Darul Uloom Trinidad & Tobago

Question:
assalam alaikum,
i wanted to know what is distance that qualifies us to shorten our salaah. also i wanted to know if it is compulsory to do so or can we pray our normal salaah if we wanted to and does this apply to the sunnah prayers as well. I know this is a favour from allah s.w.t and i dont want to seem ungrateful to him.

Answer:
Wa Alaikum As Salaam,
The distance that qualifies a person to shorten his salaah on journey is 48 miles.
According to many scholars, it is compulsory to shorten the 4 rakaats fard salaah and one does not have the option of performing the normal 4 rakaats (he must perform 2 rakaats).
According to the majority of the Muslim Jurists, the sunnah salaah becomes mustahab (commendable) or nafl (optional) during journey, hence the law regarding the fard salaah will not apply to the sunnah salaah. One is also allowed to leave out its performance.
With respect to the part time progs. you can contact the office at 6651442 or 6658868 to get and update of the courses and their starting time.
And Allah knows best
Mufti Waseem Khan
25/7/2013