If one travels and sets a duration of two years and returns to his city during vacations, is he considered a traveler?
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The questioner : If a person is residing in a city other than his own and intends to stay there for two years, and he has homes in both cities and returns to his original city during vacations, in which of the two cities does he take the ruling of a traveler?
The Shaykh : Is he in the second city intending absolute residence, or is it a residence for a fixed duration?
The questioner : In my opinion, it is for a fixed duration.
The Shaykh : If it is for a fixed duration, he is a traveler. Any residence fixed by work or time is considered a travel ruling. Take this rule: A residence fixed by work, such as when a person is assigned to a job on the condition that he will return as soon as he finishes, is a traveler even if he stays for ten years. For example, if a judge is assigned to a region and it is said, "Go until we find a judge to replace you," he is a traveler even if he stays for ten years. And this is fixed by what? By work or by time? By work.
A residence fixed by time, such as when it is said to a person, "Go and study in this place for one or two years," is also fixed. So there is no difference between being fixed by work or being fixed by time; neither intends absolute residence nor settlement, so he is a traveler. However, some of the scholars, may Allah have mercy on them, say that if the one with a fixed duration exceeds four days, the ruling of travel is cut off for him and he must complete the prayer. Some say fifteen days, and some say nineteen days. But all these are conflicting opinions, none of which is more deserving of acceptance than the others, and none of them has a correct, explicit evidence. Therefore, we return to the original principle, which is that travel is leaving one's homeland. So whenever a person leaves it absolutely, without restriction, and intends absolute residence in the second country, the ruling of travel is cut off for him. And whenever he is restricted by time or work, he is a traveler. This is what the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, chose in the fatwas, and he elaborated on it fully in the chapter on the Friday prayer from the Majmu' al-Fatawa that Ibn Qasim compiled.
The Shaykh : Is he in the second city intending absolute residence, or is it a residence for a fixed duration?
The questioner : In my opinion, it is for a fixed duration.
The Shaykh : If it is for a fixed duration, he is a traveler. Any residence fixed by work or time is considered a travel ruling. Take this rule: A residence fixed by work, such as when a person is assigned to a job on the condition that he will return as soon as he finishes, is a traveler even if he stays for ten years. For example, if a judge is assigned to a region and it is said, "Go until we find a judge to replace you," he is a traveler even if he stays for ten years. And this is fixed by what? By work or by time? By work.
A residence fixed by time, such as when it is said to a person, "Go and study in this place for one or two years," is also fixed. So there is no difference between being fixed by work or being fixed by time; neither intends absolute residence nor settlement, so he is a traveler. However, some of the scholars, may Allah have mercy on them, say that if the one with a fixed duration exceeds four days, the ruling of travel is cut off for him and he must complete the prayer. Some say fifteen days, and some say nineteen days. But all these are conflicting opinions, none of which is more deserving of acceptance than the others, and none of them has a correct, explicit evidence. Therefore, we return to the original principle, which is that travel is leaving one's homeland. So whenever a person leaves it absolutely, without restriction, and intends absolute residence in the second country, the ruling of travel is cut off for him. And whenever he is restricted by time or work, he is a traveler. This is what the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, chose in the fatwas, and he elaborated on it fully in the chapter on the Friday prayer from the Majmu' al-Fatawa that Ibn Qasim compiled.