or perhaps they shared the view of those who regarded shortening the prayer as a concession for the hardship of travel. They considered that, now that they had become more prosperous, they no longer experienced the hardship formerly borne by those who prayed four rakʿahs. This is comparable to what is reported from ʿUthmān concerning his prohibition of mutʿah—here meaning the conversion of Hajj into ʿumrah: it had been permitted because they needed it at that time, but that need had ceased.