is a concession, not an obligation from Allah to shorten the prayer. That a traveller may shorten his prayers while travelling without fear, if he wishes, is indicated by ‘Ā’ishah’s statement:

“The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, did both: he prayed in full while travelling and shortened his prayers.”

I say: Al-Dāraqutnī and others narrated this hadith through Abū ‘Āsim, who said: ‘Umar ibn Sa‘īd narrated to us, from ‘Atā’ ibn Abī Rabāh, from ‘Ā’ishah:

“The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would shorten his prayers while travelling and pray them in full, refrain from fasting and fast.”

Al-Dāraqutnī said: This chain of transmission is authentic.

Al-Bayhaqī said: There are corroborating reports for this through Dalham ibn Sālih, al-Mughīrah ibn Ziyād, and Talhah ibn ‘Umar, all of whom are weak narrators.

He narrated Dalham’s report through ‘Ubayd Allāh ibn Mūsā, who said: Dalham ibn Sālih al-Kindī narrated to us, from ‘Atā’, from ‘Ā’ishah, who said:

“When we set out for Mecca, we would pray four rak‘ahs with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, until we returned.”

He also narrated al-Mughīrah’s report—the best known of these—from ‘Atā’, from ‘Ā’ishah:

“The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would shorten his prayers while travelling and pray them in full.”

He narrated Talhah ibn ‘Umar’s report from ‘Atā’, from ‘Ā’ishah, who said:

“The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, did all of these: he prayed in full and shortened his prayers, and he fasted while travelling and refrained from fasting.”

Al-Bayhaqī said: ‘Umar ibn Dharr, a reliable Kufan narrator, said: ‘Atā’ ibn Abī Rabāh informed us that ‘Ā’ishah used to pray the obligatory prayers as four rak‘ahs while travelling. He narrated this with his chain of transmission, then said: “This appears to agree with Dalham ibn Sālih’s report, although