and they permit combining prayers for a traveller pressing on with his journey, for someone who is ill, and during rain. Their position on prayer during travel is moderate. Some jurists consider performing the prayers in full preferable to shortening them; others prefer shortening them but do not regard performing them in full as disliked—indeed, they regard it as the more evident ruling—and hold that a person may shorten them only if he intends to do so. Other jurists regard performing them in full as impermissible. They, however, hold that shortening the prayers is the Sunnah and that performing four rak‘ahs (units of prayer) is disliked. They regard shortening as an established Sunnah and combining as a concession for particular circumstances. Undoubtedly, this position accords most closely with the Sunnah.

Likewise, concerning “regular Sunnah prayers,” they hold that witr consists of a single rak‘ah, even if preceded by an even number of rak‘ahs. This is sounder than the position of the Kufans, who say: “Witr must be like the sunset prayer.” Although permitting both forms is sounder, separating the final rak‘ah from those preceding it is preferable to joining them. Their position is therefore stronger than that of the Kufans in all cases.

They do not recognize a regular Sunnah prayer before the Friday prayer, unlike those Kufans who disagree with them. Mālik does not lay down fixed prescriptions for prayers accompanying the obligatory prayers, whereas some Iraqi scholars have specified particular practices on the basis of weak hadiths. Mālik’s position is therefore closer to the Sunnah.

The people of Medina hold that pilgrims may combine and shorten prayers at ‘Arafah and Muzdalifah, and shorten them