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Travel concessions on prayers end when one arrives in town

Question

Assalamu Alaikum If a traveller is in makkah at time of begining of magribs time but he intends to join it with isha. But he reaches the district of jeddah which is his home before the time of magrib ends. My question is 1. Can he join with isha his magrib prayer? Does that intention of joining before reaching his home counts? 2. Is the traveller concession ended when he reaches city( Jeddah) or when he reaches district(or village) of the city where his home lies?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

The concessions of travel end for a traveler once he arrives at the populated area of the city of his residence, and not when he arrives at his location in that city, because it is prescribed to take advantage of the travel concessions once a person leaves the populated area of the city of his residence and not the location of his residence, so (likewise) the travel concessions end by arriving at the populated area of the city of his residence.

If a traveler intended to combine the Maghrib and ‘Isha prayers and he did not combine them until he arrived in his city before the end of the time of Maghrib prayer, then he should pray Maghrib before the expiry of its time and he does not combine it with the ‘Isha prayer as he finished his travel during the time of the first prayer.

Al-Buhooti (from the Hanbali School of jurisprudence) said in Daqaa’iq Oli An-Nuha: "If a travel comes to an end at the time of the first prayer of the prayers that are combined, like if he intends to reside there, or if the boat came ashore in the place of his residence, then combining the two prayers and shortening them become void because the travel came to an end." [End of quote]

Moreover, the author of Manaar As-Sabeel said about the conditions for combining the prayers at the time of the second prayer: "The reason lasts until the beginning of the time of the second prayer, and not otherwise, because it is the excuse (sound reason) that justifies combining the prayer, so if the excuse does not last until the beginning time of the second prayer, then what necessitates combining the two prayers no longer exists, so it is no longer permissible to combine, like a traveler who arrives or a sick person who is cured."

Allaah Knows best.

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