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Traveler’s Prayer
Issue 103: A traveler must shorten the four-unit prayers (Ẓuhr, ʿAṣr, and ʿIshā) to two units, similar to the Fajr prayer. Shortening the prayer requires meeting eight conditions:
1. The traveler must intend to travel the legal distance, approximately 44 kilometers one way or a total of 44 kilometers round trip or more. The legal distance is calculated from the point beyond which a person is considered a traveler by common standards, usually from the borderline of the city where he lives.
2. The traveler’s intention to travel must be continuous, meaning he should not change his intention midway.
3. The traveler should not intend to stay for ten days at a place, nor remain undecided for thirty days in one place, and should not pass through his hometown or a place of residence since passing through and staying at these places interrupts the travel.
4. The travel should be for a lawful purpose; it should not be for committing a sin.
5. The travel should not be for the purpose of hunting with the object of sport and pleasure.
6. The traveler should not be among those who have their homes with them, such as nomads.
7. The traveler should not be someone who travels frequently, either due to the nature of his job (like drivers or sailors) or because his workplace is in another city and he commutes daily.
8. The traveler must reach the point of tarakhkhuṣ (a distance from the city where the inhabitants of the city and its adjacent residential areas are no longer visible). (1)
Issue 104: If the travel meets the aforementioned conditions, the traveler is required to shorten his prayer unless one of the following occurs:
1. Passing through or staying in his hometown or place of residence.
2. Intending to stay for ten days in a specific city.
3. Remaining undecided in a specific city for thirty days without intending to stay.
In such cases, the traveler’s duty changes from shortened prayers to full prayers unless he starts a new journey.
Issue 105: The term "hometown or place of residence" refers to one of the following:
1. The original hometown, typically the place where the person was born and to which he is commonly associated.
2. A place a person has decided to permanently reside and spend the rest of his life.
3. A place where a person stays for an extended period such that he is no longer considered a traveler, like someone staying in another city for work or study for a year and a half or more.
Issue 106: If a traveler intends to stay in a city for ten days and changes his mind before performing a single four-unit prayer, he must shorten his prayers. However, if he changes his mind after performing one four-unit prayer, he must continue performing full prayers as long as he is in that city.
Issue 107: If someone required to shorten his prayer performs it fully, several scenarios arise the most important of which are the following:
1. If this was due to ignorance of shortening prayers for travelers or ignorance of the obligation of shortening prayers on him, his prayer is valid.
2. If this was due to ignorance of a specific rule, like not knowing that the outward and return distances when combined causes the prayer to be shortened, he should, as an obligatory precaution, repeat the prayer if he finds out during the prayer time. If he finds out after the prayer time, he is not required to make it up.
3. If this was due to forgetting he was a traveler or forgetting that travelers must shorten their prayers, he should repeat the prayer if he finds out during the prayer time. If he finds out after the prayer time, he is not required to make it up.
Issue 108: If someone, who is required to perform full prayers, shortens them, his prayer is invalid, and he must repeat it or make it up. However, if a traveler intending to stay for ten days shortens his prayer due to ignorance of the rule that he must perform full prayers, he should, as an obligatory precaution, repeat the prayer upon learning the correct ruling.
Issue 109: If someone is not a traveler at the beginning of the prayer time and then travels before performing the prayer, he should, as an obligatory precaution, perform the prayer in a shortened form during the journey. If he were a traveler at the beginning of the prayer time but does not perform the prayer until he returns to his hometown or a place where he intends to stay for ten days, he should, as a precaution, perform the prayer in full. Hence, the rule for shortening or performing the prayer in full depends on the time of performing the prayer, not the time it becomes obligatory.
Issue 110: A traveler is allowed to choose between performing his prayer in full or shortening it in four places, such as the holy city of Mecca, the holy city of Medina, the city of Kūfa (including the Mosque of Sahla), and the tomb of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) within approximately eleven and a half meters from the holy grave.
