Q598 :I have recently moved to Makkah where I found
a new job. My family which includes my parents, brother and sister
still live in Jeddah. I go to see them on weekends and holidays. When I
do, I pray normally, but when I am in Makkah I pray the shortened
prayers, as I consider myself on travel. Someone advised me that it
should be the other way round, and that I should pray the normal length
in Makkah and shorten prayer when I go to Jeddah. Please advise which
is the correct practice?
A598 : When you have taken up your job, you must
have settled in properly, renting a place to live in and buying few
things to make your stay netfortable. Suppose in a year’s time someone
asks you: Where do you live? You are bound to answer that you live in
Makkah, although your family lives in Jeddah. You may not even add the
last part about the rest of your family. Since you are traveling only
on weekends to see your family, then certainly you are a resident of
Makkah. Hence, you should pray normally in Makkah and when you leave
it, you are on travel. It is not logical that you spend five or six
days a week in a place and have employment and acnetmodation there and
you still consider that you are a traveler, simply because your family
lives elsewhere. In this situation, there is no doubt that you are a
resident of Makkah. This means that you pray normally when you are
there, and only when you travel from Makkah, you are a traveler.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )