—the concession that Allah had granted—despite the severe hardship fasting placed upon them.

2. The second category is the traveler for whom fasting is hard but still tolerable. For him it is disliked to fast, and doing so is not an act of righteousness. The evidence is that the Prophet ﷺ was once on a journey when he noticed a crowd and a man being shaded from the sun. He asked, “What is this?” They answered, “He is fasting.” The Prophet ﷺ declared, “It is not piety to fast while traveling.”

3. The third category is the traveler who is not affected by the journey at all: he fasts without difficulty because the day is short, the weather is cool, and the fast does not burden him. Scholars have differed over which is better for such a person—breaking the fast, observing it, or allowing him to choose. The soundest opinion is that fasting is preferable, for four reasons: (1) it more closely follows the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ; (2) it is easier for the individual, since fasting with the community is lighter than making it up later; (3) it hastens the discharge of his obligation; and (4) it coincides with Ramadan, the month in which fasting is at its most virtuous. For these four reasons, fasting is better.

Abu al-Dardaʾ, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “We were with the Prophet ﷺ in Ramadan on an intensely hot day—so hot that one of us would place his hand on his head because of the heat. We were traveling, and the person with the most shade was the one who had a cloak. None of us was fasting except the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and ʿAbdullah ibn Rawaha.”