Furthermore, this is the consensus of the Companions, may the mercy of God be upon them, evidenced by the fact that some of them would complete the prayer [without shortening it], and the others did not rebuke them, as evidenced by the hadith of Anas. A'ishah used to complete the prayer. [Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim]. Uthman, Ibn Mas'ud, and Sa'd also completed it. 'Ata' said: "'A'ishah and Sa'd would fulfill the prayer in its entirety while traveling and would fast." Al-Athram narrated with his chain of transmission from Sa'd that he stayed in 'Amman for two months, and he would pray two rak'ahs while we would pray four. From al-Miswar ibn Makhramah, he said: "We stayed with Sa'd in some of the villages of al-Sham for forty nights; Sa'd would shorten it and we would complete it." A man asked Ibn 'Abbas, saying: "I used to complete the prayer while traveling," and he did not command him to repeat it. As for the statement of 'A'ishah: "The prayer was ordained as two rak'ahs," she merely meant that the initial obligation was two rak'ahs, then it was completed [increased] after the Hijrah, becoming four. She explicitly stated this when she explained it, and that is why she would complete the prayer; if she had believed what these people [who oppose shortening] intended, she would not have completed it. The statement of Ibn 'Abbas is like hers, and it is not unlikely that he took it from her, for he was not at the age of understanding legal rulings and knowing their realities during the time the prayer was first ordained. Perhaps he was not yet born, or its ordination was in the year he was born; it was ordained in Makkah on the Night of the Ascension (al-Isra') three years before the Hijrah, and Ibn 'Abbas was thirteen years old when the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, passed away. In his hadith is something that scholars agreed to abandon, which is his saying: "And the prayer of fear is one rak'ah." The apparent meaning is that he intended what 'A'ishah intended regarding the initial obligation, which is why he did not command those who completed the prayer to repeat it. 'Umar's saying: "It is a completion, not a shortening," meant it was a completion in its merit, not a lack in its excellence. He did not mean it was not a shortening of the number of rak'ahs, for that is contrary to what the Quranic verse and the consensus indicate, as the difference of opinion is only concerning shortening versus completion. It has been established by his own narration from the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, in the hadith of Ya'la ibn Umayyah, that it is shortened. Similar to this is what Mujahid narrated: A man came to Ibn 'Abbas and said: "I and a companion of mine were on a journey; my companion would shorten [the prayer] and I would complete it." Ibn 'Abbas said to him: "It was you who were shortening, and your companion who was completing." Recorded by al-Athram. He meant that his [the companion's] action was better than yours. Furthermore, even if it were established that the original obligation was two rak'ahs, it would not preclude the permissibility of increasing upon them, just as when one follows a resident Imam. This differs from increasing two rak'ahs upon the Dawn (Fajr) prayer, as it is never permissible to increase them under any circumstances.