Travelling in Ramadan

By Femi Abbas
Islam, as a religion is like the shed of a snail for Muslims. There is nothing in the life of a Muslim that this divine does not touch. For instance, in Islam, travelling is a form of education.

Prophet Muhammad (SAW) realised this and emphasised it. It is in accentuation of the Prophet’s instruction that a renowned Arab poet came up with a stanza which translates thus:

“There is no permanent, resting place for a sensible, learned person; therefore, move from city to city and adapt to any new environment in which you may find yourself; Travel out from your immediate environment and meet new contemporaries similar to those you may have left behind at your point of embarkation; Interact with diverse people because human comfort and prosperity are mostly attainable through interactions…”

The respect which Islam has for travellers is such that they are described as wayfarers in the Qur’an. And by virtue of their journey, Muslim travellers are not only permitted to reduce their four rakats of (Dhur, ‘Asr and ‘Ishai) to two rakats each, they are also excused from fasting while on journey (although they will make up for the missed fasts later).

Not only that, they are also listed among the groups qualified to receive Zakat; the proviso, however is that such a journey must be justifiable and legitimate.

Judging by the laid down proviso, it becomes understandable that a Muslim journey in Ramadan must be one of necessity and not of mere pleasure.

The rule is that the journey must not be less than 48 miles or 80 kilometres. On such a journey, a travelling Muslim may break his fast and shorten his Salat.

But that rule was formulated at the time when donkeys and camels were the means of travelling.

Today, when it is possible to travel from Lagos to Kano within one hour in a comfortable aircraft or from Ibadan to Lagos in a fully air -conditioned car, within the same period, it may rather be unnecessary to break the fast and reduce Salat especially when the traveller must make up for the fast broken after Ramadan.

There is hardly any rule without exception. The modern exceptions to the rule of travelling in Ramadan have transcended those of the donkey age.

However, this does not mean that any Muslim traveller in Ramadan who wishes to follow the primordial rule cannot shorten Raka’ats of his salat and break his fast.

Nevertheless, if that rule is followed, the conditions surrounding it must equally be followed.

Source: The Nation Newspaper