However, since it is already established that fasting in Ramadan while travelling is an act of worship—evidenced by the Prophet’s own practice—it follows as a matter of course that it is a legislated and praiseworthy deed. Therefore, describing the traveller’s breaking of the fast in the ḥadīth as “good” does not mean that it is better than fasting, for fasting too is good, as you have seen. The ḥadīth, then, does not prove the claimed superiority of breaking the fast; it merely shows that the two options are equivalent.
This is confirmed by the report of Ḥamzah ibn ʿAmr as narrated by ʿĀʾishah. Ḥamzah ibn ʿAmr al-Aslamī asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, “Messenger of Allah, I am a man who fasts continuously; should I fast while travelling?” He replied:
“Fast if you wish, or break your fast if you wish.”
194 – “Fast if you wish, or break your fast if you wish.”
It was recorded by the two Shaykhs (al-Bukhārī and Muslim), the remaining four authors of the Six Books, Ibn Abī Shaybah (2/150/1), and—through him—Abū Ḥafṣ al-Kinnānī in al-Amālī (17/1).
I say: The Prophet ﷺ granted him a choice between the two courses without preferring one over the other, and the incident is a single one; thus the ḥadīth furnishes no evidence for the alleged superiority.
In contrast stands the claim of Shaykh ʿAlī al-Qārī in al-Mirqāt that the ḥadīth supports the superiority of fasting—an interpretation he strains to substantiate.
The correct view is that the ḥadīth conveys permission rather than preference, as we have detailed.
Granted, one might cite in favour of preferring the traveller’s breaking of the fast the aḥādīth that state: “Allah loves that His concessions (rukhaṣ) be taken just as He dislikes that His prohibitions be violated,” and, in another wording, “…just as He loves that His resolute commands (ʿazāʾim) be fulfilled.”
This must indeed be acknowledged, yet it may be qualified: it applies to the person who feels no unease about making up the fast later and for whom observing the fast during travel entails no hardship. Otherwise, the concession would defeat its own purpose. Reflect on this.