(101, 102) “When you travel throughout the land, there is no blame upon you if you shorten part of the prayer, provided you fear that those who disbelieve may attack you. Indeed, the disbelievers are your manifest enemies.”
These two verses form the basis for the dispensation of shortening the prayer and for the prayer of fear. Allah Most High says, “When you travel throughout the land,” meaning when you are on a journey. The apparent sense of the verse [is that it] permits taking dispensations (1) on any journey, even a journey undertaken for a sinful purpose. This is the position of Abū Hanīfa, may Allah have mercy on him. The majority, including the other three imams, disagreed and did not permit taking dispensations (2) on a sinful journey. They restricted the verse in light of its meaning and the appropriateness of the ruling: the dispensation is an ease granted by Allah to His servants, allowing them to shorten their prayers and break their fast when they travel, whereas the state of someone sinning through his journey is not suited to such alleviation.
His words, “there is no blame upon you if you shorten part of the prayer,” mean that there is no difficulty or sin upon you in doing so. This does not conflict with shortening being preferable, for the denial of blame dispels a misconception found in many people’s minds. Indeed, it does not even conflict with shortening being obligatory, as was explained previously in Surah al-Baqara concerning His words, “Indeed, al-Safā and al-Marwa are among the symbols of Allah,” to the end of the verse.
The need to dispel this misconception here is evident, because it was firmly established among the Muslims that the prayer was obligatory in its complete form, and nothing would remove this impression from most of their minds except an explicit statement to the contrary.
Two matters indicate that shortening the prayer is preferable to completing it in full:
The first is that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, consistently shortened the prayer on all his journeys.
The second is that this belongs to the ease, dispensation, and mercy granted to Allah’s servants. Allah Most High loves His dispensations to be accepted, just as He hates disobedience to Him to be committed.
His wording, “if you shorten part of the prayer,” rather than simply saying, “if you shorten the prayer,” conveys two benefits:
The first is that, had He said, “if you shorten the prayer,” the extent of the shortening would not have been defined by any limit. It might then be imagined that reducing most of the prayer and making it a single unit would suffice. His wording, “part of the prayer,” therefore indicates that the shortening is defined and regulated, with reference being made to the established practice of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and his Companions.
The second is that the expression “part of” conveys partiality, making it known that only some of the obligatory prayers are shortened, not all of them. The dawn and sunset prayers are not shortened; only the four-unit prayers are shortened from four units to two.
Once it is established that shortening the prayer while traveling is a dispensation, you should know that the Quranic commentators differed concerning the qualification in His words, “provided you fear that those who disbelieve may attack you.” Its apparent sense indicates that shortening is permissible only when both conditions are present: travel together with fear.
Their disagreement ultimately comes down to whether His words, “if you shorten,” refer only to shortening the number of units or to shortening both the number and the form of the prayer. The difficulty arises only according to the first interpretation.
This matter was unclear to the Commander of the Faithful, Umar ibn al-Khattāb, may Allah be pleased with him, until he asked the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, about it. He said, “Messenger of Allah, why should we shorten the prayer now that we are safe, when Allah says, ‘provided you fear that those who disbelieve may attack you’?” The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, replied, “It is a charity that Allah has bestowed upon you, so accept His charity”—or words to that effect.
According to this interpretation, the qualification was mentioned in view of the circumstances that generally prevailed for the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and his Companions, for most of his journeys were journeys of jihad.
It also serves another purpose: to explain the wisdom and benefit behind the prescription of the dispensation to shorten the prayer. In this verse, Allah described the greatest conceivable hardship suited to such a dispensation—namely, the combination of travel and fear. This does not imply that the prayer may not be shortened when there is travel alone, since travel itself is likely to involve hardship.
According to the second interpretation—that shortening refers to shortening both the number and the form of the prayer—the qualification retains its ordinary force. When both travel and fear are present, it is permissible to shorten the prayer in both number and form. When travel alone is present, it is permissible to ⦗198⦘ shorten only the number; and when fear alone is present, it is permissible to shorten only the form. That is why He follows this with the description of the prayer of fear in His words: