Shortening of prayers during the Journey If a person sets out with the intention of visiting a place about 36 miles away from his home town, he will be considered to be on a journey.

The Shariah has allowed the traveller to shorten his prayer while on journey, and to offer only two rak’ahs of Fard at a prayer time where one has normally to offer four rak’ahs. The Qur’an says : “When you go on a journey, there is no harm if you shorten $alat”. (4:101).

The Prophet (Pbuh) has said : “This is a favour of Allah to you, so you should accept His favour gratefully”. (Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmizi)

Injunction concerning Shortening of Prayer

After a person has left his habitation with the intention of proceeding on a journey, he should shorten his prayer, otherwise he would be committing a sin. (‘Ilm al-Fiqh, Vol. II, p. 130, Durr al-Mukhtar, etc.)

Hazarath Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (RA) says : “I have travelled in company with the holy Prophet, Abu Bakr (RA), Umar (RA) and Uthman (RA) and have never seen them offering more than two rak’ahs of Fard during the journey”. (Bukhari, Muslim)

It should be borne in mind that shortening is, allowed only in those prayers where one has normally to offer four rak’ahs of Fard, viz. Zuhr, Asr and Isha Prayers; in the Fajr and Maghrib Prayers, no shortening is allowed, and one has to offer two and three rak’ahs of Fard respectively.

Injunction about Sunnat and Nafl Prayer

The Sunnat rak’ahs of the Fajr prayer should not be abandoned and, as far as possible, one should also offer the Sunnat rak’ahs of Maghrib, but as for the Sunnat rak’ahs of the other prayers, one has complete option. One should offer only Fard rak’ahs, when one is actually travelling, but when one has halted at a place during the journey, one may offer the Sunnat rak’ahs as well (Durr al-Mukhtar). The Witr Prayer, however, being wajib must be offered in full. No shortening is allowed in the Sunnat or Nafl rak’ahs during the journey. If a person chooses to offer them, he has to offer them in full.

Mileage of the Journey

If a person sets out with the intention of visiting a place about 36 miles away from his home town, he will be considered to be on a journey. This distance can be covered in three days by a person who walks a normal gait and travels from morning till the sun begins to decline. It does not matter whether a person covers this distance on foot in three days or reaches his destination by a fast mode of conveyance in a few hours, he must shorten his prayer during the journey.

Maulana Abul A’ala Maududi has elucidated this point in response to a questioner who asked: “What is the distance of a journey in terms of mileage during which a traveller has to shorten his prayer”? The Maulana wrote:

“The jurists have expressed different opinions on this point. According to them, the distance varies between 9 and 48 miles, the reason being that in this regard nothing clear and conclusive has been reported from the holy Prophet (Pbuh). In the absence of a clear injunction, opinion is liable to differ, especially when there is room for a difference of opinion. I am of the view that there is no definite mileage beyond which the Law-giver intends to allow the concession of shortening the prayer, but the question has been left to be determined by common sense. Every person knows when he is on a journey and when he is not. Obviously, when a person goes out of the town on a recreational trip, or a villager goes to the city for shopping, he has no feeling of being on a journey. On the other hand, when a person is really on a journey, he feels the rigours of it, one may shorten one’s prayer in such a state. But one must know that in Shari’ah matters, the judgment of only that person would be reliable, who intends to follow and practise the Shari’ah injunctions sincerely, and not of him who has no such intention”. (Basa’il-o-Masa’il, Vol. I, pp. 173-174).

When to Shorten the Prayer ?

After one has set out on a journey, one should continue offering the prayer in full as long as one is inside the habitation, but as soon as one has crossed the outer-most limits of the habitation, one may start shortening the prayer.

The Period of Qasr

The traveller is allowed to continue shortening the prayer till he returns home. However, if during the journey, he makes| up his mind to halt at a place for 15 days or more, he will be regarded as if at home, and will have to offer full prayers no matter whether he has to cut short his stay later due to some reason. On the other hand, if he has the intention of staying for less than 15 days at a place, he will shorten his prayers as if on a journey and will continue doing so even if he had to prolong his stay for months and has to postpone his departure due to unforeseen circumstances provided that he intends to stay for less than 15 days each time.