Fatwa Panel of the Week – Volume03 Issue06
Traveller’s Prayer – Part 2
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.
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How the Legal Travel Distance (Masāfat Sharʿiyyah) Is Realised (Linear, Combined, Repeated, Circular) |
| 1. If a person repeatedly travels back and forth over a distance shorter than four farsakhs (for example, one and a half farsakhs), such that the total distance adds up to eight farsakhs or more, their prayer does not become shortened (qasr). |
| 2. If the eight-farsakh distance is completed in a circular route outside the city—beyond the ḥadd al-tarakhkhuṣ boundary—and the person has no specific destination along that route, with the movement itself being the objective (for example, driving around the city ring road to check road conditions or test the car’s sealing/waterproofing), then it is treated as a linear (imtidādī) travel distance, and the prayer is shortened (qasr). |
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Ways of Establishing the Legal Travel Distance (Masāfat Sharʿiyyah) |
| 1. If a person has knowledge (certainty) or rational assurance, or if two just (ʿādil) witnesses state that the journey is at least eight farsakhs, the prayer must be shortened (qasr). |
| 2. Public report or common notoriety (shiāʿ)—that is, widespread recognition among people—may be relied upon only if it leads to knowledge or rational assurance that the legal travel distance has been realised; in that case, the prayer is shortened (qasr). Otherwise, even if it results in mere suspicion or conjecture, it has no legal validity. |
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Doubt About the Legal Travel Distance and the Mukallaf’s Duty |
| 1. If a person doubts whether the travel distance reaches the legal limit, and investigating is not difficult for them—such as checking the odometer or asking several people—then based on obligatory precaution (iḥtiyāṭ wājib) they must investigate. If they do not reach a conclusion, their prayer is performed in full (tamām).
Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi: They must investigate, and as long as the legal travel distance is not established, the default rule is that the prayer is performed in full (tamām). |
| 2. If a follower (muqallid) does not know the ruling (fatwā) of their jurist, for example, they do not know whether their jurist considers a combined travel distance (masāfat talfīqī) to be the same as a linear travel distance (masāfat imtidādī), then they must look into and ascertain the fatwā of their own jurist. If they cannot investigate, or do not wish to investigate, they must act with precaution, and perform the prayer both in full (tamām) and shortened (qasr). |
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Fiqh Consequences of Misidentifying the Travel Distance |
| 1. If, due to doubt about the travel distance, a person’s duty is to perform the prayer in full (tamām), but they act contrary to this duty and perform it shortened (qasr), the prayer they performed is not valid and must be repeated in full. However, if after the prayer it becomes clear that their actual duty was qasr, then provided the prayer was performed with the intention of seeking nearness (qaṣd al-qurbah), it is sufficient and no repetition is required. |
| 2. If a person believes that the distance from the point of departure to the destination meets the legal travel distance, performs the prayer shortened (qasr), and it later becomes clear that the distance was less than the legal limit, they must repeat the prayer in full within the time, and make it up (qaḍāʾ) in full if the time has passed. |
| 3. If a person believes that the distance they are travelling does not reach eight farsakhs and therefore performs the prayer in full (tamām), but it later becomes clear that the distance does reach the legal travel distance, they must repeat the prayer shortened (qasr) within the time, and make it up shortened if the time has passed. |
| 4. If a person intends to travel to a specific destination and doubts whether the distance to it reaches the legal travel distance—or believes that it does not (in both cases, their duty is to perform the prayer in full)—and then while en route it becomes established for them that the distance does reach the legal travel distance, they must from that point onward perform the prayer shortened (qasr). It is not necessary that the remaining distance from the point at which certainty is attained to the destination itself amount to the legal travel distance. |
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