 Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh, welcome to Ahkam SOS, the show that discusses Islamic duties and practices by his Eminence, the Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Sadik Sharadzee Hafizullah. I'm your host, Mohsin Shah, and joining me is Sheikh Ali Ma'a, Assalamu alaikum Sheikh Rahman. Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi. Sheikh Rahman, this new discussion we've got today on today's episode is something that really appeals to a lot of people and I know to yourself because you do a lot of travelling and I do a little bit of a fair deal of travelling myself. So we know that when it comes to prayer is there's a different prayer for travellers. So my first question is what actually applies that makes you a traveller? What's the attribute of the quality that makes you a traveller? The traveller or the misafer and the salat of the misafer is defined as the one who intends to stay in one location less than 10 days. So let's say I want to go to Ziyarat Madina Munawwara and I want just to stay there for one week and come back or to Karbala or to Najaf or Mashhad or Qom and just stay five days. That is the definition of the Salat of Musafer in which he must start praying Qasr to shorten his Salat and that applies only because some people ask me about the Maghrib, can we do Qasr for the Maghrib? The Qasr and shortening the Salat is only applied to Zohr, Asr and Aisha' prayers which are for the even prayers, not the old ones. So we would pray Salat of Zohr and Asr and Aisha' and instead of four, two, exactly like the Salat of Subh but with the intention of Zohr, Qasr and Asr, Qasr and Aisha' Qasr. That's how we pray and that's how the Salat of Musafer is known to be. And of course it is mandatory for the traveling person who travels to make sure that to meet the condition of the Qasr to know the criteria, to know what will make him to pray Qasr. That's important. So to know these conditions I think that would make it easy for the traveling person to be able to make the decision that do I pray Qasr or in full? Sheikhullah, is there any area or place where a traveler doesn't have to pray Qasr Salat? I mean one is obviously if you're staying longer than 10 days then you do not qualify to pray Qasr Salat. But is there any places where if a traveler visits this place he has to perform his full Salat or he has the option to perform full Salat? The Sayyid mentions four places, four holy sites in which if you were to go there and stay less than 10 days as a traveler the exception there you can choose to pray in full although you're a traveler you're in a state of Musafer. But you're allowed to pray full in those locations but of course you're not allowed to fast. You break your fast but you pray full because the exception is for the Salat only not for the fasting. So you're a traveler you have the choice you're permitted you're allowed you make the choice to pray full or Qasr. Those places are the city of Makkah, the Madina Al-Munawwara and Kufa and the shrine of Imam Hussain Salamullah Aleykkar Bala. So these four holy sites you are allowed to choose to pray Qasr to shorten your Salat or you can choose to pray full and complete Salat. When you say these four places are we restricted to the actual building the mosque or the Haram or does it include the surrounding areas as well? If I'm in the hotel which is opposite the shrine of Aba Abdel Al-Hussain can I pray full Salat in that hotel or is it only in the shrine? The Sayyid mentions clearly that the grand mosques of the holy cities of Makkah so inside the mosque of Makkah and you know how big the mosque of Masjid Al-Haram is and the Madina as well Mashallah it's big and you have Kufa inside of the Kufa itself and the shrine of Imam Hussain Salamullah Aleykkar Bala which you will know how big is that shrine as well. So yes inside the shrine anywhere you choose you can start praying in full although you came there for just two three days for Ziyara and you want to go back. Shaykhna what is the criteria of the traveling Salah as in what are the restrictions and what qualifies me to pray Qasr Salah? Before the one decides to be as a Musaafir and to choose to pray Qasr he must make sure that he meets these eight criteria in which allows him to become a traveler and to perform the Salah in Qasr and to shorten the Salah. I start with the first one. The first one is that the designated distance to be traveled so the first thing you have to make sure that before you choose to start praying Qasr is that the distance both ways outbound and inbound as a return journey should be at least 44 kilometers that is the least amount in which will allow you to be able to perform the Salah otherwise if you go let's say 10 kilometers you go out of the city and then 10 kilometers to come back so in total it's only 20 kilometers the return journey then you cannot pray Qasr so the return journey should be 44 kilometers so let's say 22 to go out and 22 to come back then you're allowed to pray Qasr and to break your fast as well. We have to make sure that we calculate from the outskirt of the city that we live in which when we go out we don't see the walls of the houses of the last houses and the walls of that city so with today's constructions for example we have the boundary of some of the major cities is the circle of the city the highway for example when you leave that highway then you left the city itself for London here we have the M25 for example yes so if you leave M25 you calculate from there your journey back you know whatever is the distance and if it's more than 44 kilometers both ways then you start to break your fast and pray Qasr otherwise you have to keep praying in full and you have to keep your your Salah as well and you're fasting as well. Ahsan Shaykh, Shaykh Na'a what does one do whether he doubts how far he has traveled he's not sure whether he's broken the limit which requires the person to pray Qasr or not so in that situation I don't know if my Salah is Qasr or not what should I do if that individual traveled less than 44 kilometers of the journey and both ways of course and or there's a doubt that did he