may shorten his prayers. If, however, it is held that no fixed distance applies, and that what matters is whether the journey constitutes travel, then whoever undertakes what is called travel may shorten his prayers; otherwise, he may not. A man may ride out a parasang to investigate some matter, covering several miles and returning within an hour or two, without being considered a traveller. Another person covering the same distance may be considered a traveller because he journeys by camel or on foot in such a way that he does not return to his starting point that day. There are several lines of evidence for this.

First, authentic reports, accepted by agreement among hadith scholars, establish that during the Farewell Pilgrimage the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, shortened his prayers at Arafah, Muzdalifah and during the days at Minā. Abū Bakr and Umar did likewise after him. The people of Mecca prayed behind them, and they did not instruct them to complete their prayers in full. No one has transmitted, through either a sound or a weak chain, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace—when he led the Muslims at Batn Uranah in two units of the Zuhr prayer followed by two units of the Asr prayer, shortening and combining them—said to the people of Mecca, “People of Mecca, complete your prayers in full.” Nor did he instruct them to delay the Asr prayer.

Nor has anyone reported that any of the pilgrims, whether from Mecca or elsewhere, prayed behind the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, differently from the way he led the Muslim congregation as a whole. Whoever reports that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, or Umar said on that day, “People of Mecca, complete your prayers in full, for we are travellers,” has erred. What has been reported is only that