As for the resident who is not permanently settled, the rulings of travel apply to him in one respect but not in another. Yet Shaykh al-Islam says that this classification has no evidence in either the Quran or the sunnah.
Second: the Shafi‘i school: if he intends to stay for four days or more, he must offer the prayer in full. However, the day of arrival and the day of departure are not counted; accordingly, the period amounts to six days: the day of arrival, the day of departure, and the four days in between.
Third: the school of Abu Hanifah: if he intends to stay for more than fifteen days, he must offer the prayer in full; but if he intends less than that, he may shorten it.
There are also other individual views, such as the view attributed to Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him: if he intends to stay for nineteen days, he may shorten the prayer; if it is more than that, he may not shorten it.
However, if we return to what is entailed by the apparent meaning of the Quran and the sunnah, we find that the view chosen by Shaykh al-Islam, may Allah have mercy on him, is the correct one: namely, that a traveller remains a traveller, whether he intends to stay for more than four days or less.
This is due to the generality of the evidences establishing the concessions of travel for the traveller without specifying any limit. Neither Allah, in His Book, nor His Messenger ﷺ specified a period by which the ruling of travel comes to an end.
- Among the Quranic proofs is the saying of Allah, the Most High:
“When you travel throughout the land, there is no blame upon you for shortening the prayer.” [al-Nisa’ 4:101]
His saying, “When you travel throughout the land,” is general and includes everyone who travels. It is well known that travelling throughout the land