Qasr Prayer: 7 Authentic Hadith on Shortening and Combining

Packing for a trip and wondering how to pray on the road? The qasr prayer (shortening the four-rak‘ah prayers to two) and jama‘ (combining two prayers) are concessions the Prophet ﷺ practised on his own journeys. In Malaysia many know them as jamak and qasar. Here are seven authentic hadith that show what he did, and where scholars differ on the details.

1. How the travel prayer began

‘Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) explains why the travel prayer is two rak‘ahs.

So the two rak‘ahs of the traveler are not a cut-down prayer. They are the prayer as it was first prescribed. The same report is in Sahih Muslim 685a. In the same narration, az-Zuhri notes that ‘Aisha herself prayed in full on journeys, following an interpretation like ‘Uthman’s, and scholars differ on whether shortening is required or preferred.

Try this: On your next journey, pray Zuhr, Asr and Isha as two rak‘ahs each, as the Prophet ﷺ did.

2. A charity from Allah

Ya‘la ibn Umayyah asked ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) about the verse on shortening the prayer, which mentions fear, when people were now safe.

‘Umar said he had wondered the same, so he asked the Prophet ﷺ, who replied:

So shortening is not limited to times of danger. It is a gift, and a gift is meant to be accepted. (Sunnah.com’s English heading names the narrator “Yahya b. Umayya”; the Arabic chain names Ya‘la ibn Umayyah.)

Try this: When you shorten on a journey, take it as Allah’s gift, not as cutting corners.

3. Two rak‘ahs, every journey

‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) describes what he saw on his travels with the Prophet ﷺ and the first three caliphs.

HadeethEnc’s explanation notes that the two rak‘ahs apply to the four-rak‘ah prayers. Ibn ‘Umar also said the Prophet ﷺ did not offer optional prayers on the journey (Sahih al-Bukhari 1101).

Try this: Keep the shortened prayer simple: two rak‘ahs for Zuhr, Asr and Isha, with full focus.

4. How to combine Zuhr and Asr

Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) describes how the Prophet ﷺ timed the prayers around his departure.

Mu‘adh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) describes the same pattern on the expedition of Tabuk, for both pairs of prayers:

So he combined both ways: delaying the first prayer into the time of the second, or bringing the second forward into the time of the first, depending on when he set off.

Try this: Leaving before Zuhr? Plan to pray Zuhr and Asr together at your Asr stop. Leaving after Zuhr has come in? Pray both before you set off.

5. How to combine Maghrib and Isha

Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) describes exactly how the Prophet ﷺ prayed the two evening prayers together.

Maghrib keeps its three rak‘ahs; only Isha is shortened to two. He did the same at Muzdalifah during Hajj (Sahih Muslim 1288a; see HadeethEnc’s explanation).

Try this: Combining in the evening? Pray Maghrib three, say the iqamah, then pray Isha two.

6. How many days the Prophet ﷺ shortened

Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) reports a long stay during which the Prophet ﷺ kept shortening.

Other stays are reported too: ten days in Makkah (Sahih al-Bukhari 1081, from Anas) and twenty days at Tabuk (Sunan Abi Dawud 1235, Sahih (al-Albani), from Jabir). The Prophet ﷺ did not set a limit in words; the limits come from these stays and from scholars, who differ (see below).

Try this: Before a longer trip, ask a qualified local scholar which limit applies to your stay.

7. Combining without travel

Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) also reports a time the Prophet ﷺ combined prayers at home in Madinah.

Ibn ‘Abbas’s own explanation is the key: to spare the ummah hardship. Scholars differ on what kind of need this covers, so ask a qualified scholar before relying on it outside travel.

Try this: Remember this hadith when a real hardship makes a prayer time difficult, and ask a scholar what applies.

Where scholars differ on qasr prayer

• Distance: Anas said the Prophet ﷺ prayed two rak‘ahs once he had covered “three miles or three farsakh”, and a narrator was unsure which (Sahih Muslim 691). There is no fixed distance in the Prophet’s ﷺ words, and the madhhabs set their own.
• Days: If you intend a set stay, a Hanafi answer on Qibla (IslamQA.org) lists the madhhab limits: under 15 days (Hanafi), 4 days (Maliki and Shafi‘i), 21 prayers (Hanbali). Ibn ‘Abbas himself shortened up to 19 days.
• Required or preferred: scholars differ on whether a traveler must shorten or may pray in full, as ‘Aisha and ‘Uthman did.
• Combining at home: scholars differ on the need that allows it (hadith 7).

We don’t give rulings on this site. For your own trip, ask a qualified scholar or your local religious authority.

Bringing it together

Together these hadith show a Lord who makes worship easy for the traveler. HadeethEnc also lists a narration from Ibn ‘Abbas in Sahih Ibn Hibban: Allah loves His concessions to be taken as He loves His obligations to be done (HadeethEnc 65017).

Reflection: The travel prayer asks so little. Even on the busiest journey, two rak‘ahs at a rest stop keep us connected to Allah, and that is the real lesson: the prayer is lightened, never dropped.

Questions people ask

Key lessons

• The travel prayer stayed at its original two rak‘ahs (Bukhari 1090).
• Shortening is a charity from Allah to be accepted (Muslim 686).
• Zuhr and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha, can be joined on a journey (Bukhari 1111, 1091).
• Maghrib stays three rak‘ahs; only the four-rak‘ah prayers are shortened.
• On distance and days scholars differ: ask a qualified scholar.

Part of our Salah series: see all our salah articles in one place.

May Allah make our journeys easy and keep us steady in prayer wherever we are.

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