Answered by Sidi Suheil Laher
I am a tram (train) driver in Oslo and have question about shortening prayers. I have small breaks of 3-15 minutes while I drive to the end-stations at different places? Do I have to pray full salat or can I pray shortened (qasr) prayers? And how many rakat’s do I pray different times ( fajar, zuhar, asar, maghrab, isha) ?
All praise is to Allah.
May Allah reward you for seeking beneficial religious knowledge.
If your journey [is outside city limits and] takes you sufficiently far from your home for you to be considered a traveler (musafir) for the purposes of the shari`ah (most jurists consider the cut-off to be approximately 48 miles), then you can pray Qasr (shortened) salah. In fact, in that case it is wajib, obligatory, in the Hanafi school to pray Qasr, and you can start doing so as soon as you leave the boundaries of your own city. Qasr means that you pray 2 rak`at of fard for each of Zuhr, `Asr and `Isha,’ but there is no shortening for Fajr or Maghrib which therefore remain at 2 and 3 rak`at respectively.
However, if your traveling is all within your own city, or takes you only relatively short distances (e.g. less than 48 miles) outside of the city, then you are not considered musafir, and must offer the fard prayers in full: 2 rak`at for Fajr, 4 for Zuhr, 4 for `Asr, 3 for Maghrib and 4 for `Isha’.
If a break is not long enough to allow you to both make wudu’ and pray comfortably, then you should make wudu’ beforehand (either before you start working, if possible, or on an earlier break) and then perform the fard salah on a subsequent break.
As for the sunnah prayers, if you are not a traveller (musafir), then you are expected to make an effort to offer the sunnah mu’akkadah if you are able to. But if you do not have enough time to do both the fard and the sunnah while at work, then at least you should ensure that you do the fard. You need to plan your daily schedule so that you can offer at least all of the fard prayers within their correct time.
May Allah grant you tawfiq.
And Allah knows best.
-sl