Rukhsat al-Fitr fi Safar Ramadan wa ma yatarattab عليها min al-Athar
- Author died
- 1442 AH
- Editions
- Majallat al-Jami'ah al-Islamiyyah bi-al-Madinah al-Munawwarah
Rukhsat al-Fitr fi Safar Ramadan wa ma Yatarattab 'Alayha min al-Athar (The Concession of Breaking the Fast During Travel in Ramadan and Its Resulting Legal Consequences) is a comparative jurisprudential study by the Egyptian scholar Ahmad Ali Taha Rayan (d. 1442 AH / 2021 CE), examining the legal rules, conditions, and consequences surrounding the traveler's exemption from fasting during Ramadan .
Composition and Publication
The work was composed while Rayan served as an assistant professor affiliated with Al-Azhar University and the Faculty of Hadith . It was published as a multi-part research series across multiple issues of the Journal of the Islamic University of Madinah (Majallat al-Jami'ah al-Islamiyyah bi-al-Madinah al-Munawwarah) .
Subject and Structure
Rayan frames the study of the travel concession (rukhsah) as a concrete application of the overarching legal principle of removing hardship (raf' al-haraj) and demonstrating the ease of Islamic law . The work consists of an introduction, three main chapters (usul or fusul) subdivided into specific inquiries (matalib), and a concluding section summarizing its findings :
- Introduction (Taqdim): Outlines the significance of the subject, its grounding in the principle of removing hardship, and the role of the prophetic Sunnah in determining its rulings .
- Chapter One (al-Fasl al-Awwal): Details the nature of the concession of breaking the fast during travel, including who is entitled to utilize it, the minimum travel distance required to qualify, whether breaking the fast is merely permissible, recommended, or obligatory, and the classical disagreement over whether fasting or breaking the fast is superior for a traveler capable of fasting without hardship .
- Chapter Two (al-Fasl al-Thani): Analyzes the implementation of the concession from the start of a journey to its end, covering the temporal and spatial inception of the concession—such as setting out before or after dawn—and the point at which the concession ceases upon arriving at one's destination or intending residency .
- Chapter Three (al-Fasl al-Thalith): Examines the legal consequences and responsibilities incumbent upon the person who utilizes the concession, followed by the main conclusions reached in the study .
Method and Content
The treatise relies on comparative jurisprudence across the Sunni legal schools, evaluating textual evidence from the Quran and hadith alongside classical positions transmitted from the Companions, the Successors, and leading jurists . In treating disagreements—such as whether fasting or breaking the fast is superior for a traveler without hardship—the author cites transmitted reports from Companions such as Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, Anas ibn Malik, and Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, and juristic opinions from Malik ibn Anas, Abu Hanifah, and Al-Shafi'i, systematically discussing their textual proofs and counterarguments .
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