Question:
Assalamualaikum wrm. Wbt.
Your Eminence Dato’ Seri, I would like to ask for some explanation. I am currently working in Kota Kinabalu. If I work outstation (I travel by public transportation which usually by bus and go out of my home early in the morning, while reaching Kota Kinabalu again late in the evening or after Isya’ prayer also by bus). In my journey back home, can I stay a while in my office to perform prayer through jama’ and qasar?
Answer:
Waalaikumussalam wrm. Wbt.
Alhamdulillah, praise and thanks to Allah for the many countless blessings He has blessed us all with. Blessings and salutations to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his wives, his family, companions and all those that follow his teachings to the day of judgement.
Among the requisites of jama’ taqdim or ta’khir is one should be in the state of musafir (travelling). In al-Fiqh al-Manhaji (pg. 190), it is stated that one of the requisites of jama’ taqdim is as follow:
“Stay in the state of musafir until he starts performing the second prayer. Hence, it is not a problem if he reaches his starting point even if his second prayer has not finished completely”
While, one of the requisites of jama’ ta’khir is:
“Stay in the state of musafir until he finishes both prayers. Hence, if he reaches his starting point before he finishes performing both prayers, then the later prayer should be replaced (qadha’)”
Therefore, in the first issue, we should determine first whether the outstation journey fits the criterions which make jama’ permissible. The most essential requisite for musafir is the travel should exceed 2 marhalah or as defined in estimation by al-Fiqh al-Manhaji, which is more than 81 kilometers since the time needed to commute back and forth takes half a day by bus.
If that’s the case, then the location of the office should be stated in the question. This is because, those prayers by jama’ will not be valid if the office’s location is still in the range of mastautin (residence). This requisite is mentioned by the authors of al-Fiqh al-Manhaji (1/87) as follow:
“His travel should cross the fence of his qaryah (district) or the building if the qaryah does not have any fence. One who still in the range of his qaryah’s fence or the building, will not be considered as a musafir (traveller). This is because his journey will only start when he crosses it and finish when he reaches back to that point. Hence, it is impermissible to do qasar except for prayers which are wajib (obligatory) to do so and perform it in the range of musafir as stated. This is in accordance with the saying of the Prophet PBUH, as narrated by Anas RA, where he said:
صَلَّيْتُ مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم الظُّهْرَ بِالْمَدِينَةِ أَرْبَعًا وَصَلَّيْتُ مَعَهُ الْعَصْرَ بِذِي الْحُلَيْفَةِ رَكْعَتَيْنِ
I observed four rak'ahs in the noon prayer with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) at Medina, and said two rak'ahs in the afternoon prayer at Dhu'l-Hulaifa.
Sahih al-Bukhari (1039) and Sahih Muslim (690)
Dhu'l-Hulaifa is located at the outside of the Medina’s building boundary”
Hence, the second issue here to be considered is the location of the office which should be at the outside of the range of his hometown to make jama’ taqdim and ta’khir permissible in this case. If the office is outside of the mastautin’s range, then rulings of musafir are implied and vice versa.
Based on the facts and explanation above, we can conclude that the ruling for different situations differs following the differences in destination and location of the office as follows:
- If the distance between the outstation place and the mastautin is 2 marhalah and the office is out of the mastautin range, then the ruling for jama’ taqdim or ta’khir in the office is valid.
- If the distance between the outstation place and the mastautin is less than 2 marhalah and the office is out of the mastautin range, then the ruling for jama’ taqdim or ta’khir in the office is invalid.
- If the distance between the outstation place and the mastautin is 2 marhalah and the office is inside of the mastautin range, then the ruling for jama’ taqdim or ta’khir in the office is not valid.
- If the distance between the outstation place and the mastautin is less than 2 marhalah and the office is inside of the mastautin range, then the ruling for jama’ taqdim or ta’khir in the office is not valid.
May Allah SWT give us understanding in practicing the teachings of Islam wholly while being accepted by Him.