“Prayers may only be shortened for a journey of forty-six ordinary miles.”

Judge Ismā‘īl ibn Ishāq mentioned these reports in his book al-Mabsūt. Mālik held that the people of Mecca specifically could shorten their prayers during Hajj specifically when going to Minā or beyond; Minā is four miles away. Ibn al-Qāsim narrated that Mālik said concerning someone, such as a shepherd or another person, who travelled three miles and, acting on an interpretation, broke his fast in Ramadan: “He is required only to make up the fast, and nothing else.” Al-Shāfi‘ī is reported to have held that prayers may not be shortened for a journey of less than forty-six Hāshimī miles.

The reports from Ibn ‘Umar vary.

Muhammad ibn al-Muthannā narrated: ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Mahdī related to us: Sufyān al-Thawrī related to us: I heard Jabalah ibn Suhaym say: I heard Ibn ‘Umar say: “If I travelled a mile, I would shorten the prayer.”

Ibn Abī Shaybah narrated: Wakī‘ related to us: Mis‘ar related to us, from Muhārib ibn Dithār: I heard Ibn ‘Umar say: “I travel for an hour of the day and shorten”—meaning the prayer. Muhārib, the judge of Kufa, was among the finest of the Successors and one of the leading scholars. Mis‘ar was also one of the leading scholars.

Ibn Abī Shaybah narrated: ‘Alī ibn Mus-hir related to us, from Abū Ishāq al-Shaybānī, from Muhammad ibn Zayd ibn Khulaydah, from Ibn ‘Umar, who said: “The prayer may be shortened for a journey of three miles.”

Ibn Hazm said: “Muhammad ibn Zayd is a man of the tribe of Tayyi’, whom Muhammad ibn Abī Tālib appointed judge in Kufa. He is well known and one of the senior Successors.”

Mālik narrated from Nāfi‘, from Ibn ‘Umar, that he shortened his prayers on a journey to Dhāt al-Nusub.