سورة النساء

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Zurarah narrates: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said regarding the verse فَلَیْسَ علَیْکُمْ جُنَاحٌ أَن تَقْصُرُواْ مِنَ الصَّلاَةِ إِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَن یَفْتِنَکُمُ الَّذِینَ کَفَرُواْ إِنَّ الْکَافِرِینَ کَانُواْ لَکُمْ عدُوًّا مُّبِینًا [There is no blame on you if you shorten the prayer, if you fear that those who disbelieve will cause you distress; indeed the disbelievers are your open enemies]: "From the two rak'ahs, you reduce one."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) was asked about the interpretation of the saying of Allah the Mighty and Majestic in the verse: وَ إِذا ضَرَبْتُمْ فِی الْأَرْضِ فَلَیْسَ عَلَیْکُمْ جُناحٌ أَنْ تَقْصُرُوا مِنَ الصَّلاةِ إِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَنْ یَفْتِنَکُمُ الَّذِینَ کَفَرُوا [And when you journey in the earth, there is no blame on you if you shorten the prayer, if you fear that those who disbelieve will cause you distress]. He said: "What is meant is the second shortening, and that is when a person reduces two rakats to one rakat."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah the Exalted made five prayers obligatory upon the resident (non-traveller), and made two rakats obligatory upon the traveller, and made one rakat obligatory upon the person in fear and alarm; and this is the saying of Allah: فَلَیْسَ عَلَیْکُمْ جُنَاحٌ أَن تَقْصُرُواْ مِنَ الصَّلاَةِ [there is no blame on you if you shorten the prayer], meaning Allah is saying: "[If you fear the sedition of the disbelievers,] shorten and reduce the two-rakat prayer, so it becomes one rakat."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The prayer during travel is two rakats, and there is no other prayer before or after it, except the Maghrib prayer, which is three rakats.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Zurarah and Muhammad ibn Muslim said: We said to Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): "What do you say about the prayer during travel? How is it and how many rakats is it?" The Imam said: "Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: وَ إِذا ضَرَبْتُمْ فِی الْأَرْضِ فَلَیْسَ عَلَیْکُمْ جُناحٌ أَنْ تَقْصُرُوا مِنَ الصَّلاةِ [And when you journey in the earth, there is no blame on you if you shorten the prayer]; so shortening the prayer during travel became obligatory, just as praying it in full is obligatory in one's own town." We said: "Allah the Exalted has said: لَیْسَ عَلَیْکُمْ جُنَاحٌ, meaning there is no sin or difficulty upon you, and He has not commanded: 'Do it!' So how is shortening the prayer during travel obligatory, just as praying the full prayer at the place of residence is obligatory?" The Imam said: "Has Allah the Mighty and Majestic not said regarding Safa and Marwah: فَمَنْ حَجَّ الْبَیْتَ أَوِ اعْتَمَرَ فَلا جُناحَ عَلَیْهِ أَنْ یَطَّوَّفَ بِهِما [So whoever performs Hajj to the House or performs Umrah, there is no blame on him for going between them]? Do you not see that going between them is obligatory and prescribed, because Allah the Mighty and Majestic mentioned it in His Book and His Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) performed it? Likewise, the shortening of the prayer during travel is something the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) performed, and Allah the Exalted mentioned it in His Book."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Zurarah said: I asked Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) about the prayer of fear and the prayer of travel — are they both to be shortened? He said: "Yes, and the prayer of fear is more deserving to be shortened than the prayer of travel in which there is no fear."

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): The meaning of أَنْ تَقْصُرُوا in the words of Allah وَ إِذا ضَرَبْتُمْ فِی الْأَرْضِ فَلَیْسَ عَلَیْکُمْ جُناحٌ أَنْ تَقْصُرُوا [And when you journey in the earth, there is no blame on you if you shorten the prayer] is the prayer that, due to the intensity of fear [of the enemy], part of it is shortened and it is performed by gesture.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): The meaning of أَنْ تَقْصُرُوا is reducing parts and portions of the prayer.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): Its meaning is: if you fear that the disbelievers may afflict you while you are performing the prayer.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Six people do not shorten their prayer: the tax collector who moves about among those who pay the tax, the ruler who tours his domain [and this requires travel], the merchant who moves from one market to another for his trade, the shepherd and bedouin who search for places where rain has fallen and fodder is plentiful, the man who goes out hunting for amusement, and the highway robber who blocks the road on people.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abdullah ibn Yahya al-Kahili narrates: I heard Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) saying about shortening the prayer: "A barid by a barid; that is, the distance of a full twenty-four miles."