Question:
I have to travel to Japan to attend training in Ramadan. The questions are:
1) During traveling to Japan (which usually takes 30 hours of traveling) should I not fast or must I fast? If I fast, when do I have Iftar, same timing as the country where I will be at that time or what?
2) I will stay about 7 days in Japan. Must I fast there or can I eat and drink and after coming back to my home country I can fast those days I stayed in Japan?
3) If I fast while traveling: for example I begin my fasting day in UAE then I travel to Malaysia. When I arrive in Malaysia, it would be Iftar time, although UAE is still fasting. On which timing I should have Iftar, UAE or Malaysia?
Fatwa:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.
If someone is travelling during Ramadan for a permissible reason, then he is not obliged to fast, as Allah Says (which means): {…but if any of you is ill or on a journey, the same number (should be made up) from other days…}[Quran 2:184]. He has the choice either to fast or to break the fast and then make it up later. However, if it is difficult for him to fast when travelling, then it is better for him to break the fast as the Prophet said: "It is not a sign of virtue to fast when travelling." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
In case one fasts when travelling, then he has to break the fast according to the country where he is. When the sun sets where one is, he has to break the fast. He is not permitted to break the fast according to the country where he started his journey but he is obliged to break the fast when the sun sets in the place where he is.
According to the example given by the questioner, he should break the fast in Malaysia when he gets there [after sun sets].
Finally, if the questioner intends to reside during Ramadan in a given country more than 4 days then it is an obligation on him to fast.
Allah Knows best.
Fatwa answered by: The Fatwa Center at Islamweb