And when travel became obligatory for jihad and hijrah, and since travel in general is a source of hardship, how much more so is the case with their travel, along with the additional hardship involved in it due to the fear of enemies? He mentioned the easing of prayer by shortening it, with His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: "And when you travel"; meaning: during travel; "in the land"; any travel it may be; for a purpose other than disobedience. And since shortening is a concession, not an obligation, He clarified it with His saying: "there is no sin upon you"; meaning: no sin; and no blame; in "that you shorten"; and since shortening is specific to some prayers, He brought the preposition for that; and to indicate that it is in quantity, not in manner. He said: "of the prayer"; meaning: so shorten if you wish; and complete if you wish. The Sunnah clarified the specific prayers that are shortened, and how much is to be shortened from them in terms of rak'ahs; and that shortening is about quantity, not about manner, such as in gestures. In the prayer of fear, with the words of Umar - may Allah be pleased with him - to Ya'la bin Umayyah when he said to him: "How can you shorten while we are safe?" - I was astonished by what you were astonished by; so I asked the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - about that; and the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - said: "It is a charity that Allah has bestowed upon you; so accept His charity." This is the reality of shortening; and what is indicated by "of"; and as for gestures and similar methods of the prayer of fear, they are substitutions, not shortening. The context, as you see, indicates the great concern regarding it; and that nothing exempts it from the one obligated. And it is established that risking one's life and wealth does not exempt jihad or hijrah; for fear and danger are the foundation of their matter; and the primary aim of them. This is the secret of His saying: "If you fear that they will tempt you"; meaning: mix with you in a disturbing manner; "those who disbelieved"; not that it is a condition for shortening, as the Sunnah has clarified the negation of its condition. The result is that this condition was mentioned for this purpose, not to contradict the understood meaning of the spoken words, as evidenced by the Sunnah. And prayer was two rak'ahs, two rak'ahs before hijrah; and it was completed after hijrah, indicating that Medina is the abode of residence; and what was before it was a place of travel and transition. Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated, and Ahmad - and this is its wording - from Aisha - may Allah be pleased with her - who said: "Prayer was prescribed as two rak'ahs, two rak'ahs; and when the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - arrived in Medina, the prayer of travel was confirmed, and the prayer of residence was increased."

And when he mentioned the fear from them; he explained it; indicating with the manifestation the place of the concealment; and with the active participle that whoever engages in disbelief for even a moment; he is immersed in it; or that the one who is naturally inclined to enmity; referred to by the term of being; is indeed the one firmly established in disbelief; whose death is decreed upon him; so he said: "Indeed, the disbelievers"; meaning: those firmly established among them in disbelief; "were"; meaning: by nature and disposition; and perhaps he indicated that they are overpowered; by saying: "for you"; without "upon you"; "an enemy"; and since the enemy is something in which the singular and plural are equal; he said: "manifest"; meaning: clear in enmity; they seek to harm you; whenever they find a way to do so; for perhaps they found an opportunity for that during the length of the prayer; so I shortened it; and if there were no allowance in it in any way; I would have lifted it from you in such a situation; or I would have made the easing in the time; so I commanded to delay; but there is no purity for the souls without their action according to what I specified from the time; and otherwise.