The Shar’ee Safar Distance

The original position of the Hanafi Madhab in this regard is that the rulings of Safar only apply to a person once they have covered a distance equivalent to three days of moderate pace walking. This will factor in time for rests and will only count Fajr till midday (on the shortest day of the year) as travelling time. Depending on whether the journey was made on flat land, mountainous terrain or by sea, the Shar’ee Safar distance will vary.

However, due to confusion anticipated from the ambiguity of this stipulation, the Fuqahaa fixed a number of miles which they considered to be the average Safar distance in their respective times and places. The variety of opinions recorded in the Fiqh books stems from the fact that the length of the days differed from place to place, affecting the aggregate distance covered. Moreover, while some Fuqahaa specified the shortest day of the year for calculation, others chose the medium or longest days of the year instead.

It should be noted that there are no hard and fast rules with regard to which option one chooses. Although certain Ulama may give preference to one stipulation over another, it remains an estimation nonetheless. Even among the elders of Deoband, a wide range of opinions existed. That being said, once an option has been preferred (either through independent research or by following the opinion of a reliable scholar) it should be adhered to in all cases.

A list of the different estimations that have been proffered by the Fuqahaa is as follows:

1) 12 Farsakh (36 miles)

2) 15 Farsakh (45 miles)

3) 16 Farsakh (48 miles)

4) 18 Farsakh (54 miles)

5) 21 Farsakh (63 miles)

Many Ulamaa have given Fatwa on the fourth option, such as Allamah ibn Mazah al-Bukhari, Allamah Kaki, Allamah Shami Rahimahumullah. This opinion has also been ascribed to Allamah Marghinani Rahimahullah.

Others have issued Fatwa according to the second option of 45 miles, such as the Mashaikh of Khawarizm. Allamah Kasani Rahimahullah has also leaned towards this view.

In our opinion, the correct option is the third one, i.e., that the Shar’ee Safar distance is 48 miles. In fact, the closeness between these two options (15 and 16 Farsakh) means that the latter can actually be regarded as a cautious version of the former. While this opinion features relatively less in the Hanafi fiqh books, we believe it to be preferred over the other estimations for the following reasons:

Among the Sahaabah Radiallahu Anhum and early Mujtahid Imams are those that have chosen 48 miles as the Shar’ee Safar distance. They include: Abdullah bin Umar Radiallahu Anhu, Abdullah bin Abbas Radiallahu Anhu, Imam Malik Rahimahullah, Imam Shafi’ee Rahimahullah, and Allamah Yusuf al-Jurjani Rahimahullah from the Hanafi Fuqahaa. This opinion has also been widely adopted by the elders of the Indian subcontinent.

In the last few years, a book entitled الأميال الحجرية has attracted increasing attention. The author, Dr. Abdullah al-Qadi, claims to have discovered 55 milestones on the path from Madinah Munawwarah to Makkah Mukarramah. After measuring the distance between the milestones, which date back to the early days of Islamic rule, the author found that the average length of the mile is 1.609km. This finding led the author to conclude that the Shar’ee mile is no different to the British mile.

This claim is corroborated by examples in the Ahadeeth and books of Hajj wherein the distance between two locations is given in Shar’ee miles; when the same distance is measured today, the reading in British miles happens to closely correspond. Below are a few examples of this:-

1) A Hadeeth in Musnad Ahmad describes the distance between Sarif and al-Haram al-Makki to be 9 miles. The distance between the two points on Google Maps comes to about 9 miles (14.48km). It should be noted that today Sarif is called al-Nawwariyah.

2) Imam Abu Ishaq al-Harbi V (285 AH) has stated the distance between Masjid al-Nabawi Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam and Masjid al-Miqat in Dhul Hulayfah to be 5 and a half miles. The distance between the two points on Google Maps comes to about 5.69 miles (9.16km). This is also confirmed by a Hadeeth which explains that the Haram (holy precincts) of Madinah Shareef stretches one Barid in all directions (i.e. the Haram forms a circle with a 12-mile diameter and Masjid al-Nabawi at its centre). According to this Hadeeth, the distance between Masjid al-Nabawi and Dhul Hulayfah should be 6 miles (which it roughly is).

3) The distance between Makkah and Asfaan has been described by Ibn Abbas Radhiyallahu Anhuma as being 4 Barids (48 miles). This distance comes to 75.2km according to Google Maps. The slight decrease from 77.3km can be explained by the fact that pinpoint GPS signals did not exist in those times, because of which they had to suffice on their Ghalaba Zann (dominant presumption).

In his book ‘Awzan-e-Shar’iyyah’, Mufti Shafi Uthmani Rahimahullah states that the senior Ulamaa of India adopted 48 British miles as the Shar’ee Safar distance. Although some may argue that Mufti Shafi Saheb Rahimahullah’s conversion of 45 Shar’ee miles into 48 British miles is problematic, this was his personal judgement which he did not attribute to anyone else. The fact still remains that senior Ulamaa of India chose 48 British miles as a suitable Shar’ee Safar distance. The claim that these Ulama (who Mufti Shafi Saheb Rahimahullah refers to as ‘Muhaqqiqeen Ulama Hindustan’) also came to their conclusion by incorrectly converting 45 Shar’ee miles into 48 British miles is unfounded. In fact, Mufti Rasheed Ahmed Ludhyanwi Rahimahullah has quoted a book ‘Shar’ee Masaafat’ of Moulana Meharban Ali Rahimahullah wherein it is stated that the Akaabir actually intended British miles in their Fataawa. Despite being unable to access this book, the fact that Mufti Rasheed Saheb Rahimahullah agreed with this claim gives us confidence that the author provided sufficient evidence to make his point.  Furthermore, if one considers the different opinions of the Deobandi elders (24, 36, 45, 48 miles), it becomes clear that they were not basing their calculations off opinions found in the Fiqh books, but rather off what they saw to be equal to a three-day journey.

On the contrary, there are other Ulamaa who have argued that one Shar’ee mile is equal to 1.85km. A mile has been defined in the books of Fiqh as the distance equal to 4,000 ذراع (cubit length) The conversion rate of 1 mile to 1.85km is based on the measurement of a ذراع being 46.2cm. Consequently, 4000 ذراع would come to 1.848km and 48 miles would equate to 88.7km. These figures are much more accurate and reliable than the ones presented by Dr. Abdullah al-Qadi (which seem to have been presented to accommodate his conclusion that one Shar’ee mile is 1.6km), and form a credible basis for the claim that a Shar’ee mile is equivalent to 1.85km.

However, the issue with this conversion rate is its incompatibility with the figures mentioned in the aforementioned texts. According to this rate, 9.16km (the distance between Haram Madani and Dhul Hulayfah) would be less than 5 miles. Likewise, the 9 miles between Sarif and Makkah should come to 16.7km, but it doesn’t. The distance from Makkah to Asfan should be close to 89km, yet it is far from it.

Despite valid arguments being found on both sides, the conclusion of Dr. Abdullah Qadi seems to enjoy the lion’s share of the evidence. Therefore, we will base our Shar’ee Safar distance on the premise that a Shar’ee mile is equal in length to a British mile, unless further evidence surfaces to the contrary.

To get an accurate, real-life representation of an average Safar distance, it would be helpful to apply the method outlined by the Fuqahaa for determining the Shar’ee Safar distance. After calculating the time from Fajr to midday on the shortest day of the year, one can work out how much distance is covered in that time, accommodating breaks in between. This amount is then multiplied by three to provide the total distance of a three-day journey.

We decided to apply this method to a journey in the Hijaz area as an example. Here is a breakdown of the findings:

The time between Fajr and midday on the shortest day of the year in Makkatul Mukarramah comes to around 6 hours and 42 minutes (5:32am – 12:14pm). The distance between Haram Shareef and Arafat is 25.6 km (via Rd 4 and Rd 56), with the time taken to traverse the distance being 6 hours and 5 minutes (according to Google Maps). With 37 minutes given for breaks, the total travel time for one day comes to 6 hours and 42 minutes (equal to the time between Fajr and midday) and the total distance covered for the day is 25.6km. Multiply this by three and you get the distance covered in three days, which is 76.8km. According to this example, the closest Safar distance option would be the 77.3km estimation, while the 15 Farsakh (45 miles) option would fall slightly short.

Naturally, the shortest day of the year will differ from place to place, with the UK having winter days as short as 7.5 hours! However, a standardised Shar’ee Safar distance ought to be based on countries with moderate days, hence the travel of Hijaz was chosen to represent an average Safar distance.

Amongst our elders, Hadhrat Moulana Ashraf Ali Saheb Thanwi Rahimahullah and his Ustaadh/Teacher Moulana Muhammed Ya’qoob Saheb Nanotwil Rahimullah opted for the opinion of 48 British miles. This is evident from the fact that earlier editions of Hadhrat Thanwi Rahimahullah’s famous Kitaab “Beheshti Zewar” had clearly mentioned that the Safar distance is 48 British miles (for some inexplicable reason, the word “British” has been omitted in later editions of “Beheshti Zewar” and these later editions simply have the words “48 miles.”). As Hadhrat Moulana Thanwi Rahimullah is considered my many Deobandi Ulema as a senior whose opinion is regarded as the final and preponderant opinion, the mainstream Deobandi Ulema have adopted this view of 48 British miles (77,3km which can be rounded off to 78km) as the Safar distance. Our Darul Ifta also goes according to this view.