Musnad Humaydi

Benefit:
If a traveler stays at a place for three days, the rulings of travel will apply to him; if he stays for more than three days, the rulings of residence will apply. For the Muhajirun (emigrants), the restriction of three days was temporary and time-bound, which was lifted after the conquest of Makkah.

Hadith Commentary:
By "Muhajir" is meant those Muslims who migrated from Makkah to Madinah.
For them, prior to the Conquest of Makkah, there was a temporary ruling that when they came for Hajj, after performing Hajj they should stay in Makkah for three days and then return to Madinah.
After the Conquest of Makkah, this issue was resolved. For details, see Fath al-Bari.

Hadith Commentary:
➊
Al-Ala was a noble and accepted-in-supplication Companion (radi Allahu anhu). The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) appointed him as the governor of Bahrain. His name was Abdullah bin Imad. He was an ally of Banu Umayyah and passed away during the caliphate of Umar (radi Allahu anhu). In Sahih al-Bukhari, only this one hadith is narrated from him. (Fath al-Bari: 7/333)

➋
From this hadith, it is understood that if a traveler stays at a place for up to three days, the rulings of travel will continue to apply to him. If the stay exceeds three days, the rulings of residence will apply.

➌
It should be noted that for the Muhajirun (emigrants), this was a temporary ruling: after performing Hajj, they were to stay in Makkah for three days, after which they would return to Madinah al-Tayyibah. After the conquest of Makkah, this restriction was lifted. And Allah knows best.

Benefits:
In this hadith, along with tasbih (saying "Subhan Allah"), tahmid (saying "Alhamdulillah"), and takbir (saying "Allahu Akbar"), the addition of «لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لاَ شَرِيكَ لَهُ لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ» is mentioned, and its special virtue is also stated: that all (minor) sins of the one who recites it are forgiven. Secondly, from all these narrations it is understood that: whether it is 33 times «سبحان الله», 33 times «الحمدلله», 34 times «الله اكبر»; or 25 times «سبحان الله», 25 times «الحمدلله», 25 times «الله اكبر», 25 times «لا اله الا الله» 1; or 33 times «سبحان الله», 33 times «الحمدلله», 33 times «الله اكبر», and once «لا الٰه الا الله وحده لا شريك له إلخ» 2, the maximum number for remembrance (dhikr) is one hundred. Therefore, exceeding this is not preferable.

❀ Musayyib bin Najbah came to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud radi Allahu anhu and said: "I have seen people in the mosque who say, 'Say Subhan Allah three hundred and sixty times.'" (Abdullah bin Mas'ud radi Allahu anhu) said: "O Alqamah! Get up and take me to them." They went and stood by those people and saw that they were indeed doing that. (Abdullah bin Mas'ud radi Allahu anhu) said: "You have grasped the tails of misguidance, or do you consider yourselves to be more rightly guided than the companions of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam?" [البداع و النهي عنها لابن وضاح: 27 وسنده حسن] It is understood from this that in acts of remembrance (adhkar), one should adhere to the number established by authentic Sunnah.

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1 [سنن ترمذي/كتاب الدعوات عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: 3413]
2 [صحيح مسلم/كِتَاب الْمَسَاجِدِ وَمَوَاضِعِ الصَّلَاة: 1352]

English Commentary: 1؎ :
After returning from Mina, it was not permissible for the Muhajirun (emigrants) to reside in Makkah.
Later, this was made permissible, but with a restriction of three days;
Staying longer than this is not allowed for him, because he has left that city for the sake of Allah’s pleasure, so he should not stay there longer;
Otherwise, it would resemble his returning (to his homeland).
(This ruling was specific to the emigrants of Madinah with regard to Makkah.)

Benefits and Issues:
➊
After the completion of Hajj, there was a specific restriction for the emigrants (Muhajirun) of Madinah that they should not reside in the city which they had left for the sake of Allah’s pleasure, in any way, so that the reward of their emigration (hijrah) would not be diminished.

➋
Imam Shafi’i rahimahullah deduces from this hadith that if a traveler intends to stay somewhere for more than three days, he will be considered a resident of that place.
Therefore, he should perform the prayer in full.
(Kitab al-Umm by Imam Shafi’i rahimahullah) Thus, this Prophetic statement (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) is also used as evidence for determining the duration of travel.
This is also supported by the practice of the Noble Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam).
(For details, see: Masnun Namaz by Hafiz Salahuddin Yusuf)

1455. Commentary: This hadith is the evidence for the three Imams (Imam Malik, Imam Shafi'i, and Imam Ahmad rahimahullah) that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam forbade the Muhajirun from staying in Makkah for more than three days for this very reason: if any of them stayed for more than three days, he would become a resident (muqim), and it is not permissible for a Muhajir to reside in the place from which he migrated; otherwise, his migration (hijrah) would be nullified. From this, it is established that one who stays in a place for up to three days is considered a traveler (musafir), but one who stays longer becomes a resident (muqim), therefore he must perform the full prayer. As for the fact that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam stayed in Makkah for more than three days at the time of its conquest, that was for the completion of the conquest, not for reasons beyond the Shariah necessities or with the intention of residence, i.e., in a state of hesitation.

Benefit:
It has been deduced from this that staying at a place for more than three days is considered as residence (i.e., taking up residence there). The Muhajirun were not permitted to take up residence in Makkah again, so that the reward of their migration (hijrah) would remain intact. The Noble Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) granted them permission to stay for three days. This means that staying for three days does not constitute the ruling of being a resident (muqim). Thus, if a traveler (musafir) stays at a place for three days, he should perform shortened prayers (qasr). According to some scholars, this period is four days, as will be mentioned in the next hadith.