Shortened prayer by a traveller – Continuing from previous issue

Soon we will be entering the Holy Month of Ramadhan, it is felt that it would be useful to cover the eight conditions identifies by all Marajai. The following are some Istiftaat and Fatawa relating to the second condition for the shortening of one’s prayer during one’s travels. The second condition is, “The intent to travel the distance should exist from the time of departure. Hence if one does not intend to cover the distance, or intends a shorter one and then intends to travel to another place after reaching his destination, whose distance from the first destination is less than the shar‘ī distance, but more than the shar‘ī distance from his home, one will not pray shortened.”

Imam Khamenei

Q 1: A traveler intends to travel to a place at three shar‘ī farsakhs, but his intention, at the beginning, is to travel a shar‘ī farsakh along a side road to accomplish some business and then return to the main road to continue his journey. What rule applies to the prayers and fasting of this traveller?

A: The traveller’s rule applies to him. It is sufficient, in order to complete the shar‘ī distance, to add what he covered [along the side road] from the time he departed the main road to the time he returned to it.

Q 2: A person travels from the place where he lives to another place within the shar‘ī distance and several times a week goes from the second place to other places so that the total distance exceeds eight shar‘ī farsakhs, what is his duty?

A: If he does not intend to travel the shar‘ī distance when leaving his home, and the distance between his first destination and the subsequent ones is not equal to the shar‘ī distance, the traveller’s rule would not apply to him.

Q 3: If one leaves his town heading towards a certain place, and on getting there goes around here and there, would his going around be added to the distance which he has travelled from his home?

A: Going about within the place of destination is not counted as part of the distance covered.

Q 4: Someone travels to visit the shrine of Imam Riḍā (a.). Despite knowing that he will stay there for less than ten days, he makes intention to stay for ten days in order to perform his prayer in full. What rule applies to him?

A: If he knows that he will not stay for ten days, it does not make sense to make an intention to stay for ten days, this intention would be of no effect, and he should shorten the prayers there.

Ayatollah Sistani

Ruling 1. With regard to someone who does not know how many farsakhs his journey is – for example, he travels to find a lost person and does not know how far he must go before he finds him – he must perform tamām prayers. However, on the return journey, in the event that the distance to his hometown or to a place where he intends to stay for ten days is eight or more farsakhs, he must perform qaṣr prayers. Similarly, if during his journey he makes an intention to travel a distance that together with the return journey totals eight farsakhs, he must perform qaṣr prayers.

Ruling 2. A traveller must perform qaṣr prayers when he has decided to travel eight farsakhs. Therefore, if someone goes out of his town and, for example, his intention is that if he finds a friend he will travel for eight farsakhs, then in the event that he is confident that he will find a friend, he must perform qaṣr prayers; and if he is not confident about this, he must perform tamām prayers.

Ruling 3. If someone who has the intention of travelling eight farsakhs covers even a short distance every day, when he reaches the permitted limit (ḥadd al‑tarakhkhuṣ), he must perform qaṣr prayers. However, if he covers a very short distance every day, the obligatory precaution is that he must perform both qaṣr and tamām prayers.

Ruling 4. With regard to someone who is travelling under the authority of someone else, if he knows or supposes that he will become separated from the other person before reaching four farsakhs and that he will not travel any further, he must perform tamām prayers.

Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi

Issue 1- A person, who is in search of something and does not know how much he should travel to find it out, should offer complete prayers. However, if the return journey to his hometown, or his place of abode is 8 farsakh or more, he should shorten his prayers.

Issue No. 2- A person who intends to travel 8 farsakh, should pray shortened prayers even if he covers little distance every day, but it should be to the extent that he can be considered as a traveller.

Issue No. 3- If a person who is under the control of another person while going on a journey (e.g. a son who is travelling with his father), knows that his father’s journey is 8 farsakh, he should offer shortened prayers. Also, if a person (e.g. a prisoner) is taken away by force and he knows that the distance is 8 farsakh or more, he should offer shortened prayers, unless he reasonably considers it probable or thinks that he will get separated from them and return before reaching 4 farsakh, he should offer complete prayers.