The rational purport runs counter to that view, while treating it as a mere concession is challenged by the transmitted wording; therefore it must be regarded either as a mandatory act in which one is given a choice, or as a Sunnah. This, in their eyes, is one way of harmonizing the evidence. They further excused themselves regarding ʿĀʾishah’s ḥadīth by citing the well-known report that she herself completed the prayer. ʿAṭāʾ even transmitted from her that “the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—would at times perform the full prayer while traveling and at times shorten it; he would fast and he would break the fast; he would postpone the Noon prayer and bring the Afternoon forward, postpone the Sunset prayer and bring the Night prayer forward.”

Also invoked against the claim is the report of Anas, and that of Abū Najīḥ al-Makkī, who said: “I accompanied the Companions of Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him—and some of them completed the prayer while others shortened it; some fasted and others broke their fast, yet neither group faulted the other.” It is likewise undisputed that both ʿUthmān and ʿĀʾishah completed the prayer. Such, then, is their disagreement on the first point.

Their difference on the second point—the distance at which shortening becomes permissible—is likewise substantial. Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, Aḥmad, and many others held that one may shorten after covering four barīd, roughly a day’s journey at an average pace. Abū Ḥanīfah, his associates, and the Kūfan jurists maintained that the minimum is a three-day journey, and that shortening is only for one who travels from one horizon to another. The Ẓāhirīs, by contrast, declared that shortening is allowed on every journey, whether short or long.

The cause of their disagreement is the clash between the rational meaning and the literal wording. The rational consideration is that travel permits shortening because of the hardship inherent in it, just as it affects the ruling on fasting; accordingly, wherever hardship is present, shortening should be allowed. Those who attend solely to the wording reply that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said: “Allah has relieved the traveler of fasting and of half the prayer.” Hence, anyone who falls under the term “traveler” may both shorten the prayer and break the fast. They reinforced this with the report Muslim transmits from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb that “the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—used to shorten the prayer at a distance of about seventeen miles.” A further group advanced a fifth view, as we have mentioned, namely that