Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalamualikum

I read one of your answers regarding Qasar prayer that if one has an intention to stay at a place longer than 15 days then one should say the normal prayer and should not shorten it. But i read in another book that there is no time limit to travel, one can perform Qasar prayer even when one has to stay at a place longer than 15 days.

I am sort of confused, so can you please quote a hadith or Ayat which states that Qasar should not be performed fo longer than 15 days. I will be very grateful.

Jazakallah. 

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Answer:

Hadith reference for qasr prayers

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person,  no grave, no prophet,  no imam,  no dai,  nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisa verse 101:

When you go on a journey,  there is no harm,  if you shorten your salaat,  (especially) when you fear that the disbelievers might harass you,  for the disbelievers are openly bent upon enmity against you.

Dear and Beloved Sister in Islam, to make the observance of the deen easy, the Lord Most Merciful has permitted the believers to shorten their prayers when they are on travel as stated in the above Verse of Surah Nisaa. 

There are several authentic narrations that the Messenger of Allah (saws) would shorten his prayers whenever he was on a journey.  According to authentic tradition the Prophet (saws) did not stay out of Madinah for a period longer than 20 days at any one stretch where he (saws) did indeed shorten his prayers, the eminent scholars and jurists in Islam have differed on exactly how many days one may offer shortened prayers when one is on a journey, depending on which hadith they use as their evidence. 

Some of the scholars have said four days, while others have allowed ten, fourteen, nineteen or twenty days, while others have said even said six months and others have said that regardless of the time, as long as one has no intention to settle down in that place, he may shorten his prayers as long as he does not return to his place of residence!  Each of the eminent scholars have given their evidence from the Sunnah or tradition of the Messenger of Allah (saws) and of his noble companions, thus regardless of which school or thought one prefers over the other, as long as one has evidence from the Sunnah, it would be deemed acceptable in Shariah.

Quoted below from the Fiqh-us-Sunnah are the various and diverse opinions of some of the eminent scholars based on their understanding of the practice of the Messenger of Allah (saws) and his noble companions. 

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 2.112

When the traveler is to pray the complete salah

A traveler may shorten his salah as long as he is on a journey. Likewise if he stays in some place for business or some other affair, then he may shorten his salah as long as he is there, even for years. If the person intends to stay in a place for a certain amount of time then, according to Ibn al-Qayyim, he remains a traveler, regardless of whether he plans to stay there for a long or short time, as long as he does not plan to stay [i.e., reside and not return] in the place that he has traveled to. The scholars differ on this point. Summing up and giving his own opinion, Ibn al-Qayyim says: "The Messenger of Allah (saws) stayed in Tabuk for twenty days and during that time he (saws) shortened his salah and he (saws) did not say that one may not shorten his salah if he stays longer than that, although there is agreement that he did stay there for that period of time."

In Sahih al-Bukhari, it is recorded that Ibn 'Abbas said: "The Prophet (saws) stayed, during some of his journeys, for nineteen day and he prayed only two rak'at. If we stayed in a place for nineteen days, we would not pray the complete salah. However, if we stayed longer than that, we would perform the whole salah."  Ahmad states that ibn 'Abbas was referring to the Prophet's (saws) stay in Makkah at the time of its conquest when he said: "The Messenger of Allah (saws) stayed in Makkah for eighteen days during the time of the conquest as he (saws) had to go to Hunain and was not planning to stay there."  This is his interpretation of Ibn 'Abbas' statement. Others say that Ibn 'Abbas was referring to the Prophet's (saws) stay in Tabuk as Jabir ibn 'Abdullah said: "The Messenger of Allah (saws) stayed in Tabuk for twenty days and performed qasr salah."  Imam Ahmad related this in his Musnad. Al-Miswar ibn Makhramah reports: "We stayed with Sa'd in some of the cities of ash-Sham [Syria] for forty days, and Sa'd would perform qasr while we would offer the whole salah."  Naf'i relates: "Ibn 'Umar was in Azerbaijan for six months, as there was snow blocking the pass, and he would pray two rak'at." Hafs ibn 'Ubaidullah says: "Anas ibn Malik stayed in ash-Sham for two years and he prayed the salah of a traveler." Anas relates: "The companions of the Prophet (saws) stayed in Ram Hurmuz for seven months and they shortened their salah." Al-Hassan reports: "I stayed with 'Abdurrahman ibn Samurah for two years in Kabul, and he shortened his salah but he did not combine the salah." Ibrahim says: "We resided in Rai for a year or more and in Sijistan for two years . . . [and we prayed qasr].

Concerning other opinions which people follow Imam Ahmad say: "If a person intends to stay for four days, he has to offer the whole salah and he may offer qasr if his intention is for less than that.”  This is based on an interpretation of the reports from the Prophet (saws) and his companions [i.e., they never intended to stay for longer than that and would always say: 'We will leave tomorrow,' and so on]. This interpretation is obviously suspect. The Prophet (saws) conquered Makkah and stayed there to establish Islam, eradicate polytheism, and to guide the Arabs. It definitely goes, without saying, that such an objective does take more than a day or two to complete. Similarly, his stay in Tabuk was in preparation for the impending war and he knew that this might take longer than just four days. In the same way, Ibn 'Umar's stay in Azerbaijan for six months, and his praying qasr during the entire time was with the knowledge that it takes more than two or three days for such snow to melt and the pass to become traversable. The same is the case with Anas' stay of two years in ash-Sham and his praying qasr and the companions' stay in Ram Hurmuz for seven months while shortening their prayers. It is well known that activities like theirs, such as jihad and guarding, took more than four days." The followers of Ahmad maintain: "If one is staying in a place for the purpose of jihad or due to imprisonment or sickness, then one may shorten one's salah regardless of whether the person thinks that such a situation may last for a short time or a long time." This is correct but there is no proof that such conditions have been stipulated in the Qur'an, Sunnah, ijma' (consensus), or practice of the Prophet's companions. They argued that such conditions are based on what is needed for the person to fulfill his need while remaining a traveler, and that is what is less than four days. His response to them was: 'From where do you derive those conditions, while the Prophet (saws) stayed for more than four days, shortening his salah, in Makkah and Tabuk, and he did not mention to anyone anything about it and he never told them that he never intended to stay for more than four days, even though he knew that the people would [strictly] follow his actions concerning the salah. They surely followed him in his shortening of the salah, and he (saws) did not object to their praying qasr if they were to stay for more than four nights. This should be made clear as it is very important. Similarly, the companions (as-sahabah) followed him in that and he did not say anything [in objection] to those who prayed with him."

Malik and ash-Shaf'i say: "If one intends to stay for more than four days, he should perform the whole salah, and if he intends to stay for less than that, he is to offer qasr."

Abu Hanifah holds: "If one intends to stay for fifteen days, he should do the qasr. If he intends to stay for less than that, he should not shorten the salah." This is also the opinion of al-Laith ibn Sa'd, and it has also been related from three companions: 'Umar, ibn 'Umar, and Ibn 'Abbas.

Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab is of the opinion that: "If you stay for four days, you pray four rak'at."  A statement similar to that of Abu Hanifah's has also been related from him. 'Ali ibn Abi Talib says that if one stays for ten days, he is to perform the whole salah, and the same has been related from Ibn ' Abbas .

Al-Hassan says: "One who does not get to his destination or (city of residence) may shorten salah."

'Aishah says: "One who does not put down his provision is to shorten the salah."

The four imams agree that if one has some need to take care of and always has the intention of leaving the next day, then he may shorten his salah for as long as he is in that state. However, according to one statement of ash-Shaf'i, he may do so only for seventeen or eighteen days and he is not to shorten his salah after that time. Ibn al-Mundhir states in his Ishraf: "The people of knowledge are in agreement that a traveler may perform qasr as long as he does not intend to stay in a place, even though he stays there for years."

I am sort of confused, so can you please quote a hadith or Ayat which states that Qasar should not be performed fo longer than 15 days. I will be very grateful.

Abu Hanifah holds: "If one intends to stay for fifteen days, he should do the qasr. If he intends to stay for less than that, he should not shorten the salah." This is also the opinion of al-Laith ibn Sa'd, and it has also been related from three companions: 'Umar, ibn 'Umar, and Ibn 'Abbas.

The time limit of a maximum of 15 days allowed for one to offer shortened prayers is the opinion of the eminent scholar Imam Abu Hanifah, which was also the practice of companions of the stature of Hadrat Umar (r.a.), Hadrat Ibn Umar (r.a.), and Hadrat Ibn Abbas (r.a.).  

We reiterate again, that regardless of which scholar’s opinion one favors over the other, as long as one is able to provide evidence from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws), their practice would be deemed acceptable in the Sight of Allah Subhanah, Insha Allah. All Praise is due to Allah who has made the deen of Islam vast and made its practice easy upon its followers. 

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone.  Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan