for four days, shortening the prayer.(1) From this we infer that if a traveller intends to remain for four days, he may shorten the prayer, following the Prophet’s ﷺ practice. We know with absolute certainty that the Messenger ﷺ had resolved to remain for those four days, since he had come for the pilgrimage and could not possibly depart before it.

If someone were to ask: “Did the Prophet’s ﷺ stay during those four days occur by coincidence or by deliberate arrangement?”

The answer is that it undoubtedly occurred by coincidence; that is, his journey ﷺ happened to coincide with arriving on the fourth day of Dhu al-Hijjah. For there is no report that he specified a particular day for his arrival such that we could say that this arrival was intentional. Rather, it occurred as it ordinarily does for a traveller: he may arrive one day before the pilgrimage, or less or more than that, as is customary.

If someone were to ask: “Could we not say that, even if he remained five days or more, he may shorten the prayer, since you maintain that this occurred by coincidence rather than by deliberate arrangement?”

We reply: the basic rule is that a traveller’s stay in any place terminates his state of travel, for it is normally understood that a traveller continues on his way and does not stop except in the forenoon or evening. As for staying longer than that, this is contrary to the basic rule. Thus, the basic rule is that when a traveller remains in a town or in a place outside a town, his stay terminates his state of travel. However, an exception was allowed for four days because the Prophet ﷺ remained for that period and shortened the prayer. What exceeds this remains subject to the basic rule: the prohibition of availing oneself of the concessions granted to travellers.