Prayer while traveling: shortening and combining, a user’s guide

A facility offered by Allah

Traveling is tiring, upsets schedules and makes it harder to find a quiet place. Islam takes this into account: the traveler may shorten certain prayers and, according to most scholars, combine two of them. The Quran lays down this principle:

The verse mentions fear, which puzzled the Companions themselves once safety had returned. ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) put the question to the Prophet ﷺ:

‘A’isha (may Allah be pleased with her) even reports, in a hadith of al-Bukhari and Muslim, that the prayer was first prescribed as two units, then kept that way while traveling and increased for the resident. Shortening is therefore not “praying less well”: it is following the Sunnah of travel.

Shortening (qasr): which prayers, and from when?

Shortening, called الْقَصْر (al-qasr), follows simple rules:

• only the four-unit prayers are shortened: dhuhr, ‘asr and ‘isha’ are prayed in two units;
• fajr (two units) and maghrib (three units) remain unchanged;
• you begin shortening once you have left the built-up area of your town, not before leaving;
• you continue until you return home, unless you settle at your destination for a length of time that makes you a resident;
• behind a resident imam who prays four units, the traveler prays four units with him, according to the great majority of scholars.

If you do not know when you will leave again (waiting for a document, a medical appointment), many scholars allow you to keep shortening for as long as this waiting lasts, with limits that vary between the schools.

Combining (jam‘): two prayers at once

Combining, الْجَمْع (al-jam‘), consists of praying dhuhr and ‘asr together, or maghrib and ‘isha’ together, within the time of the first (early combining) or of the second (delayed combining). Al-Bukhari and Muslim report, from Anas and Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them), that the Prophet ﷺ combined his prayers in this way when he was in a hurry while traveling. Ibn ‘Abbas even reports a combining outside of any journey:

In other versions reported by Muslim, Ibn ‘Abbas explains that he wanted not to put his community in hardship. Two things must be remembered: fajr is never combined with another prayer, nor ‘asr with maghrib; and shortening and combining are two distinct facilities. You can shorten without combining, for example once you have arrived and settled in your hotel.

The qibla and prayer on the road

For the obligatory prayers, you face the Ka‘ba, wherever you are:

While traveling, the app’s Qibla tool or a compass can give you the direction in a few seconds. If you cannot know it with certainty, you do your best, you pray, and sincere effort is sufficient according to many scholars. For voluntary prayers, the rule is more flexible: al-Bukhari reports that the Prophet ﷺ prayed on his mount in whichever direction it was going, but that he got down from it for the obligatory prayers in order to face the qibla.

Preparing the journey: plane, train, car

A little anticipation avoids almost all difficulties.

Traveling in a group and keeping the heart present

With family or friends, prayer is easier to live when someone coordinates the stops and the combinings:

This leader is not an authoritarian chief: he suggests the time of the breaks, appoints the one who will lead the prayer and makes sure that no one is forgotten. Praying together at a highway rest stop or in a train-station hall is also a beautiful moment of brotherhood.

Travel, finally, is an image of life itself:

The traveler takes the essentials and keeps his eyes on his destination. Prayer, even shortened, is that light baggage which reminds us where we are truly going.

To go further

• Supplications for travel in Riyad as-Salihin and the supplication on leaving home.
• Find the direction of the Ka‘ba with the Qibla tool.
• Reconciling prayer and professional life: Praying at work without conflict.
• A special journey: Preparing your ‘umra.