—and this is unanimously agreed upon, for the Prophet granted Ḥamzah al-Aslamī a dispensation either to fast or to break the fast.
3 – As for his ﷺ remark about those who did not break their fast, “Those people are disobedient,” that was because they went against him and failed to carry out his command to break the fast at a time when doing so was obligatory for them; one wording of the report says, “Fasting had become too difficult for them.”
4 – It is recommended for those who are taken as exemplars in religious matters—the scholars and the devout—to clarify the legal rulings for the people by both word and deed, so that others may follow their example and ordinary Muslims may feel at ease. Thus the Prophet ﷺ asked for a cup of water, raised it so everyone could see, and then drank.
5 – The traveller’s concessions—including breaking the fast during the daytime in Ramadan—take effect once the person has actually set out and left the built-up area of his hometown.
6 – Jurists have placed various conditions on the journey that justifies concessions, concerning distance, duration, and the purpose of the trip. Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn, however, says: The Lawgiver mentioned travel without specifying distance or time and referred the matter to customary usage; whatever people customarily regard as travel is the journey to which the Shariah attached these rulings and concessions. No revealed text, consensus, or analogy fixes a particular limit, and those who do so have no conclusive proof.
7 – The correct view is that the trip need not be permissible in and of itself; the concessions apply to journeys of obedience and of sin alike. This is the position of Abū Ḥanīfah and was preferred by al-Muwaffaq and Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn.
8 – Shaykh al-Islām said: The leading imams agree that a traveller in Ramadan may choose between fasting and breaking the fast, but they differed over which is better. The three imams held that fasting is preferable for anyone who can manage it without clear hardship, citing the hadith narrated by Abū Dāwūd from Salamah ibn al-Muḥabbaq in which the Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever owns mounts that give him ample provision should fast Ramadan wherever it overtakes him.”