ElifHow do you pray when travelling (qasr)?
Short answer
Someone who leaves their town to go to a place at least 90 km away and intends to stay there fewer than 15 days is a traveller (musafir). A traveller prays the fard of Dhuhr, Asr and Isha as two rak'ahs each (qasr); Fajr and Maghrib do not change. They may leave the sunnahs, but if they pray them, they pray them in full. According to the Hanafis, this shortening is not optional but obligatory.
Who counts as a traveller?
- Distance: the destination must be at least 90 km away, and you must be heading for a specific destination.
- Start: travel begins once you pass the last houses of your town. For someone leaving a large city by private car, the district municipal boundary is taken as the limit; for public transport, the coach station, railway station, airport or port.
- Length of stay: someone who intends to stay fewer than 15 days at the destination remains a traveller; someone who intends to stay 15 days or more becomes a resident (muqim). Someone who does not know how long they will stay is a traveller.
- Original home: the place where you were born and raised, or where you have settled with your family, is your original home (watan asli); you do not become a traveller when you go there.
How a traveller prays
- The fard of Dhuhr, Asr and Isha is prayed as 2 rak'ahs. Fajr (2) and Maghrib (3) do not change; witr is also prayed as 3 rak'ahs.
- Praying the sunnahs is not compulsory; if they are prayed, they are prayed in full without shortening, and they may also be prayed on a vehicle.
- A traveller following a resident imam prays the full prayer (4 rak'ahs) with the imam.
- A travelling imam leads two rak'ahs; the residents behind him stand up after he gives the salam and complete their prayer.
- A four-rak'ah prayer missed while travelling is made up as 2 rak'ahs even if it is made up later at home; a prayer missed while at home is made up as 4 rak'ahs while travelling.
Someone who prays four rak'ahs by mistake has fulfilled the fard if they sat after the second rak'ah, and the last two rak'ahs count as voluntary; however, this is not correct practice.
Is it permissible to combine prayers (jam')?
In the Hanafi school, prayers are combined only during Hajj (at Arafat and Muzdalifah). The Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools, however, allow Dhuhr to be combined with Asr, and Maghrib with Isha, for reasons such as travel. According to Türkiye's Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), a Hanafi with a serious reason may combine prayers by following these schools.
- The prayer whose time comes first is prayed first; the two prayers are prayed one after the other without doing anything else in between, and the sunnahs between them are not prayed.
- Fajr is never combined with any prayer.
- Combining should be limited to genuine need and should not become a habit.
Praying on a plane, coach or train
Voluntary prayers can be prayed on a vehicle. The fard prayers, however, normally require standing (qiyam), bowing (ruku'), prostration (sujud) and facing the qibla, so they are not prayed on a vehicle; where possible, the prayer is prayed before or after the journey, during a break, or by combining. If none of these is possible, passengers on a coach, train or plane pray in their seats using gestures (ima'). On a ship, the basic rule is to pray standing and facing the qibla, turning towards the qibla as the ship changes direction.
Differences between schools
For the Shafi'is, intending to stay 4 days, not counting the days of arrival and departure, is enough to become a resident; shortening the prayer is a concession (praying in full is also permissible), and you must intend to shorten in each prayer. According to the Shafi'is, a prayer missed while travelling is made up at home as 4 rak'ahs.
Related verses
- An-Nisa 4:101 —
…there is no blame upon you for shortening the prayer…
- Al-Baqarah 2:185 —
Allāh intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship…
Quotations are from the Saheeh International translation; links open the full verse on Quran.com.
Frequently asked
How many kilometres make you a traveller?
You become a traveller when you leave your town to go to a place at least 90 km away.
How many days do I have to stay to become a resident?
According to the Hanafis, you become a resident when you intend to stay 15 days or more where you have gone. According to the Shafi'is, it is 4 days.
Am I a traveller when I visit my home town or my parents?
Not if it is still your original home. If you have settled with your family in another city and your home town is no longer your original home, you become a traveller if the 90 km condition is met.
Should I pray the sunnahs while travelling?
It is not compulsory; if you pray them, you pray them in full without shortening.
In Elif
Elif comes with you when you travel: prayer times for the city you are in are calculated automatically from your location, the Qibla compass works offline, and you can plan your stops with the tool that shows nearby mosques.
Sources
- Diyanet, Prayer Manual (Namaz İlmihali), DİB Publications, pp. 175–192 (in Turkish)
- Diyanet High Council of Religious Affairs — What do watan asli, watan iqamah and watan sukna mean? (in Turkish)
- Diyanet High Council of Religious Affairs — How is the start of travel determined? (in Turkish)
- Diyanet High Council of Religious Affairs — How does a traveller pray behind a resident imam? (in Turkish)
- Diyanet High Council of Religious Affairs — Can prayers be combined? (in Turkish)
- Diyanet High Council of Religious Affairs — Can obligatory or voluntary prayers be prayed on transport? (in Turkish)
- TDV Encyclopedia of Islam — Travel (Islamic law) (in Turkish)
This page is compiled from the rulings of Türkiye's Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) and the sources listed. Rulings follow the Hanafi school; where other schools differ, this is noted. For your personal situation, please ask a scholar at your local mosque. Last updated: 5 October 2026.