1. The traveler must intend to travel the legal distance, approximately 44 kilometers one way or a total of 44 kilometers round trip or more. The legal distance is calculated from the point beyond which a person is considered a traveler by common standards, usually from the borderline of the city where he lives.
2. The traveler’s intention to travel must be continuous, meaning he should not change his intention midway.
3. The traveler should not intend to stay for ten days at a place, nor remain undecided for thirty days in one place, and should not pass through his hometown or a place of residence since passing through and staying at these places interrupts the travel.
4. The travel should be for a lawful purpose; it should not be for committing a sin.
5. The travel should not be for the purpose of hunting with the object of sport and pleasure.
6. The traveler should not be among those who have their homes with them, such as nomads.
7. The traveler should not be someone who travels frequently, either due to the nature of his job (like drivers or sailors) or because his workplace is in another city and he commutes daily.
8. The traveler must reach the point of tarakhkhuṣ (a distance from the city where the inhabitants of the city and its adjacent residential areas are no longer visible). (1)
Issue 104: If the travel meets the aforementioned conditions, the traveler is required to shorten his prayer unless one of the following occurs:
1. Passing through or staying in his hometown or place of residence.
2. Intending to stay for ten days in a specific city.
3. Remaining undecided in a specific city for thirty days without intending to stay.
In such cases, the traveler’s duty changes from shortened prayers to full prayers unless he starts a new journey.
Issue 105: The term "hometown or place of residence" refers to one of the following:
1. The original hometown, typically the place where the person was born and to which he is commonly associated.
2. A place a person has decided to permanently reside and spend the rest of his life.
3. A place where a person stays for an extended period such that he is no longer considered a traveler, like someone staying in another city for work or study for a year and a half or more.
Issue 106: If a traveler intends to stay in a city for ten days and changes his mind before performing a single four-unit prayer, he must shorten his prayers. However, if he changes his mind after performing one four-unit prayer, he must continue performing full prayers as long as he is in that city.
Issue 107: If someone required to shorten his prayer performs it fully, several scenarios arise the most important of which are the following:
1. If this was due to ignorance of shortening prayers for travelers or ignorance of the obligation of shortening prayers on him, his prayer is valid.
2. If this was due to ignorance of a specific rule, like not knowing that the outward and return distances when combined causes the prayer to be shortened, he should, as an obligatory precaution, repeat the prayer if he finds out during the prayer time. If he finds out after the prayer time, he is not required to make it up.
3. If this was due to forgetting he was a traveler or forgetting that travelers must shorten their prayers, he should repeat the prayer if he finds out during the prayer time. If he finds out after the prayer time, he is not required to make it up.
Issue 108: If someone, who is required to perform full prayers, shortens them, his prayer is invalid, and he must repeat it or make it up. However, if a traveler intending to stay for ten days shortens his prayer due to ignorance of the rule that he must perform full prayers, he should, as an obligatory precaution, repeat the prayer upon learning the correct ruling.
Issue 109: If someone is not a traveler at the beginning of the prayer time and then travels before performing the prayer, he should, as an obligatory precaution, perform the prayer in a shortened form during the journey. If he were a traveler at the beginning of the prayer time but does not perform the prayer until he returns to his hometown or a place where he intends to stay for ten days, he should, as a precaution, perform the prayer in full. Hence, the rule for shortening or performing the prayer in full depends on the time of performing the prayer, not the time it becomes obligatory.
Issue 110: A traveler is allowed to choose between performing his prayer in full or shortening it in four places, such as the holy city of Mecca, the holy city of Medina, the city of Kūfa (including the Mosque of Sahla), and the tomb of Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) within approximately eleven and a half meters from the holy grave.
(1) Tarakhkhuṣ is a point beyond which travelling begins. However, if a person is not in his hometown, the rule of tarakhkhuṣ will not apply to him. Just as he travels from his place of residence, his prayers will be shortened.
