The Ruling on Shortening Prayer and Breaking the Fast While Traveling
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Question:
His Eminence, Shaykh Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz (may Allah preserve him, guide him, and grant him success in what He loves and is pleased with).
Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings, and after that:
We approach Your Eminence to seek a ruling on a matter we previously brought to Your Eminence and asked about, but some people objected and mentioned that you had issued a ruling on such a matter different from what you previously told us. Therefore, we were not reassured except by asking the question again. This is because we are Bedouins who reside in a wadi on the side of al-Qasim at times, and we move with life as is the custom of the Bedouins. We have date palms in a village on the outskirts of al-Hijaz near Wadi al-Faraj, and we stay there when the fruit is available until we find the date palms. The period lasts from one month to one and a half months, and then we go to our livestock and our families in the desert. During our stay for the summer and the harvest, we do not bring our families with us. Your Eminence previously gave us a verbal ruling that there is no objection to shortening the prayer and no objection to breaking the fast, so we acted according to the ruling for three years, especially since you did not give us the ruling except after repeating the question and investigating with us regarding our settling and moving, and describing our stay and travel. Some people confused us and came to us with the opposite of what you previously told us. Since the matter is great (and two pillars of Islam are built upon it), we ask Your Eminence to issue the ruling again and clarify the answer after this question. May Allah preserve you?
Answer: And upon you be the mercy and blessings of Allah, and after that:
I have read the letter placed inside this paper, submitted by the brother M. R. H. in the handwriting of Shaykh A. S. A. regarding the ruling on breaking the fast and shortening the prayer for those who travel from distances considered travel to their date palms in a village on the outskirts of al-Hijaz, where they stay at their date palms for between one month and one and a half months for the harvest and picking of the fruit. They heard from some people the opposite of what I ruled for them, and they desired to verify that.
The answer: I previously believed that specifying a duration of stay for the traveler during travel has no explicit evidence from the Book or the Sunnah, and I used to rule on the basis of that that it is permissible for the traveler to shorten the prayer and break the fast if he stays during travel for some needs, even if he intends to stay for more than four days. However, I do not remember that I ruled for you on this specific matter, and perhaps you are truthful in what you said. But I would like to inform you that I now see that the most cautious course for the traveler, if he intends to stay in any place for more than four days, is to complete the prayer and fast, in order to block the means by which many ignorant people have become lax in shortening the prayer and breaking the fast under the claim that they are travelers, while they are staying for a long period. This is the most cautious course in my view, to block this means and to avoid the disagreement of the majority of scholars who say that the traveler, once he intends to stay for a period exceeding four days, has no right to shorten the prayer or break the fast in Ramadan. Caution in religion is required by the Shari'ah when the evidence is ambiguous or hidden; due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Sunan an-Nasa'i 5711Sahih (Darussalam), and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Bulugh al-Maram 16:32. I ask Allah to grant everyone success in understanding His religion and steadfastness upon it, for He is the All-Hearing, the Near.
And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
The General President of the Departments of Research
Scientific, Ifta, Da'wah, and Guidance
Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz
His Eminence, Shaykh Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz (may Allah preserve him, guide him, and grant him success in what He loves and is pleased with).
Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings, and after that:
We approach Your Eminence to seek a ruling on a matter we previously brought to Your Eminence and asked about, but some people objected and mentioned that you had issued a ruling on such a matter different from what you previously told us. Therefore, we were not reassured except by asking the question again. This is because we are Bedouins who reside in a wadi on the side of al-Qasim at times, and we move with life as is the custom of the Bedouins. We have date palms in a village on the outskirts of al-Hijaz near Wadi al-Faraj, and we stay there when the fruit is available until we find the date palms. The period lasts from one month to one and a half months, and then we go to our livestock and our families in the desert. During our stay for the summer and the harvest, we do not bring our families with us. Your Eminence previously gave us a verbal ruling that there is no objection to shortening the prayer and no objection to breaking the fast, so we acted according to the ruling for three years, especially since you did not give us the ruling except after repeating the question and investigating with us regarding our settling and moving, and describing our stay and travel. Some people confused us and came to us with the opposite of what you previously told us. Since the matter is great (and two pillars of Islam are built upon it), we ask Your Eminence to issue the ruling again and clarify the answer after this question. May Allah preserve you?
Answer: And upon you be the mercy and blessings of Allah, and after that:
I have read the letter placed inside this paper, submitted by the brother M. R. H. in the handwriting of Shaykh A. S. A. regarding the ruling on breaking the fast and shortening the prayer for those who travel from distances considered travel to their date palms in a village on the outskirts of al-Hijaz, where they stay at their date palms for between one month and one and a half months for the harvest and picking of the fruit. They heard from some people the opposite of what I ruled for them, and they desired to verify that.
The answer: I previously believed that specifying a duration of stay for the traveler during travel has no explicit evidence from the Book or the Sunnah, and I used to rule on the basis of that that it is permissible for the traveler to shorten the prayer and break the fast if he stays during travel for some needs, even if he intends to stay for more than four days. However, I do not remember that I ruled for you on this specific matter, and perhaps you are truthful in what you said. But I would like to inform you that I now see that the most cautious course for the traveler, if he intends to stay in any place for more than four days, is to complete the prayer and fast, in order to block the means by which many ignorant people have become lax in shortening the prayer and breaking the fast under the claim that they are travelers, while they are staying for a long period. This is the most cautious course in my view, to block this means and to avoid the disagreement of the majority of scholars who say that the traveler, once he intends to stay for a period exceeding four days, has no right to shorten the prayer or break the fast in Ramadan. Caution in religion is required by the Shari'ah when the evidence is ambiguous or hidden; due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
Leave that which makes you doubt for that which does not make you doubt.
دع ما يريبك إلى ما لا يريبكSo he, who saves himself from these doubtful things, saves his religion and his honor
من اتقى الشبهات فقد استبرأ لدينه وعرضهAnd peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
The General President of the Departments of Research
Scientific, Ifta, Da'wah, and Guidance
Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.