As for the report of Jabir, it was transmitted by Imam Ahmad and by Abu Dawud, and Ibn Hazm declared it authentic. Al-Nawawi said: “Its chain of transmission is sound and meets the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim.”
Glossary of the ḥadith:
– Tabuk—pronounced with a fatḥah on the tāʾ, then a ḍamma, followed by a silent wāw and ending with a kāf—is situated near the northern border of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, about 680 kilometers from Madinah, linked by a paved highway that connects the Kingdom to Jordan. Today it is a large city with government offices, diverse public facilities, thriving markets, and fertile farms, making it an important region in Saudi Arabia. The Prophet’s expedition to Tabuk occurred in the ninth year after the Hijrah, and he did not engage in battle there.
Points derived from the ḥadiths (351, 352, 353):
1 – Ḥadith (351) indicates the recommendation of shortening the four-rakʿah prayers while traveling to two rakʿahs, and that this is the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.
2 – It shows that even if a traveler passes through a town in which he once married, he is still regarded as a traveler. This opposes the well-known view in the Hanbali school, which states that a traveler passing through a town where he had taken a wife must pray in full.
3 – It shows that the concessions of travel begin as soon as one leaves one’s hometown, even if one has not yet covered a mile.
4 – It shows that the traveler continues to shorten his prayers until he returns and actually enters his town.
5 – It shows as well that he may avail himself of these concessions even when not actively traveling; the Prophet ﷺ stayed ten days and still shortened his prayers, for strenuous movement is not a legally significant condition upon which the rulings of travel depend.
6 – Ḥadith (352) indicates that the period of residence is not capped at four days; one may shorten the prayer and enjoy the concessions even when remaining nineteen days. This differs from the well-known Hanbali view that if one intends to stay more than four days one must pray in full and may not shorten.
7 – There is no contradiction in the differing numbers reported, for each narrator conveyed