Is it permissible for an employee to shorten and combine prayers if he travels a distance of 250 kilometers, returns to his hometown on Friday evening, and then departs from it towards his workplace every Wednesday? And what is the proof for that from the Prophet's Sunnah?

The majority of scholars hold that the travel distance at which shortening and combining prayers are permissible is four burud, equivalent to 83 kilometers, citing the sayings of the Companions as evidence. There are other juristic opinions that specify a shorter distance; some scholars held it to be three miles, while others considered it to be three days.

Some jurists are of the opinion that no specific distance should be set for travel, and that anything customarily considered travel permits the shortening and combining of prayers.

Traveling a distance of 250 kilometers is considered travel, making the concessions of shortening and combining prayers permissible until reaching the workplace.

As for the duration of stay at the workplace, shortening prayers is not permissible for three reasons: exceeding the permissible duration of stay that does not interrupt travel, it being the destination of the journey, and its consideration as a semi-homeland. If shortening prayers is prohibited, then combining them is also prohibited, unless there is another reason such as rain or illness.