How Many Days Constitute Traveling For Combining Prayers?

Question: How many days can one keep journey prayers while on a journey?

Answer:

Wa alaykum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

Dear questioner,

Thank you for your important question.

In the Shafi’i school, one may keep joining Dhuhr and Asr and Maghrib and Isha as long as one is a traveller.

One is a traveller as long as one has left one’s city’s limits, one is going to a destination 50 miles away from one’s city’s limits and has not arrived at a place where one will stay for four “full days.” A “full-day” is Fajr to Fajr or Maghrib to Maghrib. [al-Majmu’, Nawawi] This is based on what many of the great Early Muslims such as Sa’id ibn al-Musayyab considered to be the minimum time needed to be considered a resident (muqim). [Muwatta Malik; al-Sunan al-Kubra, Bayhaqi]

So, for example, if one leaves New York and is going to London with the intention of being there for two days, then to Paris for three days, then Brussels for two days, then Vienna for a day etc., one would be a traveller indefinitely.

But if one intends to stay in a place for four full days, or ends up staying there for that much time, one is no longer a traveller and must pray each prayer in its default time.

I pray this helps.

[Ustadh] Farid Dingle

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Farid Dingle has completed extensive years of study in the sciences of the Arabic language and the various Islamic Sciences. During his studies, he also earned a CIFE Certificate in Islamic Finance. Over the years he has developed a masterful ability to craft lessons that help non-Arabic speakers gain a deep understanding of the language. He currently teaches courses in the Arabic Language.