Do I not have to fast when travelling?

Someone who is travelling does not fast in Ramadan and makes up the days later. Whether one is truly on a journey does not depend on a fixed number of miles but on the strain involved, and each person should judge this honestly before God.

Some people say that travel today is so comfortable that one may as well keep the fast on the way. Yet the Holy Qur’an sets no condition of distance or duration. It simply says that whoever is on a journey makes up the days later. God desires ease, not hardship, as the second verse above says.

In the past, a few hours on horseback were enough to wear a person out completely. Today we fly thousands of miles in a few hours, sitting in comfort and served with food and drink. And still many people arrive exhausted. Some companies give their staff a day off after a long flight, because it is not only the body that is tired but the mind as well. So the strain of a journey cannot be measured in miles.

The reverse is also true. Someone who drives out for a day in the countryside and is home again by evening may cover a distance that once counted as a journey. Yet they know perfectly well that this is no journey at all. Their conscience would object to breaking the fast for it.

That is why each person is the best judge. Whoever truly leaves home to travel somewhere else feels the strain as soon as they pass the limits of their town. They are then on a journey and may postpone the fast. What matters is being honest with oneself and knowing that one is answerable to God. The relief is a gift from God, not a loophole.