Abdelhak Bzioui
June 26, 2015
Q: What type of travel allows us not to fast during a Ramadan day?
A:
In the name of God, praise be to Him, and peace be upon his messenger.
Yes, the Muslim may choose not to fast (though s/he’d better fast) if s/he is on a journey only if the following conditions are met:
– If the travel distance must be 83 kilometers or more. This distance is measured not from the doorstep of one’s lodging to one’s travel destination but from the exit point of one’s city, town or village, where there are no more buildings, to the travel destination. It is worth of note that the travel distance that allows eating on a Ramadan day is the same which permits reducing our four-bow prayers into two-bow ones.
– If the travel is for a permissible purpose (halal) not for a forbidden aim.
– If the traveller decides not to fast on his/her journey before the break of dawn. Al-Maliki school does not permit travellers to begin their day fasting and then break it later on during the same day. Imam Malik argues that the individual had the choice before dawn whether to fast on the journey or not and since s/he has chosen to fast, s/he must stick to their choice. Otherwise, s/he has to make up for it as an intentional break of fast (1) .
References
| ↑1 | Muhammad Al-Arabi Al-Qarawi (2007) Al-Khulasa Al-Fiqhiya A’la Madhab Sada Al-Malikiya. Dar Al-Kutub Al-I’lmiyya, Beirut, Lebanon. |
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