Is it permissible for long-distance taxi drivers to break their fast in Ramadan?
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The questioner : Is it permissible for drivers of cars traveling long distances, for example between Aleppo and Damascus, to break their fast during Ramadan because this distance is very long?
The Shaykh : The issue, may Allah reward you, concerns the ruling. If it is said that he is a traveler, then it is permissible; otherwise, it is not. Travel is not defined by covering a long or short distance; that may be one of the descriptions, but it is not the sole condition. If the driver considers himself a traveler and prepares as travelers do, then he may shorten his prayer and break his fast. However, if he does not consider himself a traveler and does not prepare as travelers do, but rather takes the passengers to their destination and then returns to his own city, then he may not break his fast. The issue is relative, and it is not possible to give a rigid fatwa that applies to every driver. Rather, this statement applies to every traveler, or, to be more precise, to everyone who leaves his city, whether he covers a long or short distance. It is not possible to say definitively that he is a traveler or not, because that depends on custom. One may cover a long distance and not be considered a traveler. Ibn Taymiyyah gives an example in his treatise on the rulings of travel of a man who left Damascus, for instance, to hunt. He went outside the city but did not find game, so he kept walking and walking until he reached Aleppo from Damascus. He said: This man is not a traveler, because first, he did not leave with the intention of traveling, but rather with the intention of hunting, and he had not prepared for it, nor was it on his mind. These fine points must be observed regarding the traveler and the non-traveler. And this is sufficient for us at this point, because our brotherAbu Layla : came with the two donkeys he took from my house recently, and he wants to ride them and continue the road to Zarqa for his work.
The questioner : All right, just one question.
The Shaykh : Two of them are never satisfied.
The questioner : This last one, and not the one before it?
The Shaykh : The issue, may Allah reward you, concerns the ruling. If it is said that he is a traveler, then it is permissible; otherwise, it is not. Travel is not defined by covering a long or short distance; that may be one of the descriptions, but it is not the sole condition. If the driver considers himself a traveler and prepares as travelers do, then he may shorten his prayer and break his fast. However, if he does not consider himself a traveler and does not prepare as travelers do, but rather takes the passengers to their destination and then returns to his own city, then he may not break his fast. The issue is relative, and it is not possible to give a rigid fatwa that applies to every driver. Rather, this statement applies to every traveler, or, to be more precise, to everyone who leaves his city, whether he covers a long or short distance. It is not possible to say definitively that he is a traveler or not, because that depends on custom. One may cover a long distance and not be considered a traveler. Ibn Taymiyyah gives an example in his treatise on the rulings of travel of a man who left Damascus, for instance, to hunt. He went outside the city but did not find game, so he kept walking and walking until he reached Aleppo from Damascus. He said: This man is not a traveler, because first, he did not leave with the intention of traveling, but rather with the intention of hunting, and he had not prepared for it, nor was it on his mind. These fine points must be observed regarding the traveler and the non-traveler. And this is sufficient for us at this point, because our brotherAbu Layla : came with the two donkeys he took from my house recently, and he wants to ride them and continue the road to Zarqa for his work.
The questioner : All right, just one question.
The Shaykh : Two of them are never satisfied.
The questioner : This last one, and not the one before it?
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.