pass this limit and if he's not sure if he has to perform the Salah in full or Qasr in this case he must not shorten his Salah in other words he must pray in full until he becomes certain that he has met the conditions of Qasr Salah then you can pray Qasr otherwise if there are doubts you have to wait you have to ask research and check if there are no answers to the distance how much you've made of the journey then you pray in full and then you switch to the shortening of the Salah Qasr when you are certain that yes now I have met the condition of the distance then you can start the Salah Qasr as well. Shaykh what happens if there's two routes to a destination one route is more than 44 kilometers there and back and the other one is shorter which rule applies here if there are two routes towards a destination in which they differ in terms of the distance in this case if you choose to go the far distance route which is 44 kilometers or exceeding that distance in this case when you arrive there you pray Qasr or Ishratun Yusala however if you choose the closer way in which is less than 44 kilometers both ways in this case you have to pray in full because you haven't passed that limited and the minimum distance in which makes you as a traveler so let's say you just traveled 35 kilometers both ways you cannot pray there as Qasr but you chose another way another route in which it will make it 50 kilometers for example both ways in this case you can pray Qasr that's fine. Mashallah. Shaykh you discussed with us the first criteria which was you have to travel a minimum of 44 kilometers there and back and it's from the outskirts of your city whether it is a road or the city wall where you cannot no longer see the final house what is the next criteria the second criteria that is the intention to travel the designated distance in other words you have to make the intention from the first place that I'm going to travel 44 kilometers or more so you can attain the condition of being as a Musafer and traveler so you can pray Qasr otherwise if you don't make the intention you might go just for 10 kilometers and come back so you have to make sure that you plan and make the intention that I'm going to travel 44 kilometers both ways or more and then you can break your fast on your way or pray Qasr and so forth that's important condition that must be met from the first place you plan it well you make the intention and that's it you start breaking your fast and shooting the Salah. When does one actually break his fast or start shortening his Salah I mean I've planned to go to from London to Birmingham which is like 120 miles away so do I can I start to pray my Qasr Salah as soon as I leave for this journey before I've even you know traveled 22 miles in one direction or must I first fulfill the criteria before I pray my Qasr Salah the intention is that I'm going towards for a long drive if you have the intention to travel as I mentioned 44 kilometers or more both ways and when you have that intention and you begin to travel when you leave that city or village and you start to not see the the walls and and the houses of that city after a few kilometers maybe seven eight kilometers it depends on how big the city is in this case when these signs are disappeared the walls and the houses of that city you reach a place known to be as Hadataraqus a place where now you are given the permission to break your fast and pray Qasr both you don't have to go 22 kilometers all the way 44 kilometers straight and then you break your fast there no no you just pass the city after a few kilometers the houses the walls are disappeared then you reach that point in which you are given the permission to break your fast and pray Qasr as well so you have to make sure that everything is disappeared when you travel from a city nothing can be seen you travel some few kilometers and then you stop somewhere you can break your fast there and you pray Qasr that's fine so Shaykhna correct me if I'm wrong I've made the knee to go on a long journey more than 44 kilometers as soon as I leave my city the city boundary and as soon as there is no more residencies or shops or any of the sort whether it is 22 kilometers or not even if it's less I am allowed to pray Qasr Salah there because of my knee I was to go a very very far distance exactly I mean when you reach that point that you no longer see the walls or the houses of that city your own city that you left or the city you were resided in for 10 days or more and of course you left that city now you no longer hear the adhan of that city just a few as I mentioned kilometers when you pass that level and the stage of the route then you can park somewhere and start eating you in other words to break your fast and of course to start praying Qasr and shorten your prayers you don't have to go as I've said in the last question that you have to go 22 kilometers all the way or to travel 44 kilometers and then you break a fast in the destination now you can on your way just after that's a 10-15 minutes of driving from the boundary for city you stop somewhere you break a fast and you pray Qasr and I was only with the near that you are traveling more than 44 kilometers there and return definitely because that was one of the main conditions I mentioned yes I sent general what's the next condition the next one is the one does not breaks his intention from troubling so when you make the intention that I'm going to travel 44 kilometers or more and you plan that journey and you make the intention if in the middle of the way you decided not to travel and to break his intention then you have to pray full because you no longer are going to go that distance of 44 kilometers both ways so you cannot pray Qasr now you only want to do 10 kilometers both ways for example and come back in this case you have to revert back to the full prayers and you have to keep the fasting so you can't break it because you have to suffer anymore thank you very much thank you for this discussion and thank you to all the viewers for joining us inshallah we'll be continuing our discussion on the Qasr Sala on the next episode until then don't go anywhere