Al-Shāfi‘ī said (1): If a traveller’s obligatory prayer consisted of two units, neither ‘Uthmān, nor ‘Ā’isha, nor Ibn Mas‘ūd would have prayed it in full (2), and it would not be permissible for a traveller to pray it in full with a resident. ‘Ā’isha said: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, did both: he prayed in full while travelling, and he shortened his prayers.”
He then narrated from Ibrāhīm ibn Muhammad, from Talha ibn ‘Amr, from ‘Atā’ ibn Abī Rabāh, from ‘Ā’isha, who said: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, did both: he shortened his prayers while travelling, and he prayed them in full” (3).
Al-Bayhaqī said (4): Al-Mughīra ibn Ziyād likewise narrated it from ‘Atā’. The strongest chain of transmission for this report is that conveyed to us by Abū Bakr al-Hārithī, from al-Dāraqutnī, from al-Mahāmilī: Sa‘īd ibn Muhammad ibn Thawāb narrated to us; Abū ‘Āsim narrated to us; ‘Umar (5) ibn Sa‘īd narrated to us, from ‘Atā’, from ‘Ā’isha, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used to shorten his prayers and pray them in full, and to refrain from fasting and to fast. He said (6)