Peace be upon you and God's mercy. I live in a foreign country divided into states, each containing several cities. When traveling within a state from one city to another, I cover the legal distance, but customarily in this foreign country, moving between cities in that state is not considered travel. Should I pray shortened prayers or complete ones? And if I should shorten my prayers, what is the ruling on my previous prayers?
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1 Answer
Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.
Ayatollah Khamenei (may God protect him):
The determination of this matter is based on custom, regardless of how large the cities are. If each city is considered an independent city within one state, then traveling between cities with the legal distance qualifies as travel. Merely because the custom does not view it as travel is not sufficient to negate the title of travel. Many times, a person may undertake a legal journey but when asked, they say: 'I haven't traveled in a while,' referring to travel outside the country, without realizing they have traveled legally.
Source: Message on Prayer and Fasting, Prayer, Traveler's Prayer, Legal Distance, M 411
Ayatollah Sistani (may God protect him):
The distance is calculated from the point where a person is considered a traveler by custom, which is usually the end of the city, and in some very large countries, it may be the end of a neighborhood or district. The end of the distance for someone traveling to a country that is not their homeland is their destination in that country, not the starting point.
Source: Minhaj al-Salihin, Vol. 1, Issue 398.
May you be successful in all good.