Hadithcore
Sahih Muslim, 1120
sahih

Qaza'a reported:

I came to Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (Allah be pleased with him) and he was surrounded (by people), and when they dispersed I said to him: I am not going to ask you about what these people were asking. I ask you about fasting on a journey. Upon this he said: We travelled with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) towards Mecca and we had been observing fast. We halted at a place. There the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: You are nearing your enemy and breaking of fast would give you greater strength, and that was a concession (given to us). But some of us continued to observe the fast and some of us broke it. We then got down at another place and he (the Prophet) said: You are going to encounter the enemy in the morning and breaking of the fast would give you strength, so break the fast. As it was a point of stress, so we broke the fast. But subsequently we saw ourselves observing the fast with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) on a journey.

حَدَّثَنِي مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ حَاتِمٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ مَهْدِيٍّ، عَنْ مُعَاوِيَةَ بْنِ صَالِحٍ، عَنْ رَبِيعَةَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي قَزَعَةُ، قَالَ أَتَيْتُ أَبَا سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيَّ - رضى الله عنه - وَهُوَ مَكْثُورٌ عَلَيْهِ فَلَمَّا تَفَرَّقَ النَّاسُ عَنْهُ قُلْتُ إِنِّي لاَ أَسْأَلُكَ عَمَّا يَسْأَلُكَ هَؤُلاَءِ عَنْهُ ‏.‏ سَأَلْتُهُ عَنِ الصَّوْمِ فِي السَّفَرِ فَقَالَ سَافَرْنَا مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم إِلَى مَكَّةَ وَنَحْنُ صِيَامٌ قَالَ فَنَزَلْنَا مَنْزِلاً فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏"‏ إِنَّكُمْ قَدْ دَنَوْتُمْ مِنْ عَدُوِّكُمْ وَالْفِطْرُ أَقْوَى لَكُمْ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ فَكَانَتْ رُخْصَةً فَمِنَّا مَنْ صَامَ وَمِنَّا مَنْ أَفْطَرَ ثُمَّ نَزَلْنَا مَنْزِلاً آخَرَ فَقَالَ ‏"‏ إِنَّكُمْ مُصَبِّحُو عَدُوِّكُمْ وَالْفِطْرُ أَقْوَى لَكُمْ فَأَفْطِرُوا ‏"‏ ‏.‏ وَكَانَتْ عَزْمَةً فَأَفْطَرْنَا ثُمَّ قَالَ لَقَدْ رَأَيْتُنَا نَصُومُ مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ فِي السَّفَرِ ‏.‏

References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 13, Hadith 130
USC-MSA web (English) reference
Book 6, Hadith 2486 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
Traveling and encountering the enemy are among the things that require physical strength to endure hardships and difficulties. This Hadīth demonstrates some of the dispensations and determinations related to travel by observing the fast therein or breaking it, and the dispensations and determinations upon encountering the enemy in the month of Ramadan and during fasting. The Tābi‘i Qaz‘ah ibn Yahya al-Basri says that he came to Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) "and he was surrounded by people" i.e., a lot of people were around him learning and benefiting from his narration of Hadīths. When the people dispersed and departed, he said to Abu Sa‘īd (may Allah be pleased with him): I will not ask you about the matters people ask you about. He probably meant that his question was not addressed by Abu Sa‘īd (may Allah be pleased with him) before that or no one in this gathering asked him about it. He asked him about the ruling on fasting during travel and the involved dispensations or determinations. Demonstrating their conditions during travel along with the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), Abu Sa‘īd (may Allah be pleased with him) informed him that they began their journey from Madīnah for the Conquest of Makkah while fasting during the month of Ramadan. When they stopped at some place for rest, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) told them that they came near the enemy and the war, and that breaking the fast would give them greater strength, as encountering the enemy requires strength, and breaking the fast achieves this purpose more than fasting. This indicates that maintaining strength by refraining from fasting is better for someone expecting to face the enemy. His statement: "This was a dispensation" means that they did not take this statement as denoting a binding command for breaking the fast or asking for that firmly. Rather, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) noted that breaking the fast is more appropriate for those apprehensive of weakness. So, some of them observed the fast and some others broke it. Then, they halted at another place for rest. Thereupon, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said to them: "You are going to encounter the enemy in the morning" i.e., you will attack them in the morning. "and breaking the fast will give you greater strength; so, break the fast." Abu Sa‘īd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "This situation was stressful" i.e., they took his command to break the fast as denoting emphasis and necessity. So, they all broke the fast. This shows that the Companions would understand the objectives of the Prophet's discourse. Then, Abu Sa‘īd (may Allah be pleased with him) said that they would later fast along with the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) during travel, which indicates that the prohibition to observe fasting during their travel for the Conquest of Makkah did not abrogate the permissibility of fasting. Indeed, this is linked to ability and casual circumstances and whether there arises a need for breaking the the fast during travel..
Related hadiths1
Compare isnād across 1 related chains →