Fatwa ID: 06295

Answered by: Maulana Burhaan Rahman

Question:

If someone is travelling at 2 am from a country that is celebrating eid to a country which is yet to make Eid. Should he fast?

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

One will adhere to the destination’s time zone because it is what is required at that point in time.

So if a person is leaving a country e.g. England, and goes to a place where their day starts 8 hours later e.g. Tokyo, you would fast according to the time there/celebrate Eid according to the time there. Because, when it comes to breaking the fast, the location where the fasting individual is when the sun sets is what matters; the time difference, whether the day is long or short, is irrelevant. 

This principle is found in the Qur’an:

وَكُلُوا۟ وَٱشْرَبُوا۟ حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمُ ٱلْخَيْطُ ٱلْأَبْيَضُ مِنَ ٱلْخَيْطِ ٱلْأَسْوَدِ مِنَ ٱلْفَجْرِ ۖ ثُمَّ أَتِمُّوا۟ ٱلصِّيَامَ إِلَى ٱلَّيْلِ

And eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread (of the night). Then complete the fast until the night (i.e., sunset). [Surah Baqarah verse 187]

Only Allah knows best.

Written by Maulana Burhaan Rahman

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham