Is a taxi driver who travels 300 km round trip, departing half an hour before the Dhuhr athan, considered a traveler? And what is best for him: qasr (shortening prayers) alone, or jam’ (combining prayers) alone, or both together, knowing that he sometimes returns to his city before the Asr athan and sometimes with it?

If travel is permissible and its distance allows for the shortening of prayers (qasr), then it is permissible for the traveler to shorten and combine prayers. The best for the traveler is to shorten the prayer only and to refrain from combining them, as shortening was a Sunnah (definition) that the Prophet and the Rightly Guided Caliphs consistently observed, whereas refraining from combining is better for performing each prayer at its prescribed time. Moreover, the reason for combining (travel) must be present at the beginning of both prayers and at the salutation of the first prayer. Returning from travel during the time of the second prayer does not affect the validity of the combination if it began while the excuse was present. Therefore, it is best to shorten the Dhuhr prayer and delay the Asr prayer to perform it in one's home town if possible.