Yahya reports that I asked Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) about shortening the prayer (qasr), so he said: We traveled with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) from Madinah Munawwarah to Makkah Mukarramah (during this journey), and we kept performing two rak‘ahs until we returned (to Madinah Munawwarah). I asked him: Did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stay in Makkah Mukarramah? He replied: Yes, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stayed in Makkah Mukarramah for ten days. These are the words of the narration of Duraqi. In the narration of Ahmad bin Abda, it is stated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) kept leading us in two rak‘ahs. Ahmad and Amr bin Ali narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that we set out with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Both did not mention that I asked Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him). Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says: I do not remember any hadith among the ahadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in which it is mentioned that he intended to stay for a fixed period during any journey, except for this one journey in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Makkah Mukarramah for the Farewell Hajj. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Makkah Mukarramah with the firm intention of Hajj, and he arrived in Makkah Mukarramah on the morning of the 4th of Dhul-Hijjah.

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) arrived in Makkah Mukarramah on the morning of the 4th of Dhul-Hijjah. Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) arrived in Makkah Mukarramah on the morning of the 4th of Dhul-Hijjah, and he stayed in Makkah Mukarramah for four days, except for the time he spent traveling to reach Makkah Mukarramah on the 4th of Dhul-Hijjah, and a part of the fifth day when he firmly intended to stay after reaching Makkah Mukarramah. Thus, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stayed for the remainder of the 4th day, the 5th, 6th, 7th, and a part of the 8th day, the day of Tarwiyah. Then, on the day of Tarwiyah (the 8th), the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) departed from Makkah Mukarramah and performed the Zuhr prayer in Mina.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abdul Aziz Rafi that he says: I asked Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), "Tell me something that you understood from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): Where did you perform the Zuhr prayer on the Day of Tarwiyah?" He replied, "In Mina." Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says: I say that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stayed in Mina for the rest of the Day of Tarwiyah and the night of Arafah. Then, in the morning of Arafah, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) set out towards the place of standing (wuquf) in Arafat, and (upon reaching there) combined the Zuhr and Asr prayers. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) went to the place of standing and remained standing there (supplicating and remembering Allah) until sunset. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) departed from there and reached Muzdalifah, where he combined and performed the Maghrib and Isha prayers, and spent the night resting in Muzdalifah until morning. Then he performed the Fajr prayer in Muzdalifah, and then set out from there and returned to Mina. Thus, he stayed in Mina for the remaining part of the Day of Sacrifice (Yawm al-Nahr), the complete two days of Tashreeq, and part of the third day of Tashreeq. Then, when the sun declined during the days of Tashreeq, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stoned the Jamarat and proceeded to Makkah Mukarramah. Accordingly, on the last day of the days of Tashreeq, he performed the Zuhr and Asr prayers in Makkah Mukarramah, then performed the Maghrib and Isha prayers there, and then rested for a while in the valley of Muhassab. In this way, these were a total of ten days that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stayed in Makkah Mukarramah, twice in Mina, and in Arafat. Whereas Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) considered all these days as being in Makkah Mukarramah, even though Mina and Arafat are not included in Makkah Mukarramah; rather, both are outside and separate from Makkah Mukarramah, and Arafat is even outside the boundaries of the Haram. So, how can an area outside the boundaries of the Haram be counted as part of Makkah Mukarramah? Whereas the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), while mentioning Makkah Mukarramah and its sanctity, said: "Indeed, Allah Almighty declared Makkah Mukarramah as a sanctuary (Haram) from the day He created the heavens and the earth. Therefore, it is sacred due to Allah's declaration of sanctity until the Day of Resurrection. Its game should not be frightened, its trees should not be cut, and its grass and herbs should not be cut." Thus, if Arafat were included in Makkah Mukarramah, then hunting would not be permissible for a hunter in Arafat, nor would its trees be cut, nor its grass be cut. And there is consensus among the people of Islam that Arafat is outside the boundaries of the Haram. In this is evidence and clarification that Arafat is not included in Makkah Mukarramah, even though the term "Makkah Mukarramah" applies to the entire boundaries of the Haram, but Arafat is not included in it because it is outside the boundaries of the Haram, and Mina is separate from the population and buildings of Makkah Mukarramah. It is possible that the term "Makkah Mukarramah" applies to the entire Haram, so Mina is also included in the Haram. I think that the hadith of Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) is evidence that the area behind the adjacent buildings of Makkah Mukarramah is not included in Makkah Mukarramah, and likewise, the hadith of Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) is also evidence of this.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that when the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would enter Makkah Mukarramah, he would enter from its upper part, and (when he would leave) he would leave from its lower part.

Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) entered Makkah from the upper part, from the direction of Kada, in the year of the conquest of Makkah. Hazrat Hisham states that my respected father, Sayyiduna Urwah (may Allah be pleased with him), would enter from both sides (upper and lower), and my esteemed father would mostly enter from the direction of Kada.

Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) entered Makkah Mukarramah from the upper Thaniyyah near Batha and exited from the lower Thaniyyah. Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that Sayyiduna Ibn Umar’s statement that the Prophet (peace be upon him) entered Makkah Mukarramah from the upper Thaniyyah is evidence that Thaniyyah is not within Makkah Mukarramah. However, Thaniyyah and the area after it are within Makkah Mukarramah. And Kada’ and the area after it are also within the Haram up to those markers which have been placed to indicate the boundaries of the Haram and Hil. How can it be said that the Prophet (peace be upon him) entered Makkah from within Makkah? Thus, if Thaniyyah and Kada’ were part of Makkah, it could never be said that the Prophet (peace be upon him) entered Makkah from Thaniyyah and Kada’. It is possible to argue that the entire Haram is included in Makkah Mukarramah because the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:“Indeed, Allah declared Makkah sacred on the day He created the heavens and the earth.”Therefore, the name Makkah can be applied to the entire Haram. However, what is commonly known among people is that Makkah Mukarramah is that settlement whose buildings are connected to each other. A person may say that so-and-so went from Makkah to Mina and returned from Mina to Makkah Mukarramah, and when you reflect on the ahadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) regarding Hajj, you will find many ahadith in this meaning. But the areas of Arafat and those beyond the Haram are, without any doubt, not included in Makkah Mukarramah. And the evidence for this is that the Prophet (peace be upon him) departed from Mina on the third day of the days of Tashreeq. (So the following is Hadith number 962.)

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) performed the Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha prayers (in Makkah Mukarramah), then rested for a while in the valley of Muhassab, then he (peace and blessings be upon him) rode and came to the House of Allah and performed its Tawaf. Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that then the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) set out for Madinah Munawwarah that very night.

Umm al-Mu’minin Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) described some aspects of the Hajj of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered his noble companions (may Allah be pleased with them) to depart, the people began to set out. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by the House of Allah at the time of the morning prayer (Fajr) during departure, he performed Tawaf of it. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came out from the House of Allah, mounted (his ride), and set out towards Madinah Munawwarah.

Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says: We have not heard regarding any jurist or scholar of religion that he considered the area after the contiguous population and buildings of a city to be part of that city, even if the area after the population is within the boundaries of that city and among the lands attributed to it. To our knowledge, there is no difference of opinion among the scholars that if a person sets out from a city with the intention of travel and goes beyond the contiguous population and buildings, then he may shorten the prayer (qasr), even if the land after the population is within the boundaries of that city.

Similarly, to our knowledge, there is no difference of opinion among the scholars that when a person wishes to return to a city and enters some of its lands but has not entered the population, and he is still outside the limits of the contiguous population, then he may shorten the prayer until he enters the joined population, and I do not know of any difference among the scholars in this matter: that if a person sets out from Makkah Mukarramah with the intention of travel, whether he is a resident of Makkah or a temporary resident there, he may shorten the prayer within the boundaries of Makkah—when he has left the stations of Makkah Mukarramah and left all the population behind him, even if he goes far within the boundaries of the Haram, he may shorten the prayer.

When the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Makkah Mukarramah for his Hajj, he left Makkah Mukarramah on the Day of Tarwiyah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) left all the population of Makkah Mukarramah behind and set out for Mina, while Mina is not included within the city of Makkah Mukarramah. Therefore, from a juristic point of view, it is not correct to say about a person who has set out from the city with the intention of travel and for whom it was permissible to shorten the prayer, that when he has left the population of the city, he is still within the city. Because if he is still within the city, then it is not correct for him to shorten the prayer until he leaves the city.

Therefore, from a juristic perspective, the correct view is that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stayed in Makkah Mukarramah for only three complete days and nights during the Farewell Hajj—on the 5th, 6th, and 7th dates. Part of the 4th date except for its night, and the night of the 8th date and part of its day. Therefore, there was no firm intention to stay for four days and nights in any one city.

Thus, this narration, when you reflect upon it, does not contradict the statement of the people of Hijaz that whoever firmly intends to stay at one place for four days should perform the complete prayer. Because their opponents say that if a person firmly intends to stay in a city for ten days, and intends to stay for four days outside that city in lands belonging to that city, which are at a double distance like that between Makkah Mukarramah and Mina, not a single distance, and spends a night and a day at a third place which is at the distance of Arafat from Mina, then he may shorten the prayer. And according to them, this is not a firm intention to stay at one place for fifteen days, because in their view, whoever intends to stay for fifteen days, it becomes obligatory for him to perform the complete prayer.