Surah An-Nisa Verse 101

617 Verse 101 gives permission to shorten congregational prayers when people are on a journey: verses 102-104 deal with cases when they are in danger at war, in face of the enemy. The shortening of congregational prayers in both cases is further governed as to details by the practice of the Messenger and his companions. As to journeys, two questions arise: (1) what constitutes a journey for this purpose? (2) is the fear of an attack an essential condition for the shortening of the congregational prayers? As to (1), it is best to leave the matter to discretion, having regard to all the circumstances of the journey, as in the case of the journeys which excuse a fast see 2:184, n. 190. The text leaves it to discretion. As to (2), the practice of the Prophet shows that danger is not an essential condition: it is merely mentioned as a possible incident. The Messenger usually shortened the prayers from four Rak'ahs to two Rak'ahs in Zuhr ( midday prayer). ( Asr (afternoon prayer) and 'Isha' (night prayer): the other two are in any case short, Fajr (morning prayer) having two Rak'ahs and Maghrib (evening prayer) having three. (R).