#480: Can a Student of Knowledge in another State Observe Qasr?
QUESTION
“السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته حفظك الله و رعاك
“There is a disagreement between brothers with regards to Qasr for a student who is studying in another state. Is he to pray Qasr?
جزاكم الله خيرا”
ANSWER
Wa alaykum As-Salām Warahmatullāh Wabarakātuh.
Alhamdulillāh.
As for a traveler and the shortening of Prayers (Qasr), then there are three possibilities:
1. That he alights at his place of traveling and intends to stay for a period of days.
The Mālikī and Shāfi’ī Schools hold that if he intends a period of stay for three days and not up to four days, then he can observe the Qasr. The Shāfi’īs do not count the day of arrival and the day of departure though.
The Hanafīs hold that if he intends to stay for a period of 15 days and less, he can observe the Qasr. This is also the position of Imām Sufyan Ath-Thawrī and the Kuffān Imams.
The Hanbalis position is that he can observe the Qasr for four days and not more than 20 Salāt.
2. That he alights at his place of travel and has no idea when his return journey would occur.
The Jamhūr as we have stated above still restrict it with the number of days he stays there.
The position promoted by Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah – rahimahullāh – is that he can observe the Qasr for as long as he remains there and can leave at any time, as long as he does not intend to stay there unrestrictedly.
3. That he intends to reside there for his period of study or for his working years.
The position favoured by the Dhāhiri School is that he also is permitted to observe the Qasr as long as he doesn’t consider it his home.
What is most correct, and Allāh knows best, is what Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Sālih Al-‘Uthaymīn – rahimahullāh – explained in Ash-Sharhu Al-Mumti’ 4/529-539:
“And based on this, we say that the Superior Position is that upon which was Shaykhu Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah – rahimahullāh – that a traveller continues to be a traveller as long as he does not intend one of two things: Unrestricted Stay or Residence.
The difference is that the Resident intends to take this land as his home but the unrestricted stay is for him to come to this land and observe that there are a lot happening there (of trade), or that knowledge seeking there is strong. He then intends to stay there for as long as it will require without stipulating a time for his stay. But his intention was that he was impressed with the land say by the many knowledge that is there or the Commerce and Trade, or because he is a Government employee stationed there like an ambassador for instance. The reality of this is that he isn’t considered to be on a journey any longer…”
Bārakallāhu fīkum
Jazākumullāhu Khayran
4th Rabi’l Awwal 1439AH
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