farsakhs’ reflects the transmitter’s uncertainty; it is not an option intended by the ḥadīth itself.

5 – Al-Rawḍ and its commentary state: “Once a settled resident leaves the inhabited limits of his village, he shortens the prayer.” This conforms to the view of the three Imams and the vast majority of scholars from the Companions onward, and Ibn al-Mundhir related a consensus on it. Allah has permitted shortening to “whoever strikes out on the earth,” and before one actually departs he has not struck out, nor is he a traveler. Likewise, the Prophet ﷺ used to shorten only after he had set off.

Disagreement among the scholars
The scholars differ over the distance at which the prayer is shortened and the other travel concessions become lawful:

• Abū Ḥanīfah held that the minimum distance is a journey of three days, estimated at three stages for pack-loaded camels; anything less does not qualify.

• The other three Imams held that the minimum is two such stages. This equals four postal routes (barīd); each barīd is four farsakhs, and each farsakh three miles—roughly 77 km. The concessions apply even if one covers that distance in a single hour, whether by car, airplane, or any other means.

• Many leading researchers maintained that no sound, explicit proof fixes a specific distance. The Lawgiver simply allowed the concessions of travel without tying them to a particular duration or mileage; therefore, anything people customarily regard as travel entitles a person to the concessions.

Al-Mughnī says: “The reports are recurrent that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ shortened the prayer on all his journeys—while on ḥajj, ʿumrah, or military campaigns—and he never prayed more than two rakʿahs. The scholars are unanimously agreed that anyone who embarks on a journey on which prayer is shortened may reduce every four-rakʿah prayer to two.”