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Being a Safari in Mecca

Question: If one stays in Mecca or in any other city for more than 15 days without making intention, will one be considered a safari (traveler)?
ANSWER
If one who goes to Mecca intends to stay there for 15 days or more, one will become a muqim (resident). If one intends to stay there for less than 15 days or if one stays there for months without making any intention as to how many days one will stay there, then one will be a safari.

One who intends to stay for 15 days altogether in different places, such as Mecca, Mina, and Arafat, does not become a muqim. If one intends to stay only in Mecca or in Mina for 15 days, then one will be a muqim. A muqim is not allowed to shorten salats. It is also wajib on a muqim to sacrifice an animal on Eid al-Adha.

Those who are under orders, such as students, soldiers, workers, act not on their own intentions, but on teachers’, commanders’, or employers’ commands. If their commander intends to stay at some place for 15 days, they remain safari until they hear of the commander’s intention. If they never hear of it, they will remain safari, no matter how many days they stay there.

Pilgrims who are under the tutelage of a guide should act on what the guide says. If their guide has not said that they would stay in Mecca for 15 days, the pilgrims under the tutelage of that guide will be safari. It is not wajib on a safari pilgrim to sacrifice an animal on Eid al-Adha, but it is wajib on him/her to sacrifice an animal for thanksgiving. A safari must perform four-rak'at fard salats as two rak'ats. (Nihaya)

Question:
Mecca and Mina joined in 1991. Is Mina not considered an independent town now? For example, if one intends to stay for 8 days in Mecca and then for 8 days in Mina, will one be considered a muqim?
ANSWER
Yes, one will be considered a muqim.

Question: Suppose that a pilgrim stayed in Mecca for 13 days to carry out hajj duty. He/she stayed in Mina and Arafat on the 14th and 15th days (the distance between Arafat and Mina, Mecca is 22 km). Then he/she returned to Mecca and stayed there for 7 days. After 7 days, he/she traveled to Medina. Is he/she considered a safari?
ANSWER
It is written in Se'adet-i Ebediyye:
"One who intends to stay for 15 days altogether in different places, such as Mecca, Mina, and Arafat, does not become a muqim."

It means that if one, while going to Saudi Arabia or upon reaching there, does not intend to stay at a certain place for more than 15 days, one will be a safari. If one intends to stay for more than 15 days in Medina, one will be a muqim there. If one intends to stay for less than 15 days there, then one will be a safari.

Question: It is written in Se'adet-i Ebediyye, "One who intends to stay for 15 days altogether in different places, such as Mecca, Mina, and Arafat, does not become a muqim." If one stays in Mecca for 1 month, will one not be a muqim?
ANSWER
One will be a muqim. If one stays at a place for more than 15 days, one becomes a muqim. For example, if one intends to stay in Mecca for 13 days, in Arafat or Mina for 1 day, and in Mecca for 13 days again and then intends to travel to Medina, one, though one has remained in Mecca for 26 days, will be a safari throughout one's stay because one has not intended to stay at a place for more than 15 days. In this case, one must perform salats by shortening them. However, if one goes to Mecca, say, in Ramadan and intends to stay there for 1 month, one is considered a muqim in Mecca. One will be a muqim in Arafat, Mina, and Muzdalifa as well. One is not allowed to shorten fard salats then.

The same ruling is written in all fiqh books, and there is no different qawl. The difference is only in phrasing. Some examples are as follows:

If a safari intends to stay in Mecca and Mina for 15 days in total, he/she will have to shorten his/her salats because intending to stay at two places involves staying at several places, which is an obstacle to the journey's taking place. However, if the traveler intends to stay in either of them at night, one becomes a muqim as soon as one enters there because one's place of residence is considered the place where one stays at night. (Hidaya)

One who intends to stay in Mecca and Mina for 15 days in total must not perform four-rak'at fard salats as four rak'ats because one does not become a muqim by intending to stay at two different places. Even if the total number of one's stay at different places exceeds 15 days, one is still considered a safari. However, if one intends to spend the nights in either of them, then one will be a muqim on entering it because one's place of residence is attributed to the place where one sleeps. If one enters Mecca within 10 days of the month of hajj to perform hajj duty and intends to stay there for 15 days, one will not be a muqim because one has to climb Mount Arafat. One is not considered a muqim unless one stays at a place for more than 15 days. (Bahr-ur-Raiq)

