The distance of shortening the prayer measured by the Hashimite miles

4-11-2007 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalamu alaikum.Thank you for fatwa no.99571.I think there is a slight mistake in the distance for shortening and combining prayer when I checked the fiqh book.The distance mentioned is 48 Hashimiya miles which is equivalent to 83 miles(not kilometre mentioned in your site)which is equivalent to 134 kilometres.Hashimiya is the tribal family name of Prophet Muhammed(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)who uses this Hashimia measurement.Hope you will clarify.Thank you.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

 

The distance for a travelling person to shorten the prayer is 4 Burd, which equals 16 Fursakh. People differed in opinion about estimating this distance in kilometres. Some of them said it equals 88,704 km, while others estimated it approximately to equal 86 km.

4 Burd is equivalent to 48 Hashimite miles, as mentioned by the questioner, but it does not equal 83 miles, by the measurement of today, so we do not know where he got this reference from.

Allaah Knows best.