—peace and blessings be upon him—forbade joining one prayer directly to another without separating them by speaking or standing up.” The Companions used to rebuke anyone who joined the Friday prayer or another prayer directly to a voluntary prayer. How, then, could they permit joining the two rakʿahs offered while travelling directly to a voluntary prayer, if only two rakʿahs were permissible?

Moreover, why must a resident praying behind a traveller pray four rakʿahs, as is established from the Companions and acknowledged by Abū Hanīfah? Furthermore, a resident may pray four rakʿahs behind a traveller who prays two, as was the practice of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and his successors, who would say, “Complete your prayer, for we are travellers.”

This further demonstrates that the traveller’s prayer is of the same kind as the resident’s prayer. The overwhelming majority of scholars have accepted that the one may pray behind the other, just as someone may pray Dhuhr behind someone offering the Friday prayer. This is not like making up a missed Dhuhr prayer behind someone offering Fajr.

As for someone who says that a traveller is obliged to pray four rakʿahs but may omit two by shortening the prayer, his position contradicts the scriptural texts, the consensus of the early generations, and foundational principles. It is also internally inconsistent. A traveller may omit these two rakʿahs without replacing them with an alternative or an equivalent. This contradicts their being obligatory, for it is impossible for something to be obligatory