Shar'i distance

Furu' al-Din

Prayer Wajib: Daily Prayers • Essentials of Prayer • Friday Prayer • Eid Prayer • Al-Ayat Prayer • Funeral Prayer• Istijari Prayer Mustahab: Night Prayer • Ghufayla Prayer • Ja'far al-Tayyar Prayer Other types of worship Fasting • Khums • Zakat • Hajj • Jihad • Enjoining the good • Forbidding the evil • Tawalli • Tabarri Rulings on Tahara Wudu' • Ghusl • Tayammum • Najis • Mutahhirat • Tadhkiya • Dhabh Civil Law Wikala • Wasiyya • Diman • Kifala • Irth Family Law Marriage • Temporary marriage • Polygamy • Divorce • Mahr • Breastfeeding • Intercourse • Sexual gratification • Adopted child • Formula for marriage Criminal Law Judgment • Diyat • Hudud • Qisas • Ta'zir • Hoarding Economic Laws Bay' • Ijara • Qard • Riba • Majhul al-Malik • Shari'a payments Other Laws Hijab • Sadaqa • Nadhr • Taqlid • Foods and drinks • Waqf See also Fiqh • Rulings of Shari'a • Manual of Islamic law • Puberty • Wajib • Haram • Mustahab • Mubah • Makruh

Shar'i distance (Arabic: المَسافَة الشَّرعِیَّة) is the minimum distance from one's hometown that by leaving it, one is regarded as a traveller (musāfir) in Islamic jurisprudence and should thus shorten his prayer and break his fasting. According to the majority of Shiite jurists, the Shar'i distance is eight parasangs, both a one-way trip or a round trip.

Difference Between Distance and the Limit of Tarakhkhus

According to Shiite jurists, if a person sets out with the intention of visiting a place that is about eight parasangs (equivalent to forty to forty-five kilometers), This 8-parasang is the Shar'i distance.

The traveler can shorten their prayers or break their fast only if they have travelled a certain distance. This is called the limit of Tarakhkhus (the distance at which the call for prayers in the departed city is not heard or the walls of its houses are not visible). This criterion also applies to when one arrives in his or her hometown or where one will stay for over ten days.

Calculation of the Shar'i Distance

In the fasting section of Wasa'il al-Shi'a, Shaykh al-Hurr al-'Amili cited over thirty hadiths regarding the shar'i distance. According to these hadiths, there are different criteria for such a distance:

• The distance travelled by a caravan during a day,

• Eight parasangs

• Two "barid"s (the distance between two stations travelled by a mailman on foot or on a horse)

• Twenty-four miles.

In some hadiths, two or three criteria are mentioned together. According to a hadith from Imam al-Rida (a), eight parasangs equal to the distance travelled by a caravan during a day. According to a hadith from Imam al-Sadiq (a), two barids equal to 24 miles.

Calculation in Kilometers

Shiite scholars of jurisprudence have disagreed over how many kilometers a parasang is. Therefore, they calculate the 8-parasang criteria differently: 40 kilomers, 43 kilometers, 44 kilometers, and 45 kilometers.

Distance or Intended Distance

According to the fatwa of the majority of Shiite jurists, one counts as a Shar'i traveler when he or she intends to travel eight parasangs from the very beginning of their travel. But if they travel such a distance without having had such an intention, then they cannot shorten their prayers or break their fasts. For example, if one is looking for a lost person without intending to travel eight parasangs, but happens to travel such a distance, then one does not count as a Shar'i traveler.