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Fatwa CenterWhen the fast starts for travelling person
Question
I will be boarding my plane from China to Egypt on September 26th at 8:00 pm Chinese local time, which matches 2:00 pm Egyptian local time. I will be fasting that day, and I will have to break my fast at the airport because the Maghrib (sunset) prayer time starts at 6:05 pm in China. The plane arrives on September 27th, around 6:00 am Egyptian time. My question is: shall I start fasting at the time of abstention (i.e. dawn) on the 26th, despite the fact that if I start the fast while on the plane according to Egyptian time, the plane will be flying over a place where the sun will be rising?
Answer
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, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger.
The travelling person starts and breaks his fast according to where he is. If the plane takes off after the sunset as you mentioned, then you break your fast at the airport or wherever you will be at the time when the sun sets off. If the dawn breaks while you are on the plane, you have to start the fast at dawn break. What matters in fasting is the sunrise and the sunset at the place where you physically exist, not the place which you are travelling to or the place which you are travelling from.
If he likes to do so, the travelling person has the option to break his fast on the day of his trip and make up for that day later, after Ramadan. Allah says (what means): {…then an equal number of days [are to be made up]…} [Quran 2: 184]
Allah knows best.
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