A person traveled after the month of Ramadan had begun five days ago to work in the state of Oman, and we were here in Saudi Arabia fasting a day before them.
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The questioner : He says: May Allah reward you, O honorable Shaykh, for I love you for the sake of Allah, and I ask Allah for you, for us, and for all Muslims beneficial knowledge, righteous deeds, and acceptance. As for what follows: My question is: A person traveled after the month of Ramadan had begun five days ago to work in the state of Oman. And we were here in Saudi Arabia fasting a day before them. And Ramadan continued there until after Ramadan had ended here. And the month was thirty days here in Saudi Arabia. And likewise there in Oman it was thirty days. If I fast according to their fasting, I would have fasted thirty-one days. But I broke my fast when I knew that when I had fasted thirty days, I broke my fast based on my fasting in Saudi Arabia. That is, I fasted according to the fasting of the people of this country and broke my fast with them, and I differed from the work I was in. Do I have any obligation?
The Shaykh : First, I say: May Allah love the one who loves us in Him, and make us and you among the beloved of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). You heard the question: He says that he traveled from Saudi Arabia to another country that differed from them in the entry of the month, differing from Saudi Arabia. Let us suppose that in Saudi Arabia, the month was confirmed on the night of Saturday, and they did not fast until the night of Sunday. And the month was complete in Saudi Arabia and in the other country. This implies: If he fasts with them, he must fast thirty-one days. And if he breaks his fast, there is a problem, which is that he will break his fast while the people are fasting. I say—and I ask Allah to guide me to the truth: If we know that these people who lagged behind Saudi Arabia lagged out of stubbornness and opposition to the people of the Sunnah, then he breaks his fast even if they are fasting. He breaks his fast even if they are fasting. But he breaks his fast in secret, so that he does not openly oppose the congregation. But if we know that this was due to their independent legal reasoning (ijtihad), and they did not oppose the people of the Sunnah. But this is what their independent legal reasoning led them to; they sought the crescent and did not see it. Here we say: Do not break your fast. Do not break your fast. Fast with them even if your fast is thirty-one days, because this is independent legal reasoning and Saudi Arabia is independent legal reasoning. Yes.
The Shaykh : First, I say: May Allah love the one who loves us in Him, and make us and you among the beloved of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). You heard the question: He says that he traveled from Saudi Arabia to another country that differed from them in the entry of the month, differing from Saudi Arabia. Let us suppose that in Saudi Arabia, the month was confirmed on the night of Saturday, and they did not fast until the night of Sunday. And the month was complete in Saudi Arabia and in the other country. This implies: If he fasts with them, he must fast thirty-one days. And if he breaks his fast, there is a problem, which is that he will break his fast while the people are fasting. I say—and I ask Allah to guide me to the truth: If we know that these people who lagged behind Saudi Arabia lagged out of stubbornness and opposition to the people of the Sunnah, then he breaks his fast even if they are fasting. He breaks his fast even if they are fasting. But he breaks his fast in secret, so that he does not openly oppose the congregation. But if we know that this was due to their independent legal reasoning (ijtihad), and they did not oppose the people of the Sunnah. But this is what their independent legal reasoning led them to; they sought the crescent and did not see it. Here we say: Do not break your fast. Do not break your fast. Fast with them even if your fast is thirty-one days, because this is independent legal reasoning and Saudi Arabia is independent legal reasoning. Yes.