—whether what remains ahead of him is still physically connected to the town or only loosely adjoining it. In the same manner he continues to shorten until he reaches that limit; yet if, out of caution, he waits until he actually enters the city and then performs the prayer in its full length during the remaining time, that is, in my opinion, better.
Some have said: A person must not shorten until he is three miles away, provided the locality is one in which the Friday prayer is obligatory; otherwise, he may shorten as soon as he has gone beyond the outskirts.
The traveler is required to intend shortening at the moment he pronounces the opening takbīr. If he begins the prayer with the intention of shortening and, midway through, decides to settle, he must treat that prayer as voluntary—even if the decision occurs after he has already performed a resident’s prayer.
Al-Abhari and Ibn al-Jallāb remarked, “This, and Allah knows best, is a ruling based on preference (istihsān). Yet were he simply to carry on and complete the prayer, it would still discharge his obligation.” I concur, for the result is either a traveler’s Zuhr or a resident’s Zuhr, and the same reasoning applies to all five daily prayers.
Whoever prays behind a resident must complete the prayer in full, and the same holds if he joins the resident for even one rakʿa. Should he intend to remain for four days or more, he must pray in full and no longer has the option of shortening. As long as a traveler does not intend a stay of four days, he continues to shorten—unless he passes by his own family, property, and home. (An intention to stay three days or fewer does not remove a traveler from the legal status of travel.)
If a traveler forgets both Zuhr and ʿAṣr, then reaches his home town the same day while enough daylight remains for five rakʿas, he must pray them both in full as resident prayers. If what remains of the day suffices only for four rakʿas, with everything else unchanged, he prays Zuhr as a travel prayer and ʿAṣr as a resident’s prayer as soon as he remembers. And if he arrives while there still remains of the night before dawn time enough for four