—as is well known and widely recorded in the books of ḥadīth and sīrah. The distance between Mecca and Minā is one parasang, as stated in Muʿjam al-Buldan.

Jabalah ibn Suhaym said, “I heard Ibn ʿUmar say, ‘Were I to set out for only a mile, I would shorten the prayer.’” Al-Ḥāfiẓ mentioned this report and authenticated it.

This does not conflict with what is found in al-Muwaṭṭaʾ and other works with sound chains from Ibn ʿUmar indicating that he shortened the prayer over a distance greater than what has just been cited, for that was merely his practice; it does not negate shortening at a shorter distance were he to travel only that far. The texts we have quoted are explicit in permitting the shortening at a lesser distance, and they may not be dismissed—especially since the ḥadīth itself indicates an even shorter span.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ said in Fatḥ al-Bārī (2/467–468):
“It is the most authentic and the clearest ḥadīth that has been transmitted on this subject. Those who opposed it construed it to refer to the distance at which shortening begins, not to the total length of the journey—but such an interpretation is plainly far-fetched. Al-Bayhaqī, moreover, narrated it from this very route adding that Yaḥyā ibn Yazīd said: ‘I asked Anas about shortening the prayer, and I used to travel to Kūfa—meaning from Baṣra—and would pray two rakʿahs until I returned.’ Anas then mentioned the ḥadīth. It is therefore evident that he was inquiring about the permissibility of shortening during travel, not about the point at which shortening commences. The correct view is that the matter is not tied to a specific mileage but to one’s having passed beyond the boundary of the town from which one departs.

Al-Qurṭubī rejected the report, claiming it is doubtful and hence not a valid proof. If by this he means that it cannot be used as evidence for setting the limit at three miles, that may be conceded; yet nothing prevents citing it for the limit of three parasangs, for three miles are encompassed within three parasangs, and adopting the larger measure is a safer course.”

Ibn Abī Shaybah also narrated, through Ḥātim ibn Ismāʿīl from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Harmalah, who said: “I asked Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, ‘May I shorten the prayer and break the fast at a barīd (approximately twelve miles) from Medina?’ He answered, ‘Yes. And Allah knows best.’”

I say: The chain of this report in Ibn Abī Shaybah (2/15/1) is authentic.