Jubair bin Nafeer says: Hazrat Abu Samt came to a place called Dumein, which is eighteen miles from Homs, and there he performed two rak'ahs of prayer. I said: Are you performing only two rak'ahs of prayer? He said: I saw Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) performing two rak'ahs of prayer at Dhu'l-Hulaifah, and when I asked him about it, he said: I will do as I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) doing.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) traveled from Madinah Munawwarah (and in another narration: we traveled between Makkah and Madinah in the company of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) feared none but Allah Almighty, yet even so, until his return, he continued to perform two rak‘ahs of prayer.

Sayyiduna Haritha bin Wahb Khuzai (may Allah be pleased with him) says: We performed the Zuhr and Asr prayers in Mina with the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as two rak‘ahs each, even though at that time the number of people was the greatest and there was complete safety. The essence of these hadiths is that the shortening (qasr) of prayer is not related to the fear of the enemy or only to a journey of jihad, rather, in every journey, the prayer will be shortened, whether there is safety or fear.

Musa bin Salamah says: We were in Makkah with Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him). I said: When we are with you, we perform four rak‘ahs of prayer, and when we return to our residences, we perform two rak‘ahs (shortened prayer). Sayyiduna Abdullah said: This is the Sunnah of Abu al-Qasim (peace and blessings be upon him).

(Second chain) I said to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both: When you do not find the congregational prayer in the mosque, how many rak‘ahs do you pray in Batha’? He said: I pray two rak‘ahs, and this is the Sunnah of Abu al-Qasim, peace and blessings be upon him.

(The third chain) I asked Abdullah bin Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both: When I am in Mecca, how should I pray there? He replied: Two rak‘ahs, and this is the Sunnah of Abu al-Qasim, peace and blessings be upon him and his family.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I prayed in Mina with the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Sayyiduna Abu Bakr, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with them), and with Sayyiduna Uthman for six years; they used to pray the traveller’s prayer.

Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik Ansari رضي الله عنه narrates: The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم led us in four rak‘ahs of Zuhr prayer in the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, and at the place of Dhu’l-Hulayfah he led us in two rak‘ahs of ‘Asr prayer. This was during the journey of Hajjat al-Wada‘. He صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم was in a state of security and was not afraid of anyone.

Yahya bin Yazid Hanai says: I asked Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) about the shortened prayer (Qasr Salah) and said that I go towards Kufa and keep offering two rak'ahs of prayer until I return. Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to offer two rak'ahs of prayer when he went out for a distance of three miles or three farsakhs. Imam Shu'bah was uncertain about this.

Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) says: Forty Ansari men were sent by us to ‘Abd al-Malik in Syria, so that he might appoint something for us. When he (Anas, may Allah be pleased with him) returned and we reached the place of Fajj al-Naqah, he led us in the ‘Asr prayer, performing two rak‘ahs, and after saying salam, he went into his tent. But what happened was that the (followers) stood up and began to perform two more rak‘ahs along with those two. Upon this, Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: May Allah disfigure these faces! By Allah, they have neither attained the Sunnah nor accepted the concession. I bear witness that I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: Indeed, some people will go to extremes and excess in the religion, but then will leave the religion just as an arrow leaves the prey.