Question: If the plane does not arrive and he returns to his town after having broken his fast, must he then refrain from eating and drinking for the rest of the day?
There are two views among the scholars.
The correct view is that he is not required to do so, because he broke his fast due to a legally recognized excuse and in a permissible manner. Thus, the sanctity of the day has ceased to apply to him, and he is not bound by what remains of the day. Further discussion of this will come, Allah willing, in the Book of Fasting.
Question: If a man travels merely in order to avail himself of the concessions granted to travellers, may he avail himself of them?
Answer: No, because such travel is unlawful in that case. Moreover, he is penalized by being denied what he intended. Whoever seeks to evade an obligation or to commit something unlawful by means of a legal stratagem is penalized by being denied his aim: the obligation is not lifted from him, nor does the unlawful become permissible for him.
Question: A person leaves his town for a stroll, but winds arise and cause him to lose his way. He becomes lost, searching for the road but unable to find it. May he shorten the prayer?
Answer: He may not shorten it, because he did not intend to travel the distance that permits shortening, and he may find the road before reaching that distance. Likewise, one who goes out in search of a stray camel may not shorten the prayer, because he did not intend the required distance.
However, the correct view is that he may shorten the prayer, because he is travelling.
And if he begins the prayer while resident, then travels, …
His statement, “And if he begins the prayer while resident, then travels,” and so on, includes several cases in which completing the prayer is obligatory:
The first case: He begins the prayer and then travels—that is, he enters into the prayer, for entering the prayer is regarded as iḥrām (its consecrating commencement). This is why we call the first takbīr the takbīrat al-iḥrām (the opening takbīr). Thus, this is a man who pronounces the opening takbīr while resident and then travels, as