Question:-
Please inform me with regard to the rules of Safr. Will one count his journey from the time he leaves his home, or, when he leaves his locality, or, when he leaves his jurisdiction (municipality or city)? In the case of smaller towns, counting one’s journey when leaving the town will be an easy matter. However, for the city dwellers such as those living in Johannesburg, one would have already travelled many kilometres before he starts counting his journey. Sometimes a person can traverse up to 80km in his own municipality. Does this mean that he won’t be Musaafir even though he has travelled Safr distance, as it was within his municipality’s jurisdiction?
Secondly, does a person consider the furthest point of his journey to determine whether he qualifies as a Musaafir or not? For example, Zaid travels from Roshnee to Houghton, which is a 65km journey. He then intends visiting someone in Lenasia which is on his return journey home. On reaching Lenasia, Zaid would have covered a distance of more than 90 kilometres since his departure from Roshnee.
Will Zaid be a Musaafir from the time he leaves Roshnee or not?
Answer:-
When one passes the municipal boundary of his town or suburb then he will be considered as a Musaafir, if he is undertaking a journey of 77 kilometres or more. The local municipality would be able to point out the municipal boundary of the area. However, if the residential area of a place comes to an end and there are no more houses, rather there is a gap of a few kilometres before the next suburb commences, then one will become Musaafir the moment he leaves his residential area, even though a few suburbs combined fall under the same municipality.
For example, we assume that Roshnee falls under the Vereeniging municipality. Now, if a person is travelling from Roshnee to Durban then it doesn’t mean that one’s Safr will only commence when he passes the Vereeniging municipal boundary, rather one becomes a Musaafir the moment he leaves the residential area of Roshnee.
Another example is that of Azaadville, which falls under the Krugersdorp municipality. The entire suburb of Azaadville is now fenced off with palisades hence, the moment a person leaves the fenced suburb, he will be classified as a Musaafir if he intends undertaking a journey of 77 kilometres or more.
If one is living in a small country town comprising of just a few houses, then he will be considered as a Musaafir when he passes the last house of the town. We hope the matter is now clarified.
من خرج من عمارة موضع إقامته قاصدا مسيرة ثلاثة ايام وليالها صلي الفرض الرباعي ركعتين (الدر المختار ص527 ج1)
Now, coming to your second query, the final destination of a person is taken into consideration. If the final destination was Houghton (in your example), then he will count the distance from Roshnee until Houghton only, which is 65 kilometres hence, one will not qualify as a Musaafir in this instance. However, if one’s final destination was Lenasia when leaving Roshnee, and Houghton was just a via point, then he will count the distance from Roshnee to Lenasia, which is approximately 90 kilometres, making him a Musaafir. In conclusion, one will count the distance until one’s final destination. However, his intention to his final destination should be made when commencing his journey from Roshnee.
ALLAH TA’ALA KNOWS BEST!
ANSWERED BY:
Mufti Mohammed Desai
Date: 18 Dhul Hijjah 1443 / 17 July 2022
