Traveller’s Prayer

According to the fatwas of the Grand Religious Authorities: Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, Ayatollah Sistani, and Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi (may Allah prolong their blessings):

Fatāwā presented without citing a differing opinion or a specific reference are the common rulings shared by all of the three respected Marāji‘. In cases where the ruling of one Marjaʿ differs from that of the other two, it is indicated in a footnote under the same number, mentioning the Marjaʿ by name.

General ruling on a traveller’s prayer (the basic rule of shortening the daily prayers)

1. Among the obligatory daily prayers, when the conditions for shortening (qaṣr) are met, a traveller must perform the four-rakʿah prayers as two rakʿahs.

The Eight Conditions for Shortening the Prayer (Qaṣr):

Prayer during travel is shortened (qaṣr) when eight conditions are met, which are as follows:

1. The legal distance (sharʿī distance)
2. Intention to travel the legal distance.
3. Continuity of intention (not abandoning the intention to travel the legal distance, nor becoming doubtful about it)
4. Not passing through one’s homeland (waṭan), and not intending to stay for ten days during the journey.
5. The journey not being for a sinful purpose.
6. Not being a nomad or homeless wanderer
7. Travel not being one’s occupation (i.e. not a professional journey)
8. Reaching the point of legal departure (ḥadd al-tarakhkhuṣ)

Detailed Explanation of the First Condition for Shortening the Prayer:
The Required Measure of the Legal Distance (Sharʿī Distance)

Types of the Legal (Sharʿī) Distance

Specific Conditions of the Combined (Round-Trip) Legal Distance

In the case of a combined (round-trip) distance, the outward journey must be at least four farsakhs (approximately 20.5 kilometres). Therefore:

• If one travels five farsakhs outward and three farsakhs on return, the prayer is shortened (qaṣr).
• If one travels three farsakhs outward and five farsakhs on return, the prayer is performed in full (tamām), unless the return journey alone is eight farsakhs or more, in which case the prayer is shortened from the beginning of the journey.

Ayatollah Sistani: Whoever’s outward and return journeys together amount to eight farsakhs must shorten the prayer, whether the outward or the return journey is less than four farsakhs or not. Thus, if one travels three farsakhs outward and five farsakhs on return, or vice versa, the prayer must be shortened—that is, performed as two rakʿahs.

The Effect of a Stopover along the Route on the Legal Distance

In a combined (round-trip) journey, it is not a condition that one returns on the same day or night. Rather, even if one stays for several days and then returns, as long as none of the factors that terminate a journey (such as intending to stay for ten days) occur, the prayer remains shortened (qaṣr).

Likewise, in a continuous (one-way) journey, if before completing eight farsakhs—without any journey-terminating factor occurring—one stays in a place for several days, the prayer is still shortened.

Ayatollah Sistani: If the outward and return journeys together amount to eight farsakhs, then even if one does not return on the same day or night, the prayer must be shortened; however, in this case it is better, as a recommended precaution, to also perform the prayer in full (tamām).