said: “A journey of two days.” It is also established in the Sahīh: “A journey of one day,” and in the Sunan collections: “One barīd (postal stage).” This shows that all these distances constitute travel. His permission for the traveller to wipe over his footwear for three days merely permits this for someone travelling that long; it does not imply that this is the minimum duration of travel. Likewise, his permission for a resident to wipe for a day and a night does not imply that this is the minimum duration of residence.

Those who stipulated two days relied on statements of Ibn Umar and Ibn Abbās. Yet disagreement on this matter is well known among the Companions, with differing statements reported even from Ibn Umar and Ibn Abbās themselves. The report, “People of Mecca, do not shorten your prayers over a distance of less than four barīds, from Mecca to Usfān,” is merely a statement of Ibn Abbās. Its attribution to the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—in the narration of Ibn Khuzaymah and others is unquestionably false according to the leading hadith scholars. How could the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—have addressed the people of Mecca with such a limit, when he stayed there only briefly after his emigration, while in Medina he set no comparable limit for its inhabitants? And why would such a limit be specified for the people of Mecca alone, rather than the rest of the Muslims?

Moreover, setting a limit in miles and parasangs requires knowledge of land measurement, something known only to a select few. Those who cite such measurements merely report them from others, relying on their authority; this is not something established with certainty. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—never measured the land at all. How, then, could the Lawgiver prescribe for his community a limit that had never