What is the distance at which a person is considered a traveler?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : But it seems you are asking about the distance a traveler covers from one town to another. What is this distance?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, this is another question, and it is more difficult than the first, because there is no specific distance defined in the Shari'ah. The matter depends on the general custom. It is the custom that determines whether a person is a traveler or not. For example, the one who goes from here to Zarqa does not say, "I am traveling to Zarqa," and perhaps not even to a place farther than that. So it is the custom that determines it, not the distance.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : It is not possible, or it makes no sense, that the Shari'ah would burden people with knowing distances that cannot be enumerated for the entire Earth. This is called burdening people with what is beyond their capacity. But the custom of the town in which he is, he can know that.
The questioner : Now, what if he returns on the same day?
The Shaykh : If he returns on the same day, it means he has not prepared himself as a traveler. He is not a traveler.
The questioner : He is not a traveler, even if he calls the city he is going to a journey?
The Shaykh : Yes, but the important thing is that he intends to travel.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, this is another question, and it is more difficult than the first, because there is no specific distance defined in the Shari'ah. The matter depends on the general custom. It is the custom that determines whether a person is a traveler or not. For example, the one who goes from here to Zarqa does not say, "I am traveling to Zarqa," and perhaps not even to a place farther than that. So it is the custom that determines it, not the distance.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : It is not possible, or it makes no sense, that the Shari'ah would burden people with knowing distances that cannot be enumerated for the entire Earth. This is called burdening people with what is beyond their capacity. But the custom of the town in which he is, he can know that.
The questioner : Now, what if he returns on the same day?
The Shaykh : If he returns on the same day, it means he has not prepared himself as a traveler. He is not a traveler.
The questioner : He is not a traveler, even if he calls the city he is going to a journey?
The Shaykh : Yes, but the important thing is that he intends to travel.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.