Al-Badr Al-Safir in the rulings of the prayer of the traveler

Sheikh Abdullah bin Saleh Al-Fawzan Introduction In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful All praise is due to Allah, we praise Him, seek His help, and ask for His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of ourselves and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, there is none to misguide him; and whomsoever He misguides, there is none to guide him. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. To proceed: The rulings of the traveler’s prayer are among the important issues, especially in our time due to the frequent travel and transportation methods. Scholars have paid attention to the rulings of travel, some of which are categorized separately, while others are documented in books of hadith and jurisprudence. I have written a brief message on these rulings, in which I included a matter from the issues of the traveler’s prayer—thirty-three—and added some manners of travel. The motivation for writing this came from three reasons: First: The request of some dear brothers, based on their opinion that there is no comprehensive brief message that clearly explains the relaxed manner of performing the prayer of the traveler, especially during leisure trips such as hunting trips, spring outings, or incidental travels like completing transactions, visiting hospitals, or reviewing a patient, or additional incidental holidays and festivals. Men often miss the congregational prayer in the mosque, shorten their prayers, and combine them, while women pray at their residence or with their relatives, shortening and combining. Second: Despite the many writings on this topic in small messages or fatwas, I have not seen a brief comprehensive message covering most of the issues of this chapter, even though complete coverage is impossible due to the numerous issues and various cases. Third: I have strived to ensure that the issues are accompanied by evidence or reasoning, with limited references, and I have chosen the most likely opinion, mentioning differences only if they are strong or well-known. In this message, I very much aim to point to that with brevity. This is limited to compilation, arrangement, and phrasing in an appropriate style. Nevertheless, I kindly ask the esteemed reader to graciously and gratefully share any observations, whether errors in understanding a matter or inaccuracies in attribution, accompanied by supporting evidence. The travelers are not distinguished by the distance of travel nor by the residence that breaks the travel. The traveler should fear Allah as much as possible, and what is unclear should be approached with caution. I ask Allah to grant us good intention and righteous deeds, and to forgive us our mistakes and slips. Indeed, He is the All-Hearing, Near, and Responding. Written by Abdullah bin Saleh Al-Fawzan on 1/1/1441 AH