University students: Do they avail themselves of the dispensations of travel, such as shortening the prayer or breaking the fast, for the duration of their studies, or not?
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The questioner : His EminenceThe Shaykh : What is the ruling on shortening the prayer for university students during the period of their studies?
And if they have the right to shorten the prayer, does the dispensation of breaking the fast in Ramadan apply to them or not?
The Shaykh : This issue has been the subject of extensive and prolonged disagreement. The scholars have differed on it with more than twenty opinions, because there are no clear and explicit texts specifying the limit. If there are no clear and explicit texts specifying the limit, it is preferable to keep the texts in their generality, and that as long as a person is traveling, he is a traveler who avails himself of all the dispensations of travel, even if he stays for a purpose that he knows will end after a certain period, or for a purpose that he does not know when it will end.
So the correct view is: that the two cases have the same ruling, and that whoever stays for a purpose, and when it ends he returns to his homeland, is a traveler, whether he specified the period or not, because there is no text stating that specifying the period ends the state of travel.
But I say: those who stay for study must pray with the congregation if they are in an Islamic country, and it is not permissible for them to be absent from it on the basis that they are travelers, because the congregation prayer and the Friday prayer are not dropped for the traveler, as long as he is in a town where the Friday prayer is held.
But if the prayer is missed by them, or if they are in a place where there are no mosques around them and they pray, they may shorten the prayer, in our view that is the correct opinion. And whoever says that they may not shorten the prayer, he must provide the evidence, because they are still travelers, leaving for their families, traveling across the land, seeking from the bounty of Allah.
As for fasting in Ramadan, yes, they may break the fast and postpone it to a time when the day is shorter or cooler. But postponing it to after the second Ramadan is something I have a concern about in my mind, because if they do that, the months will accumulate on them, and they may be unable to make up the fasts in the future. So I see that it is necessary for them to fast Ramadan before the second Ramadan comes.
And if they have the right to shorten the prayer, does the dispensation of breaking the fast in Ramadan apply to them or not?
The Shaykh : This issue has been the subject of extensive and prolonged disagreement. The scholars have differed on it with more than twenty opinions, because there are no clear and explicit texts specifying the limit. If there are no clear and explicit texts specifying the limit, it is preferable to keep the texts in their generality, and that as long as a person is traveling, he is a traveler who avails himself of all the dispensations of travel, even if he stays for a purpose that he knows will end after a certain period, or for a purpose that he does not know when it will end.
So the correct view is: that the two cases have the same ruling, and that whoever stays for a purpose, and when it ends he returns to his homeland, is a traveler, whether he specified the period or not, because there is no text stating that specifying the period ends the state of travel.
But I say: those who stay for study must pray with the congregation if they are in an Islamic country, and it is not permissible for them to be absent from it on the basis that they are travelers, because the congregation prayer and the Friday prayer are not dropped for the traveler, as long as he is in a town where the Friday prayer is held.
But if the prayer is missed by them, or if they are in a place where there are no mosques around them and they pray, they may shorten the prayer, in our view that is the correct opinion. And whoever says that they may not shorten the prayer, he must provide the evidence, because they are still travelers, leaving for their families, traveling across the land, seeking from the bounty of Allah.
As for fasting in Ramadan, yes, they may break the fast and postpone it to a time when the day is shorter or cooler. But postponing it to after the second Ramadan is something I have a concern about in my mind, because if they do that, the months will accumulate on them, and they may be unable to make up the fasts in the future. So I see that it is necessary for them to fast Ramadan before the second Ramadan comes.