Talhah, from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “Places of refuge” means a place to which one may relocate. Mujahid said: It means moving away from what one dislikes. Abu Ubaydah said: A place of refuge is so called because one says, “I defied my people and emigrated away from them.” It denotes a place of movement and departure.

It is related that, when this verse was revealed, a man from the tribe of Layth, an elderly and ill man named Junda' ibn Damrah, heard it and said, “By Allah, I shall not spend this night in Mecca. Take me out.” So they carried him out on a bier until they reached al-Tan'im, where death overtook him. He struck his right hand upon his left and said, “O Allah, this is for You, and this is for Your Messenger. I pledge allegiance to You upon the same terms on which Your Messenger pledged allegiance to You.” He then died. When news of him reached the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, they said, “Had he reached Medina, his reward would have been more complete and fuller.” The idolaters laughed and said, “94/b This man has not attained what he sought.” So Allah revealed: “And whoever leaves his home, emigrating to Allah and His Messenger, and is then overtaken by death” (1)—that is, before reaching his destination of emigration—“his reward has become incumbent upon Allah,” through Allah’s making it incumbent upon Himself as a grace from Him. “And Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

“When you travel throughout the land, there is no blame upon you if you shorten your prayers, if you fear that the disbelievers may harm you. Indeed, the disbelievers are your sworn enemies.” (101)

His saying, Exalted is He, “When you travel throughout the land,” means: when you journey. “There is no blame upon you”: that is, no hardship or sin, “if you shorten your prayers”—meaning, from four rak'ahs to two. This applies to the noon, afternoon, and night prayers. “If you fear that the disbelievers may harm you”: that is, ambush and kill you during the prayer. Similar to this is His saying, Exalted is He: “Fearing Pharaoh and their chiefs, lest he persecute them” (Jonah 10:83)—that is, kill them.

“Indeed, the disbelievers are your sworn enemies”: that is, their hostility is manifest.

Know that shortening the prayer while travelling is permissible by the consensus of the Muslim community. They differed, however, over the permissibility of offering the prayer in full. Most of them held that shortening it is obligatory. This was the view of Umar, Ali, Ibn Umar, Jabir, and Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them; it was also held by al-Hasan, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, and Qatadah, and it is the view of Malik and the proponents of legal reasoning. Their evidence is what is related from Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, that she said: “Prayer was initially prescribed as two rak'ahs; then the prayer of travel was retained as it was, while the prayer of residence was completed.” (2)

Another group held that offering the prayer in full is permissible. This is related from Uthman and Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, may Allah be pleased with them, and it was the view of al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him: one may offer it in full if one wishes, or shorten it if one wishes, though shortening is better.