Al-Muwaffaq said: Shortening the prayer is preferable to completing it, according to the majority of scholars.

Scholarly disagreement:
The jurists have differed over the ruling on shortening: is it a binding obligation (ʿazīmah) or merely a concession (rukhsah)?

The three imams—Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, and Aḥmad—maintain that shortening is recommended. They cite Allah’s words, “There is no blame on you for shortening the prayer when you travel through the land” (al-Nisāʾ 4:101). The negation of blame shows that this is a concession, not an obligation, and that the original rule is to perform the prayer in full.

Abū Ḥanīfah held that shortening is obligatory, a view championed by Ibn Ḥazm, who said: “The traveler’s prescribed prayer is two rakʿahs, because the Prophet ﷺ never departed from this practice.” They further point to the report in the two Ṣaḥīḥs from ʿĀʾishah: “Prayer was first ordained as two rakʿahs; the travel prayer was left as it was, and the resident prayer was completed.”

The majority respond to this ḥadith with several answers, the best of which is that these words are ʿĀʾishah’s own statement and are not traced back to the Prophet ﷺ.

The compiler remarks: It is better for the traveler not to abandon shortening—both in following the Prophet ﷺ, in avoiding the disagreement of those who deem it obligatory on strong grounds, and because shortening is unanimously acknowledged to be the superior option.