Rulings on travel for one who stays for a long period for study

The questioner:
The Honorable Shaykh asked: What is the ruling for one whose travel is for a specific duration, such as university studies? What is the ruling regarding shortening the prayer, combining prayers, wiping over the leather socks, fasting, and the Friday prayer?

The Shaykh:
The ruling is that if he intends to stay for more than four days, whether for study, trade, an embassy, or anything else, he takes the ruling of a resident. He does not break his fast in Ramadan, he does not shorten the prayer, and he does not have the ruling of a traveler; he reverts to the ruling of a resident. This is the position of the majority of the scholars, and it is what the evidence indicates. The default for a resident is that he fasts, that he completes the prayer, and that he wipes for one day and one night. This is the default. How do we take him out of this default? Yes.

Another questioner:
I bear witness that there is no god but Allah.

The Shaykh:
He says: The resident wipes. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said , and Allah the Exalted said, "And if you are ill" . Do you call this person, who is staying for four or five years for study, a traveler? I do not think any sane person would call him a traveler; they would call him a resident, would they not?
They call him a resident. The ambassador, the government ambassador who goes and stays for years—he might stay ten years, twenty years—do you say he is a traveler, or do you say he is a resident? There is no debate about this; it is well known and clear. The one who says he is a traveler is being stubborn.

Another questioner:
And I ask Allah for safety.

The Shaykh:
The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), yes, he stayed in Tabuk for twenty days, and he stayed in Makkah for eight days and ten days in the year of the Conquest. He shortened the prayer, but they say that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not intend a specific stay; rather, he sat waiting for the enemy. In Makkah, he sat organizing for the Battle of Hunayn, for the Battle of Hunayn, because it was reported that Hawazin wanted to attack the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
So he sat organizing; he did not sit intending to stay. Likewise, in Tabuk, he sat waiting for the enemy, waiting for the Romans. He did not intend a specific stay; he did not know when the enemy would come, he did not know at what hour they would come. So he did not intend a specific stay in the Expedition of the Conquest or in the Expedition of Tabuk. Rather, he sat in both expeditions waiting for the enemy, and waiting for the enemy is not specified. Yes.

Another questioner:
And I am sitting.

The Shaykh:
Ibn 'Umar stayed because of an obstacle, which was the ice, the ice and the snow. He did not intend to stay, but he intended to remain until this obstacle was removed, and then he would travel. He did not intend a stay like the one who waits for the enemy; he did not know when it would be removed? Yes.

Another questioner:
If it is the opinion of some people, this is not permissible.

The Shaykh:
Even if it is his strong opinion, as long as he did not intend a specific stay, but rather an obstacle prevented him from traveling—he wanted to travel, but an obstacle prevented him—this person has the ruling of a traveler. But a person who comes to study and rents or buys—some buy, some buy a residence—and wants to sit for four or five years, do they call him a traveler in this case, or a traveler? Yes.

Another questioner:
Likewise, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in Tabuk and in Makkah. He did not settle in a building, nor

The Shaykh:
nor does he contradict, or settle in the open or in a tent, that does not contradict. But the issue is whether he intended a specific stay or not. Even if he settled in the open in a tent and slept for five or six days, does his travel status change? Is he considered a resident? His stay in Makkah in the Farewell Pilgrimage: he arrived on the morning of the fourth day, and he did not move for Hajj until the eighth day. Four days. There is no doubt that the Messenger intended to stay there, and anything beyond that is doubtful. The default is to adhere to the rulings of residency. Yes. Hmm?

Another questioner:
To his family.

The Shaykh:
The road, yes, the road: he shortens and breaks his fast. The road between his family and the city he traveled to, yes. If he reaches his city, no, if he reaches his city, he becomes a resident, because he has arrived, because his place of residence and his family are there, yes.