A travelling follower intended qasr behind a resident imam

Question

Zayd is a traveller in the legal sense. During the journey the time of the Zuhr prayer comes in at some place, and Zayd prays behind the local imam, who is a resident, not a traveller. Being a traveller, Zayd makes the intention of qasr, that is, of two fard rak'as, yet he prays the whole prayer with the resident imam, that is, four fard [rak'as]. With this discrepancy in the intention, will Zayd's prayer be valid or not?

Answer

If the traveller, even having intended two rak'as, performed four rak'as behind the resident imam in the proper manner, his prayer is valid in that case too. If the imam's state is not known — whether he is a traveller or a resident — then there is no need at all to specify two or four [rak'as]: the mere intention of Zuhr is sufficient.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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