Ask five people how far you must travel to pray qasr and you may hear five answers: 43 km, 48 miles, 77 km, 81 km, 92 km. They are not really contradictory. Each is a modern conversion of a classical measure, and the schools started from different classical measures.
The classical units
Early jurists measured distance in the units of their time:
- Dhira' (cubit): the forearm length, roughly 46 to 49 cm.
- Mil (mile): usually 4,000 dhira'. The Hashimi mile is often put at about 1.85 km, slightly longer than the English mile of 1.609 km.
- Farsakh (parasang): 3 miles, around 5 to 5.6 km depending on the mile used.
- Barid: 4 farsakh, around 20 to 22 km.
- Marhalah: a day's travel by laden camel or on foot at a moderate pace.
The Hanafi position: three days' journey
Imam Abu Hanifah's school defines a journey by time: three days of travel at a moderate pace, walking or with laden camels, resting as normal. Later scholars translated this into distance. In the Indian subcontinent, Deobandi scholars such as Mufti Muhammad Shafi gave 48 miles, about 77.25 km. Barelvi scholars, following Imam Ahmad Raza Khan and Bahar-e-Shariat, give 57.5 miles, about 92 km. Other Hanafi authorities give different figures again, which is why a custom threshold is worth having.
The Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali position: four burud
The majority take four burud, based on reports that Ibn Abbas and Ibn Umar shortened on journeys of that length. Four burud equals 16 farsakh or 48 miles. With the longer Hashimi mile that comes to around 88 to 89 km, a figure Dr Wahbah al-Zuhayli used. Many modern fatwas round it to 80 or 81 km. Note that the Shafi'i "48 miles" is not the same distance as the Hanafi "48 miles", because they use different miles.
The Shia Ja'fari position: 8 farsakh
Ja'fari fiqh, based on narrations from the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt, sets the distance at 8 shar'i farsakh. Maraji' convert this to about 43 to 45 km. The journey can also be "combined" (talfiqi): going at least 4 farsakh and coming back, for a total of 8, also counts.
Conversions at a glance
| School or scholar | Classical measure | Common modern figure |
|---|---|---|
| Hanafi (Deobandi) | 3 days' journey | 48 mi, 77.25 km |
| Hanafi (Barelvi) | 3 days' journey | 57.5 mi, about 92 km |
| Shafi'i | 4 burud, 2 marhalah | 81 to 89 km |
| Maliki | 4 burud | about 80 km |
| Hanbali | 4 burud | about 80 km |
| Salafi (Ibn Baz) | 4 burud, approximately | about 80 km |
| Some Ahl-e-Hadith | 3 farsakh (hadith of Anas) | about 16 km |
| Ja'fari (Sistani) | 8 farsakh | about 43 km |
| Ja'fari (Khamenei) | 8 farsakh | about 45 km |
Road distance or straight line?
Most contemporary scholars measure the route you actually travel, so a winding mountain road counts in full. For flights, the distance flown is used. If two routes exist and you take the longer one, many scholars count the route you took, as long as you didn't choose it only to gain the concession. Scholars differ on this, so ask if it matters for your trip.
The calculator uses the figures above by default and lets you enter your own scholar's threshold under More factors.