Q. When I go home on a month’s vacation, I shorten my prayers throughout this period. I have read all the Hadiths concerning this concession, in all six anthologies of authentic Hadiths, and nowhere do I find a limit of 15 or 20 days. My relatives criticize me, saying that scholars must have some basis for their limiting of the concession to a specific number of days. Please explain.
M.R. Hussain
A. There are two questions to be considered here. The first is how long can one be a traveler if one is staying in one city or village? Secondly, where is one not a traveler?
Concerning the first point, we can say that if a person is traveling on a long journey which takes him to several places and he does not spend in any place more than a few days, or a couple of weeks, then he is a traveler throughout his journey, even if it takes several months or years, as long as he does not return to his hometown, where he has a home or a wife and children, or other family members with whom he normally lives. When he returns home, he is no longer a traveler, even if he is staying for one day or less, before he resumes his travels. Similarly, if one is in the same city for an indefinite period, where he has some business that he wants to complete and then return home, he is considered a traveler throughout, provided that his business should normally take a short period. This means that this case does not apply, say, to a student who travels to a foreign country for study. Such a student spends at least nine months where his college is, even though he may take some trips, or go home during the mid-year break. It applies to a person whose business should take one or two weeks. If he has not finished after the initial period and he has to extend his stay, time after time, not knowing when exactly he will finish, he is a traveler.
On the other hand, a person who is going home on his annual vacation, where he knows in advance that he will stay for a month, cannot be considered a traveler throughout his vacation, according to the overwhelming majority of scholars. When he arrives, his intention is to stay for this period, which is a period of settlement, not traveling. Hence, the travel concession does not apply to him.
On the other hand, if he intends to stay in his hometown for a week or two before traveling to another city where he will be with other relatives, and then again travel back to a third city, or to the first one, he is a traveler. I suppose the difference is clear. As you see, when you look at Hadiths on a particular topic, you need guidance on what elements to consider.