Question: Suppose that a Hanafi Muslim also follows the Maliki Madhhab in salat out of necessity. How many days should he/she stay at a place so that he/she may be considered a safari (traveler)? Secondly, are the days of arrival and departure counted when calculating the duration of one's stay at a place?
ANSWER
In the Maliki Madhhab, one becomes a muqim (resident) if one stays at a place for 4 days, excluding the days of arrival and departure. [Imsak time is the criterion to be taken for the calculations of days of arrival and departure. If one arrives at one's destination after imsak time, that day is not counted. Similarly, if one departs from there after imsak time, that day is not counted, either.]
Question: Should a Hanafi Muslim who also follows the Maliki Madhhab in salat out of necessity obey the rulings of the Maliki Madhhab or those of the Hanafi Madhhab while traveling?
ANSWER
Such a person must follow the Hanafi Madhhab regarding safar distance. That is, he/she does not become a safari unless he/she covers at least 104 km. However, as for the duration of his/her stay, he/she must follow the ruling of the Maliki Madhhab. That is, in the Maliki Madhhab, one who stays at a place for 4 days, excluding the days of arrival and departure, becomes a muqim (resident).
Question: I am a Hanafi, but I also follow the Maliki Madhhab in salat out of necessity. I will set out on a journey, and I intend to stay for a week. However, I will return in a few days if I can finish all my work. Will I perform salats by shortening them?
ANSWER
You will be a safari throughout your stay as it is not certain how many days you will stay there. You will have to perform four-rak'at fard salats as two rak'ats.
Question: A Hanafi man who also follows the Maliki Madhhab in salat out of necessity intends to travel safar distance. When he reaches work, the odometer indicates 103.3 km. Is he considered a safari? Or what must be taken into consideration is the city boundary where his firm is?
ANSWER
To start with, what is important is the place of departure. That is, the distance traveled must be calculated starting from the place where there is a cemetery, factory, barracks, or river in his place of residence. His calculation should end when he arrives at such places, e.g., a cemetery, a factory, barracks, in the city he works. The place of his firm does not count. If the distance between these two places is 103 km, he will be a safari.
Question: I am a Hanafi Muslim, but I also follow the Maliki Madhhab in salat out of necessity. I intended to travel to a city to stay for 3 days there. When I reached there, I performed salats by shortening them for 1 day, but I had to stay there for a few days more. Did it invalidate my being a safari? Were my salats that I shortened valid?
ANSWER
They were valid. In the Maliki Madhhab, when one goes to a place where one intends to stay for more than 3 days, excluding the days of arrival and departure, or when one stays for more than 18 days at a place where one went for some business that one thought would take one less than 4 days, one becomes a muqim (resident). If one stays less, one becomes a safari. The rulings of the Shafi'i Madhhab are the same.
Question: I am a Hanafi Muslim, but I also follow the Maliki Madhhab in salat out of necessity. I will travel to a city to stay for 5 days there, but I do not make any intention as to how many days I will stay. Will I be a safari throughout my stay there? A second scenario is that I do not know for certain how many days I will stay there. It may be 3 days or 5 days or even more. What is the ruling on this?
ANSWER
In the Maliki Madhhab, if one knows that finishing one's work will take not less than 4 days, one will be a muqim on entering that city, even if one does not make intention. If one cannot know for sure how many days one will stay, one will be a muqim after 18 days pass. The rulings of the Shafi'i Madhhab are the same.
Question: It is stated, "In the Maliki Madhhab, when one goes to a place where one intends to stay for more than 3 days, excluding the days of arrival and departure, or when one stays for more than 18 days at a place where one went for some business that one thought would take one less than 4 days, one becomes a muqim [resident]." What do these statements mean?
ANSWER
Suppose that one goes to a city that is at a safar distance with the intention of staying there for less than 4 days. Then something comes up and one has to stay for 2 days more. Then something comes up again and one has to stay for 3 days more. If one prolongs one's stay by 2 or 3 days until 18 days, one will be a safari. In the Hanafi Madhhab, one who is in such a situation would remain a safari for life.
Question: If a Hanafi person sets out on a journey to stay for 10 days and if he/she has to also follow the Maliki Madhhab there due to an excuse, such as a chronic bodily discharge, will one still remain a safari?
ANSWER
One will not remain a safari because in this case one has to fulfill the conditions set by the Maliki Madhhab, too.
Question: Is it permissible for a Hanafi person who also follows the Maliki Madhhab in salat out of necessity to combine two salats on a journey?
ANSWER
He/she is not allowed to combine them if there is no compelling necessity or if he/she is not in difficulty.
Question: A friend of mine formulated the rulings of the Maliki Madhhab concerning travel and has determined that one becomes a muqim at a place where one performs Salat al-Fajr in three consecutive days. Is it true, indeed?
ANSWER
No, one will not be a muqim. That formula is wrong. In the madhhabs of Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali, one who stays at a place for 3 days, excluding the days of arrival and departure, becomes a safari. One who stays for 4 days or more becomes a muqim. If one who sets out on a journey reaches one's destination while the adhan for Salat al-Fajr is being called out, that day is not counted because one has reached there after imsak time, so it is regarded as the day of arrival. If one departs from there while the adhan for Salat al-Fajr is being called out, that day, as it is the day of departure, is not counted, either. If one stays for 3 days, one will have performed Salat al-Fajr 3 times. In addition to this, one will have performed it on the day of arrival and on the day of departure as well, one will have performed Salat al-Fajr 5 times. That is, even one who performs Salat al-Fajr on 5, not 3, consecutive days at the most becomes a safari. A day, Islamically, starts when imsak time starts.
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