Fatwa ID: 03062

Answered by:  Aalimah Nasima Umm Hamza​

Question:

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah

I performed Haj with my family last year alhamdullilah.

I checked the internet and it showed 8th zilhaj will be on 19th Aug, so I calculated our stay in Makkah would be 5-18

We started from Home on 4th Aug 4 pm and reached Makkah 5th Aug 00:00 and were in Mina 19th Aug 04:00 am. I was praying Qasr when alone and also in Haj. But few people from my group were praying full, I said we were only 14 days in Makkah but they said they checked with Mufti before leaving India which I didn't. I got confused and checked after coming from haj and few clarified that reading Qasar was correct.

Please help to answer below:

1. Is reading Qasar correct?

2. Musafir reads 4 rakats for a couple of days and comes to know he should read Qasr and corrects himself again?

3. Musafir reads 2 rakats but due to some confusion reads 4 again. Do the first 2 rakats only count and later 4 will be Nafl?

4. I am unable to forgive myself and always think I should have checked with any Mufti (even though it came to my mind and didn’t ask) before leaving in order to avoid confusion and regret that I have made a mistake. Even after repentance to Allah, I still think the same that I took my family and cannot guide them properly. How can I come out from this?

Answer:

بسماللهالرحمنالرحيم

In The Name Of Allah, The Most-Merciful, The Most Kind

1-  The rulings of a Musafir apply to the traveller when he sets out and does not intend to stay in the same place for 15 days or more. [^[1]] Since you only spent 14 days in Makkah from when your journey started, you would have been considered a Musafir and should have prayed in qasr.

2 and 3- It is an obligation for the Musafir to do qasr of his salah by offering 2 Rakat in place of the 4 Rakat prayers. If he prays 4 Rakat, then in both circumstances mentioned, the first 2 Rakat will fulfil the obligation and the last 2 Rakat will be considered as nafl, so long as he sat for the duration of the tashahhud after the first 2 Rakat.^[2]]

4- What you have done is correct, when you set off for Hajj, you made intention that you would stay in Makkah for less than 15 days therefore you performed qasr. Even if you had stayed on longer in Makkah, your intention was to have left before 15 days, so qasr would have continued. Abdullah ibn Umar (RA) stayed in Azerbaijan for 6 months performing Qasr because he never intended to stay for more than 15 days. Similar situations have also been reported from other sahabah (ra). [^[3]]

You have done the correct thing by making tawbah for any mistakes you may have made. A part of making tawbah is to also have hope in the Divine Mercy and Forgiveness of Allah (SWT) because He is Ar-Rahman (the Most Merciful) and al-Ghafoor (the most Forgiving). Think good of Allah (SWT) and know that Allah (SWT) does not fail on His promises.

As humans, we will all make mistakes sometimes, but it is important that we learn a lesson from our mistakes and use them to become stronger as believers. Alhamdulillah, you have learned the correct fiqh and have also been able to gain closeness to Allah (swt) by lowering yourself to Him in tawbah.

Only Allah (swt) knows best

Answered By Aalimah Nasima Umm Hamza

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham