Is only the outward journey counted in the travel distance, or the return as well?

Question

From here there are two roads to the district headquarters: one of twenty-five kos (a unit of distance, about 1.5 miles), the other of thirty-four kos. If a person goes by the twenty-four-kos road and returns by the twenty-five-kos road, is there qasr for him on the return or not? And if he goes by the twenty-five-kos road and returns by the twenty-four-kos road, is there qasr for him or not? With us three kos make four miles.

Answer

For shortening the prayer, a journey of a three-day distance is required, and this distance is in one direction only, not the combined distance of going and returning. Hence in the case asked about — whether he goes and returns by one of the two roads or by both — in both cases qasr is not permissible.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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