Rulings of Shortening Prayer

Question:

I came to Egypt for study and I am planning to stay for 6 months. Am I allowed to shorten prayer throughout my stay?

Answer:

Almighty Allah says:

And when you travel throughout the land, there is no blame upon you for shortening the prayer. (An-Nisaa’ 4:101)

Anas narrated that, “We traveled with the Prophet (peace be upon him) from Madinah to Makkah and offered two rak`ahs (for every prayer) till we returned to Medina.” I said, “Did you stay for a while in Makkah?” He replied, “We stayed in Mecca for ten days.” (Al-Bukhari)

Most of jurists view that shortening prayer is a confirmed Sunnah because the Prophet (peace be upon him) shortened the prayer during all his journeys and he did not pray them in full. 

The traveler is allowed to continue shortening the prayer until he returns home. However, if during the journey, he makes up his mind to halt at a place for 4 days or more, he will be regarded as being at home and will have to offer the full prayers no matter whether he has to cut short his stay later due to some reason.

To get more information about the rulings of shortening prayer for the travel, you can watch this short video with Dr. Muhammad Salah.

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Source: Huda Youtube Channel.