Is hardship a condition for breaking the fast and shortening the prayer while traveling, or is mere travel sufficient?
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Question:
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence, father. The questioner asks: Does breaking the fast for the one who is fasting, and shortening the prayer when one is traveling, require hardship, or is mere travel sufficient?
Answer:
Mere travel is sufficient, because travel is the place of hardship, and if travel is free of hardship, there is still hardship in it. If you are in an airplane, or perhaps travel by airplane is more difficult than travel by camel because of the waiting, the loading and unloading, and the difficult transfers involved. The point is that Allah, who is Wise and All-Knowing, has made travel involve hardship. As the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, it is a piece of torment. The traveler shortens the prayer even if the hardship is not great. There must be some hardship in it. Yes.
May Allah reward you, Your Eminence, father. The questioner asks: Does breaking the fast for the one who is fasting, and shortening the prayer when one is traveling, require hardship, or is mere travel sufficient?
Answer:
Mere travel is sufficient, because travel is the place of hardship, and if travel is free of hardship, there is still hardship in it. If you are in an airplane, or perhaps travel by airplane is more difficult than travel by camel because of the waiting, the loading and unloading, and the difficult transfers involved. The point is that Allah, who is Wise and All-Knowing, has made travel involve hardship. As the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, it is a piece of torment. The traveler shortens the prayer even if the hardship is not great. There must be some hardship in it. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [1361- 4717] هل يشترط للإفطار والقصر في السفر المشقة أم يكفي مجرد السفر؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.