now. As for before? Hehehe. All right. What you heard from me, I said: A traveler is one who has moved from one place to another and is seeking, for example, pasture or grass or something similar. This is a matter different from what we are discussing. We left our town to return in the evening.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, in my understanding, the issue does not relate to covering a specific distance, but rather to two things: the foundation of which is intention, and the other is leaving the town. If the intention to travel is present and one leaves the town, the rulings of travel apply, and one does not look at the distance covered, whether long or short. As for the original condition being absent, which is the intention, in that case, the one who leaves, even if he covers a long distance or less or more, is not a traveler, because travel is among the rulings connected to this hadith about which some scholars of Islam said it is one-third of Islam
The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended.
إنَّما الأعمال بالنِّيَّات ، وإنما لكلِّ امرئٍ ما نوى"This is the truth, with no obscurity in it *** So leave me alone regarding the plans of the road"
No one can say this, but all he can say is that I choose this, I choose that. So I chose what I understood from the treatise of Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) on this issue. He has a specific treatise on the rulings of travel. He gave a wonderful example from which the researcher and student of knowledge can understand that travel has no relation to covering a long distance as opposed to a short one. As for it having no relation to covering a short distance, I think this is not a matter of what? Discussion. Because it is established from the Messenger (peace be upon him) that he used to go out from Madinah to al-Baqi' to greet them and then return. He used to go out to the martyrs at Uhud to greet them and then return. He did not consider himself a traveler, even though he left the town. And conversely: if one intends a long journey, excuse me, if he covers a long distance, that does not mean that merely by covering this distance he becomes a traveler. The example he gave is as follows: He is a Damascene, like me, and around Damascus there are known villages. He gave an example of a town known to this day as Dumah. He said: If a man leaves Damascus seeking hunting to Dumah—fifty kilometers—there is no doubt that in our custom, if the basic condition is present, which is the intention to travel, it is travel. He says: This man is not considered a traveler because he left to hunt and then return. But what happened is that he did not find the game he was seeking, so he continued the journey, and continued, and continued, and took a route to reach Homs! And between Homs and Damascus is about four hundred kilometers today by car. He says this is not a traveler, even though he covered distances for which a traveler does not have a single distance, because the first condition, which is the intention to travel, was not from this person. And on this basis, we can say that a car driver who will go out, for example, from Amman early in the morning to Ma'an to Aqaba and return in the evening, is not a traveler, because by virtue of his work he does not intend to travel, but intends to perform this work to make a living. So we must observe in the matter of travel the basic condition, which is intention. And by observing this intention, the ruling differs for two people who cover the same distance, but one is a traveler and the other is not considered a traveler; that is due to the difference in their intentions.
Source
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