If one travels from Kufa to stay in Mecca and Mina for 15 days in total, one does not perform four-rak'at fard salats as four rak'ats in Mecca because one will not stay in Mecca alone for 15 days. (Mabsut – Shaybani)

If a traveler intends to stay at a place for 15 days, he/she will be a muqim. However, if he/she intends to stay at two different places for 15 days in total, these two places are considered two different cities each. They are independent of each other. One who intends to stay in Mecca and Mina for 20 days in total will not be a muqim. One becomes a muqim only when one intends to stay in either of them for 15 days. (Tuhfat-ul-Fuqaha)

If one who intends to stay at two places, e.g., Mecca and Mina or Kufa and Hira, decides to spend the nights at either of them and moves to the other place in the daytime, one will not be a muqim if one enters in the daytime the place where one has decided to stay at night. However, one will be a muqim at night when one enters the place where one has decided to stay at night. If one sets out for a journey from there to go to the other places, one will not be a safari because one's place of residence is considered the place where one is staying. If one who performs hajj as proxy for someone else intends to stay in Mecca for 15 days or more after one's friends have left it, one will be a muqim in Mecca. (Mabsut – Sarahsi)

In the madhhabs of Shafi'i, Maliki, and Hanbali, the rules concerning safar (travel) are different from those of the Hanafi Madhhab. According to these madhhabs, one who intends to stay at a place for 4 days, excluding the days of arrival and departure, becomes a muqim. A Hanafi who also follows one of these madhhabs in salat out of necessity has to obey the rules that the second madhhab one is to follow has established concerning that act of worship and has to avoid doing whatsoever the second madhhab has pronounced to be nullifying that act of worship. That is, if such a person stays at a place that is at a safar distance for 4 days, he/she will be a muqim, so he/she is not allowed to shorten his/her salats.

Question: Suppose that a Hanafi who also follows the Maliki Madhhab in salat out of necessity or one who does not follow a second madhhab will stay for 10 days at a place that is at a safar distance. Which madhhab should such a person follow in order to combine two salats in case of necessity?
ANSWER
One who stays at a place that is at a safar distance for 10 days is considered a safari according to the Hanafi Madhhab and a muqim according to the other three madhhabs. According to the madhhabs of Maliki and Shafi'i, one is not allowed to combine two salats when one is a muqim. According to the Hanbali Madhhab, one is allowed to combine two salats if need be even when one is a muqim. If one has to follow a second madhhab in an act of worship out of necessity, one must fulfill the conditions set by the second madhhab concerning that act of worship. As a person who stays at a place for 10 days is considered a muqim according to the Hanbali Madhhab, one must do one's best to fulfill the conditions that the Hanbali Madhhab set concerning salat as much as one can. As it is fard to perform salats without shortening them when one is a muqim, one must combine salats without shortening them. A Hanafi who also follows the Maliki Madhhab or a Hanafi who does not follow a second madhhab must combine two salats this way if need be. A Hanafi, at times when he/she does not combine two salats during travel, must perform four-rak'at fard salats as two rak'ats because he/she is a safari according to the Hanafi Madhhab.

Question: Suppose that a Hanafi who also follows the Maliki Madhhab or a Hanafi who does not follow a second madhhab will stay at a place that is at a safar distance for 2 days. Which madhhab should he/she follow to combine two salats if need be?
ANSWER
One who stays at a place that is at a safar distance for 2 days is considered a safari in all of the four madhhabs. As one is considered a safari, one can combine two salats by following any of the other three madhhabs (that is, Shafi'i, Maliki, or Hanbali). However, if a Hanafi also follows the Maliki Madhhab in salat out of necessity, it is proper for such a person to combine two salats by following the Maliki Madhhab because he/she knows the rulings of the Maliki Madhhab better than he/she knows the rulings of the other madhhabs. He/she must perform four-rak'at fard salats as two rak'ats because he/she is considered a safari in all of the four madhhabs.

 
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Date of Update
29 Mart 2024 Cuma
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