✨Benefit the muslim from summer vacation

Believers are commanded to earn good deeds throughout their lives, to refrain from sins and to erase sins with good deeds. And no one, no matter how great their iman (faith), taqwa (Allah-consciousness) and righteous deeds, is able to gather all the good deeds and to avoid all the bad deeds. And therefore the point is abundance of good deeds. So whoever has many good deeds and few bad deeds is among the fortunate. And punishment is feared for whoever has many bad deeds and few good deeds.

And vacation, whether it is from school or work, is counted as part of our life spans. And it is a limited time from our stay in this world for which we are accountable. For the messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
A person’s feet will not move on the Day of Resurrection before he is asked about his life, how did he consume it, his knowledge, what did he do with it, his wealth, how did he earn it and how did he dispose of it, and about his body, how did he wear it out. [Tirmithi 2416, Grade:Hassan]

Indeed, lifespans pass by quickly, so the wise use their time with what gets them closer to their Lord. And listen to what those who fell short in their lives and disobeyed their Lord and opposed their Master will say at the time of their death. Allah Almighty said:
Al Mominoon 99-100: (99) [For such is the state of the disbelievers] until, when death comes to one of them, he says, “My Lord, send me back (100) That I might do righteousness in that which I left behind.”1 No! It is only a word he is saying; and behind them is a barrier until the Day they are resurrected.

Ali bin Abi Taleb, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the worldly life has left behind and the hereafter has approached ahead, and each one of them has children, so be from the children of the hereafter and do not be from the children of the worldly life. For today is deeds and no reckoning and tomorrow is reckoning and no deeds.

And negligence and heedlessness during vacation and traveling is falling short. For this is not the characteristic of the wise, nor the practice of the scholars. For there are scholars who wrote works while travelling, even though travel was a difficulty and burdensome in contrast to our present times. Ibn Qayim, may Allah have mercy on him, wrote his great work Zaad Al Mi’aad while he was travelling. And people have benefited from it from the time that he authored it up until now.

Indeed, vacation is an opportunity to join kinship, visit relatives and to fulfill the family’s need for relief and rest. And the journey of the minds through learning and building awareness is more honorable than the journey of the bodies to countries and resorts. And the best and most enjoyable journeys are when both are combined.

And the rulings of travel start once a person leaves the built up area of their town. For it is permissible for the traveler to shorten the four-rak’ah prayer to two rak’ahs and to combine Dhuhr and Asr prayers at the time of either one of them and to combine Maghreb and Isha prayers, at the time of either one of them. So one does what is easier for them, either combining the prayers at the time of the first prayer or combining them at the time of the second prayer. But if one stays in a town, it is mandatory for them to pray in the Masjed. So if one prays with the congregation, it is mandatory to follow the imam (prayer leader). So if the imam (prayer leader) prays four-rak’ahs, it is not permissible to pray only two rak’ahs. That is, one cannot shorten the Dhuhr, Asr or Isha prayers if they pray behind a resident. But if he misses the congregation or if he is the imam (prayer leader), then he can shorten the four-rak’ah prayers to two.

And the traveler is obligated to perform wudu and cannot perform tayammum unless there is no water or if using water is harmful due to an illness or the like. The scholars said that the traveler shall carry water with for the purpose of wudu.

And among the rulings of travel that are good to know and implement is praying while one is riding their means of transportation. For it was authenticated that our Prophet Mohammad ﷺ used to offer the voluntary prayer while on his mount. And this is part of making the most out of time and safeguarding it with acts of obedience. For ‘Amer bin Rabia’, may Allah be pleased with him said:
I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ pray on (the back of) his mount in whatever direction it took him. [Bukhari 1000, Muslim 700b]

And Al Bukhari added, he gestured with his head and did not do it for the obligatory prayers.

And based on that, we can do this whether in cars or on planes or on other means of transportation. And some people think that this is difficult because they wrongly think that complete bowing and prostration is required. And this is not correct, because the one praying in these cases bows and prostrates through slight gesturing and bends slightly lower for the prostration than the bowing.

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