If a man fasts in his country and then travels to a country that fasted before or after them, how should he break his fast?

The Shaykh : Please, go ahead!

The questioner : Regarding the issue of fasting, there is a practical difficulty here. For example, when the month is twenty-nine days, the reality in Algeria is that the Saudis usually fast before us. For instance, they fast a day before us. So, the one who starts fasting with Algeria in his country, of course, then goes to perform 'Umrah, and this happens very often; he goes to perform 'Umrah.

The Shaykh : How does he start fasting?

The questioner : With his country, meaning, because he was residing in Algeria, he starts fasting with Algeria. Then he goes to perform 'Umrah in the last ten days of Ramadan, and this happens very often. He finds the festival while he is in Saudi Arabia and realizes he has fasted twenty-eight days. So, I do not know how this difficulty is resolved.

The Shaykh : There is no issue with twenty-eight days, twenty-nine days, or thirty days. In this case, if he remains in the country that celebrates the festival on the twenty-ninth day, then for the Algerian, he must fast, because he has not fasted the full month. As long as he started it in his country, he completes it according to his country up to twenty-nine days. However, if his country fasted thirty days, he does not fast thirty days.

The questioner : And what if it is the reverse? For example, he started fasting in Saudi Arabia and returned to Algeria, only to find that he has fasted thirty-one days?

The Shaykh : There is no difficulty—also—the same answer: either fast twenty-nine days or thirty days. Twenty-eight or thirty-one, there is no issue.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : But what if he saw the crescent moon while he was in Saudi Arabia? He saw the crescent on the twenty-eighth day. Does the one who sees the crescent fast?

The Shaykh : No, this is what is invalidated by the hadith mentioned earlier: .