Defining Travel (Safar) and the Duration for Shortening and Combining Prayersتعريف السفر ومدة استصحاب أحكام القصر والجمع

Discussion has repeatedly come up regarding the ruling on shortening the prayer (qasr) while traveling — the distance at which a traveler may shorten his prayer, what actually constitutes "travel" (safar), and how many days a traveler may continue applying the rulings of travel. This is a matter of longstanding scholarly disagreement, dating back to the era of the Companions and continuing into our own time, and the scholars have not reached unanimous agreement on it.

Allah, exalted is He, says, "And when you travel throughout the land, there is no blame upon you for shortening the prayer." This is evidence that traveling is what permits shortening the prayer; the dispute is only over the minimum distance required. Some scholars held, based on the hadith of Anas — that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would shorten the prayer when he set out on a journey of three miles or farsakhs, recorded by Muslim in his Sahih — that this is the minimum distance, a view adopted by Abu Muhammad Ibn Hazm. Other scholars held that there is no license for travel until it reaches four barids, this being the view of the majority (jumhur); four barids is estimated at roughly eighty to ninety kilometers.

A group of scholars held that what constitutes "travel" is to be referred back to custom ('urf): whatever is customarily called travel is travel, and whatever is not, is not. This is the position chosen by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, because Allah, exalted is He, mentioned travel without specifying for it any fixed distance or duration; it is therefore referred back to custom. Whatever people customarily call travel is travel, and whatever they do not is not — as stated in al-Maraqi: "Wording is to be understood according to the Sharia; if that is not established, then according to unqualified custom." Referring back to custom for defining general terms is well known among the jurists, especially since the term "travel" has no fixed definition either in the Arabic language or in the Sharia.

The scholars also differed over a related question: for as long as a person remains "traveling," does he retain all the rulings of travel? Some held that the duration is to be measured at four days — if he stays more than four days, he is no longer called a traveler. This is a personal ijtihad on the part of whoever held it, and it is the well-known position within the Hanbali madhhab, though there is no evidence for it, for the Prophet ﷺ stayed in Tabuk for twenty days, shortening and combining the prayers, as recorded by Muslim in his Sahih. As for the traveler who does not know how long he will stay — who says, "I will leave today," then "I will leave tomorrow" — such a person retains the rulings of travel by the unanimous agreement of the scholars, as stated by Ibn al-Mundhir and others; and this is what is understood from the action of Ibn 'Umar in Azerbaijan.

As for someone who settles in a country knowing that he will remain there for a year or two — such as teachers and government employees and the like — the scholars differ over whether such a person takes the ruling of a traveler or the ruling of a resident. Such people ought to act cautiously: as long as they are settled, know they will remain in that place for that period, and are not uncertain about traveling, they should take the rulings of residents, out of caution and to avoid the scholarly disagreement — for the resident's prayer is certainly valid, and caution in a matter of strong disagreement like this is the more pious course, as the poet said: "And the most pious is he who departs from disagreement, even if weak, and takes the safer path."

النص العربي الأصلي