Navigating Ramadan Travel: Fasting Rulings When Transitioning between Countries

Question

I began my fast in Saudi Arabia and then traveled to South Africa (where Ramadan was declared a day later), where I will remain till the end of Ramadan.

If Ramadan is 29 days, do I have to fast on the 30th day in South Africa?

If Ramadan is for 30 days, do I have to fast on the 31st day in South Africa?

If I don’t need to fast on the 31st day, How should I treat that day?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

If one leaves the country where he started fasting and travels to another, he is considered to be one of the people of the second (the country he traveled to).

Thus, he must complete 30 days if South Africa is fasting for 30 days.

The relied-upon (mu‘tamad) opinion is that even if one has fasted 30 days, he still needs to fast with the country he traveled to.

Note: There is also a view that one should break his fast and not fast for 31 days. Imam Adhra‘i supported this view.

If one travels and finds that he only fasted 28 days in total, and the country he traveled to is observing Eid, he should observe Eid and make up for the missed day after Eid. Allah knows best. [Haytami, Tuhfat Al-Muhtaj; Shirbini, Mughni al-Muhtaj; Hashiyat al-Tarmasi]

I pray that this benefits.
[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar Shaykh Taha Karaan.

Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Mawlana Yusuf Karaan, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others.

He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has served as the Director of the Discover Islam Centre and Al Jeem Foundation. For the last five years till present, he has served as the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.

Shaykh Irshaad has thirteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town). He is currently building an Islamic online learning and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and has completed his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy living and fitness.