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The distance that permits shortening is about eighty kilometres, and the scholars describe it as a day and a night's journey by camel. Ibn Baz put it at eighty kilometres or thereabouts, and IslamWeb at roughly eighty-three. Once you have left your town behind and covered that distance, you may pray the four-rak'ah prayers as two — and this is a sunnah, not a burden you must carry.
The distance the scholars set
Two figures appear in the fatwas, and they are the same measure expressed differently. Ibn Baz says the distance is what the Arabs called a day and a night's travel, and that this works out to about eighty kilometres. IslamWeb gives the classical formulation — four barid (a barid being a stage of the postal route), which is sixteen farsakh, and that is about eighty-three kilometres today.
The important point is that this distance is counted one way, not there and back together. IslamWeb states this explicitly: the distance is considered on the outward journey only. So a round trip of forty kilometres each way does not qualify, even though the total is eighty.
Ibn Baz also notes that the distance is measured from your town, not from your doorstep — you must have left the built-up area of your city behind.
When the permission begins
The concession does not attach to your intention to travel, but to the journey itself. Ibn Baz is clear that the traveller may shorten and combine once he has left his town and passed beyond its buildings. Until then, you pray in full.
This means the answer to "how far" has two parts: the journey must be of the qualifying distance, and you must actually be on it.
What shortening means, and what it does not
Shortening (qasr) and combining (jam') are two different things, and the fatwas are careful to separate them.
| Term | What it is | Ruling |
|---|---|---|
| Qasr (shortening) | Praying Dhuhr, Asr and Isha as two rak'ahs each | A sunnah, and better than praying in full |
| Jam' (combining) | Praying Dhuhr with Asr, and Maghrib with Isha, in the time of either | A concession tied to need, not to distance |
Ibn Baz explains that the Prophet ﷺ prayed Dhuhr, Asr and Isha as two rak'ahs on all his journeys, and this is the sunnah for the traveller. IslamWeb adds that shortening is better than completing the prayer, because the Prophet ﷺ kept to it consistently.
Combining is a separate matter. Ibn Baz and Ibn Uthaymeen both hold that combining is tied to hardship, not to the distance. If you are travelling and on the move, combining is better. If you have stopped and settled — staying in a place without difficulty — then leaving the prayers in their own times is better, though combining remains permitted.
If the scholars differ on the measure
Ibn Uthaymeen sets out a genuine disagreement here, and it is worth knowing because it affects how strictly you apply the eighty-kilometre figure.
Some scholars fixed the distance at about eighty-three kilometres. Others held that the measure is what people customarily call travel — if people say it is a journey, it is one, even if it falls short of eighty kilometres; and if they say it is not a journey, it is not one, even if it reaches a hundred.
Ibn Uthaymeen says the second view is the choice of Ibn Taymiyyah, and that it is closer to what is correct, because neither Allah nor His Prophet ﷺ fixed a specific distance for the concession. He cites the report of Anas ibn Malik رضي الله عنه that the Prophet ﷺ, when he travelled three miles or farsakh, would pray two rak'ahs.
"When he travelled three miles or farsakh, he would pray two rak'ahs."— Sahih Muslim 691, from Anas ibn Malik
Ibn Uthaymeen then adds a practical relief: where the custom is unclear or disputed, there is no harm in taking the fixed figure, because recognised imams and mujtahid scholars held it. So the eighty-kilometre measure is a safe, defensible position even on the view that custom is the real criterion.
How long the permission lasts
The concession lasts until you return home, or until you resolve to stay in one place for more than four days. If you intend to stay four days or fewer, you remain a traveller and may shorten. If you intend more than four days, you become a resident for prayer purposes and must pray in full.
Ibn Baz adds an important qualification: if you do not know how long you will stay — you are waiting on something and have no firm resolve — you remain a traveller and may shorten even if the time stretches long, because your case is still the case of travel.
Key takeaways
- The distance is about eighty kilometres, counted one way from your town — roughly eighty-three on the classical four-barid measure.
- The permission starts when you leave the built-up area of your city, not when you set out in your mind.
- Shortening is a sunnah and better than praying in full; combining is a concession tied to hardship, and leaving it is better when you are settled and comfortable.
- You remain a traveller until you return home or resolve to stay more than four days in one place.
- If you are unsure how long you will stay, you keep shortening, however long the stay runs.
Further reading
- Ibn Baz, Majmu' Fatawa wa Maqalat Mutanawwi'ah, "Bayan al-Masafah allati Tu'ad Qasran"
- Ibn Uthaymeen, Fatawa al-Salah
- IslamWeb fatwas 271828 and 153721
And Allah knows best.
This is a guide to what the scholars have said, not a fatwa. For your own situation, ask a qualified scholar who can hear the details.