Some of the early scholars—such as al-Zuhrī and al-Nakhaʿī—took a strict position, holding that a traveller’s fast does not fulfil the obligation. This view is also narrated from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, Abū Hurayrah, and Ibn ʿUmar, and it is the doctrine of the Ẓāhirī school.

The vast majority of scholars—including the four Imams—maintain that both fasting and breaking the fast are permissible for the traveller.

The first group argue from Allah’s words: “So whoever of you witnesses the month must fast it, but whoever is ill or travelling should fast a number of other days” (Qur’an 2:185).
Their reasoning is that Allah made fasting obligatory only upon the one who is present for the month, while He required the sick and the traveller to fast on other days.

They also cite the report in Muslim from Jābir: the Prophet ﷺ set out in Ramadan during the year of the Conquest and fasted until he reached Kurāʿ al-Ghamīm; the people fasted as well. He then called for a cup of water, held it aloft so everyone could see, and drank. Later he was told that some people had continued to fast, whereupon he said, “Those are the disobedient ones, those are the disobedient ones!” They contend that his declaration—“Those are the disobedient ones”—abrogated his own earlier fasting.

They further quote the narration in al-Bukhārī from Jābir: “It is not an act of righteousness to fast while travelling.”

The majority, however, respond with strong evidences, among them the very ḥadīths under discussion:

1. The ḥadīth of Ḥamzah al-Aslamī: “If you wish, then fast; and if you wish, then break your fast.”
2. The ḥadīth of Anas: “We used to travel with the Messenger of Allah; neither did the one who was fasting blame the one who had broken his fast, nor the one who had broken his fast blame the one who was fasting.”
3. The ḥadīth of Abū al-Dardāʾ, which recounts the fasting of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and of ʿAbdullāh ibn Rawāḥah.

Their replies to the arguments of the first group are as follows:
• Concerning the verse, the one upon whom it was revealed—namely the Prophet ﷺ—fasted after its revelation. He is the most knowledgeable of creation about its meaning; therefore the verse must intend something other than what the first group understood. Most scholars state that it contains an implied phrase, namely, “and then he breaks his fast.”
• As for the Prophet’s words, “Those are the disobedient ones,” this was a specific incident involving people to whom fasting had become extremely burdensome. The Prophet ﷺ himself broke his fast to encourage them to follow his example; when they did not, he said, “Those are the disobedient ones” because they failed to imitate him.
• Regarding the statement, “It is not righteousness to fast while travelling,” its meaning is that fasting on a journey is not a superior act of righteousness over which people should compete and vie.