for a reason such as easier terrain or greater security, he may shorten; otherwise, according to the sounder opinion, he may not.

If a slave, a wife, or a soldier accompanies the one who commands him or her on a journey without knowing the destination, no shortening is allowed. Should they all intend to travel the legal distance for shortening, only the soldier may shorten, while the slave and the wife may not.

Anyone who set out intending a long journey and then decided to turn back ceases to be a traveller at that moment; if he sets out again, it counts as a new journey.

A person travelling for a sinful purpose—such as a runaway slave or a recalcitrant wife—may not make use of the traveller’s concessions. If he began the journey for a lawful purpose and then turned it into disobedience, the concessions lapse, according to the stronger view. Conversely, if he began for a sinful purpose and then repented, the concessions apply from the moment of his repentance.

If a traveller joins a resident imam’s prayer even for an instant, he must complete the prayer in full. Should a travelling imam suffer a nosebleed and appoint a resident to finish the prayer, the congregation must complete; the same applies if the imam himself resumes the prayer and someone follows him.

Once the follower is obliged to complete, if his own prayer or that of his imam becomes invalid, or he discovers that the imam lacked ablution, he must still complete.

If he prays behind someone he presumed to be a traveller but who turns out to be a resident, or whose traveller status was unknown, he must complete. If he knows the imam is a traveller yet doubts the imam’s intention, he shortens. When unsure and he says, “If the imam shortens, I will shorten; otherwise I will complete,” then—on the sound view—he shortens.

Shortening requires that one intend it at the opening takbīr and that one continuously refrain from anything that contradicts that intention. If he enters the prayer intending to shorten and then becomes uncertain—whether about shortening or completing, or about whether he actually made the intention—or if his imam rises for a third rakʿah and he is unsure whether the imam is completing or merely forgetful, he must complete.

If a person who intended to shorten deliberately stands for a third rakʿah without legitimate cause, his prayer is invalid. If he does so out of forgetfulness, he should sit back, perform the prostration of forgetfulness, and give salām. Should he then wish to complete the prayer in full, he sits back first and then rises intending completion.

Still being a traveller is also a condition for combining prayers; therefore, if during the combined prayer he resolves to reside, or if his ship reaches his home port, he must complete.

According to the well-known view, shortening is preferable to completing once he has covered three stages. Fasting is better than breaking the fast provided it causes him no harm.

Section

It is permissible on a long journey—and, according to one opinion, on a short one as well—to combine Zuhr with ʿAsr and Maghrib with ʿIshāʾ, either by advancing or delaying. If he is on the move at the time of the first prayer, delaying is preferable; otherwise, bringing it forward is preferable.