I say: The reason believers worry that their acts of worship might not be accepted is not that they fear Allah will fail to repay them—such a thought contradicts His promise, as in His verse, “As for those who believed and did righteous deeds, He will pay them their reward in full.” In fact, He will even increase it, as He said, “that He may give them their reward in full and add to them out of His bounty,” and Allah never breaks His promise, as He affirms in His Book. Rather, the point is that acceptance hinges on performing the act exactly as Allah has commanded, and they cannot be sure they have met His intent; they assume they have fallen short, and therefore they fear rejection. Let the believer ponder this, hoping it will make him more eager to perfect his worship and to carry it out as Allah has ordered—through sincerity to Him alone and by following His Prophet ﷺ in the Prophet’s practice. This is the meaning of Allah’s words: “So whoever hopes to meet his Lord, let him do righteous work and not associate anyone in the worship of his Lord” (18:110).

163 – “Whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ set out on a journey of three miles—or, Shuʿbah was uncertain, three parasangs—he would shorten the prayer. (In another wording:) he would pray two rakʿahs.”

It was reported by Imām Aḥmad (3/129) and al-Bayhaqī (3/146, and the wording is his) through Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar who said: Shuʿbah narrated to us from Yaḥyā ibn