Q.1. I am traveling to another country where I will be arranging things in a house bought by our family. I expect to be there for 3-4 months. Should I shorten my prayers there, as per the concession for travelers? If so, what about voluntary prayers, or Sunnah?
Q.2. What is the implication of giving a 7-year-old breast milk?
Q.3. Could you please tell me something about taqleed.
B. Yusuf
A.1. As you know you will be staying for such length of time, when you arrive at your other place, you are actually intending to settle. You are in the same position as a resident. So you pray your prayers normally, shortening none of them. You have the concession of shortening and combining prayer on the day of travel, until you settle down at your destination. But once you are settled, you are a resident.
The case would have been different if you did not know the length of your stay. Suppose you expect to finish your business in a week or two. In this case, you are considered as a traveler. Even when the two weeks are over and you find yourself obliged to extend your stay by another one or two weeks, then you continue in the same status as a traveler. Even if this continues for several months or a year, but you are always unsure of how long you are staying. You are simply attending to some business which could finish in a few days or a few weeks, you are in the status of a traveler, until you go back home, or you change your plans and settle in the place where you happen to be.
A.2. Breast-feeding that has an effect on marriage permissibility should take place before the child reaches two years of age, and should be given in at least five full feeds. When this takes place, the child is considered as a son of the woman who breast-feeds him, and her children are the child’s brothers and sisters. All her relations are related to him in the same way as they are related to her own offspring. If the breast-feeding takes place after the child has passed two years of age, or if it was in a quantity less than five full feeds, then it has no effect.
A.3. I am not sure what you are asking about. The term taqleed means following someone else’s example. In a religious sense, it means following the guidance given by a scholar. However, in some uses, it means that a follower of a particular school of Fiqh decides to follow the views of another school because he finds it more suitable to his circumstances. There is no harm in following the views of any scholar, provided that one is aware of the basis of the view and is convinced of its validity.