Dear respected Shaykh, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Should a person who did not fast on the day of ‘Ashura because of travelling make up for it? قضاء صيام عاشوراء

Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions.   Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.   As to what follows:   In response to your question, we say:     The scholars have two opinions concerning fasting the day of ‘Ashura and ‘Arafah on a journey. Some say that if a person can fast then he should not miss the fasting of these two days because they are virtuous days which pass, and Sunnahs which if their time passes it is not legislated to make up for them. When these days pass the time for fasting in them will have passed.  Other scholars said that a traveling person should not fast because of the generality of Allah’s statement concerning compulsory fasting, where He stated: “So whoever among you is ill or on a journey [during them] - then an equal number of days [are to be made up]”,  [al-Baqarah 2: 184] but in this case there is no equal number of days to be made up for, that is, if the fast of ‘Ashura is missed it should not be made up for.  Thus the virtue is linked to the day, therefore, these scholars said that the fasting of these falls away from a traveler but he gets the reward, and it is not legislated to make up for them. They said, “This is because a hadeeth was transmitted in Saheeh al-Bukhari from the hadeeths of Abu Musa al-Ash’ari that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “When a slave of Allah suffers from illness or sets on a journey, he is credited with the equal of whatever good works he used to do when he was healthy or at home”. [al-Bukhari (2996)], and this proves that he gets rewarded for all the good actions that he used to do at home, and this includes his fasting, if it is his habit to fast while at home. Therefore, he should not fast while travelling.   The best way of getting the virtues of these days is that if it is not difficult for a person to fast while travelling then he should not miss the fast, and this is the opinion of a group of scholars. And whoever leaves the fast because of travelling, and it is his habit to fast while at home, I hope that he will get the reward for these days.