subject to a fixed limit, setting that limit at one barīd would be more appropriate. The correct view, however, is that travel is not defined by a fixed distance; rather, it varies. A person may be a traveller over a distance of one barīd, yet cover a greater distance without being a traveller.

The fourth proof:

Allah has granted the traveller permission not to fast in Ramadan, and the minimum period of not fasting is one day. A person can travel a distance of one barīd and return in a day, and so needs to refrain from fasting in Ramadan and to shorten his prayers. This differs from a shorter distance, over which he may need neither to shorten his prayers nor to refrain from fasting if he sets out early in the day and returns before noon. If his outward journey takes a day and his return journey takes a day, he needs to shorten his prayers and refrain from fasting. This may imply that he may be permitted to shorten his prayers and refrain from fasting over a distance of one barīd, although he may not be permitted to do so over a greater distance if he is not considered a traveller.

The fifth proof:

Setting the distance at three days’ travel is no more justified than setting it at two days, nor are two days more justified than one day. It follows that there must be no fixed limit; rather, whatever is called travel makes [these concessions] lawful (1). The Sunnah has established the shortening of prayers over a distance of one barīd, so we know that some journeys may be only one barīd, and that the shortest distance called travel in the language of the Lawgiver is one barīd. As for distances shorter than one barīd, such as one mile, it is established in the two Sahīh collections “that the Prophet