Should I Shorten My Prayers While Performing Hajj?

Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi

Question

In the Hanafi madhab, does a person performing Hajj have to shorten their prayers?

Answer

If you fulfill the conditions of being a traveler while performing your Pilgrimage you will have to pray as a traveler. If you don’t fulfill them then you will pray as a resident. [Shurunbulali, Nur al-Idah]

Thus what you have to look at in order to know if you are a traveler or not while performing Hajj is the distance between your hometown and Mecca and whether or not you intend to remain in Mecca for 15 days or more.

If one is traveling, (i.e. they have left their hometown intending a distance of 48miles (77km) or more), they remain so unless they intend to remain in a specific place for 15 days or more without initiating another journey from that place. [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah; Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

A traveler must shorten (qasr) their prayers when leading or praying alone while praying in full if the imam prays in full. [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]

One becomes a resident either in one’s hometown or when staying somewhere 15 or more days without initiating a full journey (safar). [ibid.]

And Allah knows best.

[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching far and wide for answers to the fundamental questions of life and was disappointed at the answers he found.

Then he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the various teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.

He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha‘ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others.

He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.