Shortening the Prayer

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z-Zinad from al-Araj fromAbu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, said, "Shaytan ties three knots at the back of your headwhen you sleep, and he seals the place of each knot with 'You have along night ahead, so sleep.' If you wake up and remember Allah, a knotis untied. If you do wudu, a knot is untied. If you pray, a knot isuntied, and morning finds you lively and in good spirits, and if not,morning finds you in bad spirits and lazy."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Da'ud ibn al-Husayn from al-Araj from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless himand grant him peace, joined dhuhr and asr on his journey to Tabuk.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z-Zubayr al-Makki fromAbu't-Tufayl Amir ibn Wathila that Muadh ibn Jabal told him that theywent out with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, in the year of Tabuk, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, joined dhuhr with asr and maghrib withisha. Muadh said, "One day he delayed the prayer, and then came outand prayed dhuhr and asr together. Then he said, 'Tomorrow you willcome, insha' llah, to the spring of Tabuk. But you will not get thereuntil well into the morning. No one who arrives should touch any ofits water until I come.' We came to it and two men had got to itbefore us and the spring was dripping with a little water. TheMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, askedthem, 'Have you touched any of its water?' They said, 'Yes.' TheMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, reviledthem and said what Allah wished him to say. Then they took water withtheir hands from the spring little by little until it had beencollected in something. Then the Messenger of Allah, may Allah blesshim and grant him peace, washed his face and hands in it. Then he putit back into the spring and the spring flowed with an abundance ofwater and the people drew water from it. The Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'If you live long enough,Muadh, you will soon see this place filled with gardens.' "

3 Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umarsaid, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, used to join maghrib and isha together when it was urgent totravel."

(with regards to above) Malik said, "I believe that was during rain."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umarused to join the prayer along with the amirs if they joined maghriband isha in the rain.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that he had askedSalim ibn Abdullah, "Can you join dhuhr and asr when travelling?" Hesaid, "Yes, there is no harm in that. Haven't you seen the people prayon Arafa?"

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that AIi ibnHusain used to say, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, would join dhuhr and asr if he wished to travel thesame day, and he would join maghrib and isha if he wished to travelthe same night."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from a man of thefamily of Khalid ibn Asid that he said to Abdullah ibn Umar, "Abu Abdar-Rahman, we find the fear prayer and the prayer when settledmentioned in the Qur'an, but we do not find any mention of thetravelling prayer in it." Ibn Umar said, "Son of my brother! Allahthe Mighty and Majestic sent us Muhammad, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, and we know nothing. We only do as we saw him doing."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Salih ibn Kaysan from Urwaibn az-Zubayr that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah blesshim and grant him peace, said, "The prayer was prescribed as tworakas, both when settled and when travelling. Then the travellingprayer was kept as it was, and an increase was made in the prayer whensettled. "

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that he saidto Salim ibn Abdullah, "What is the latest you have seen your fatherdelay maghrib while on a journey?" and Salim replied, "One time thesun set when we were at Dhat al-Jaysh and he prayed maghrib at al-Aqiq."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar,shortened the prayer when he left for hajj or umra at Dhu'l Hulayfa.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Salim ibnAbdullah that his father rode to Rim and shortened the prayer on thejourney.

Malik said, "That was about four mail-stages."(approximately forty-eight miles).

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from Salim ibn Abdullahthat Abdullah ibn Umar rode to Dhat an-Nusub and shortened the prayeron the journey.

Malik said, "There are four mail-stagesbetween Dhat an-Nusub and Madina."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from Ibn Umar that heused to travel to Khaybar and he would shorten the prayer.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Salim ibnAbdullah that Abdullah ibn Umar used to shorten the prayer when hetravelled for a whole day.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that he used to travelone mail-stage with Ibn Umar, and he would not shorten the prayer.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Abdullahibn Abbas used to shorten the prayer when he travelled a distanceequivalent to that between Makka and Ta'if, and that between Makka andUsfan and that between Makka and Jedda.

Malik said, "That isfour mail-stages, and to me that is the most preferable distance forshortening the prayer."

Malik said, "Someone who intends totravel does not shorten the prayer until he has left the houses of thevillage. And he does not do it in full until he comes to the firsthouses of the village, or is nearby."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Salim ibnAbdullah that Abdullah ibn Umar used to say, "I pray the prayerof atraveller as long as I am undecided whether to remain somewhere ornot, even if I am detained for twelve nights."