Fathwa - Breaking one's fast at home after intending to travel

Question
I am a Moroccan citizen and I live in Spain. This year, praise be to
Allaah The Almighty, we spent eleven days of Ramadhaan in our homeland
and then we intended to travel to our place of residence in Spain. Out
of my desire toact upon the Hadeeth in which the Prophet, mentioned
that Allaah The Almighty Likes that His concessions are used, until
the end of the Hadeeth where he mentioned that it is uponus to use His
concessions that He Permitted for us, we ate on the day of our travel
while we were still at home. We did so after Iconsulted the book,
Tayseer Fiqh As-Siyaam, by the prominent scholar Yoosuf Al-Qaradhaawi.
When we were on board the ship, some people began to break their fast
from among those who were fasting at the time of Iftaar )i.e. Athaan
of Al-Maghrib(. Thus, we feltas if we had abandoned the fasting of a
day in Ramadhaan. Do we only have to make up for this day?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify
that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad,
is His slave and messenger.
If your journey to Spain is permissible like for studying or
performing permissible work and thelike, then you may break your fast
in Ramadan andshorten the four Rak'ah prayers while travelling. Eating
at your home before leaving the houses of the village where you live
is allowedby some scholars. However, many of them said that one may
not break his fast until he began his journey by overstepping the last
houses of his village.
Ibn Qudaamahsaid in Al-Mughni: "Whoever intends to travel should not
shorten his prayers unless he leaves the last houses of his village
and makes sure that they are behind him. This is the opinion
ofMaalik,Ash-Shaafi'i,Al-Awzaa'i,Is-haaq,Abu Thawrand itwas narrated
to have been adopted by a groupof theTaabi'oon. It was reported that
'Ataa' andSolymaan Ibn Moosa, may Allaah haver mercy upon them, held
it permissible to shorten prayers at home for whoever intended to
travel.Al-Haarith Ibn Abi Rabee'ahintended totravel so he led some
people in his home in a two Rak'ah prayer. These people
includedAl-AswadIbn Yazeedand more than one of the companions
of'Abdullaah.'Ubayd Ibn Jabrsaid: 'I was withAbu Basrah Al-Ghafaariin
a ship in the month of Ramadan. The ship beganto move and his meal was
prepared. He did notoverstep the houses when he ordered his meal and
said: 'Come on.' I replied: 'Do you not see the houses?'Abu
Basrahsaid: 'Do you refrain from abiding by the Sunnah of the
Messenger of Allaah?' So, he ate. This was narrated byAbu Daawood.
Moreover, Allaah The Almighty Says)what means(: }And when you travel
throughout the land, there is no blame upon you for shortening the
prayer.{ ]Quran 4:101[ This means that one should have started his
journey in order to shorten the prayers. It was narrated that the
Prophet, usedto start shortening prayers when he left
Al-Madeenah.Anassaid: "I offered four Rak'ahs of Thuhr prayer withthe
Prophet, at Al-Madeenah and two Rak'ahs at Thul-Hulayfah)i.e.
shortened the Asr prayer(." ]Al-Bukhaari and Muslim[Abu Basrahdid not
eat until the ship moved and the fact that 'he did not overstep the
houses' means that they were not yet so far from them as'Ubaydtold
him: 'Do you not see the houses?' If that is known, then it is
permissible for him to shorten prayers even if he is near the houses."
Therefore, if you have eaten at your home after intending to travel
out offollowing those who say that this is permissible from among the
people of knowledge, then you are not sinful, Allaah Willing. However,
it is preferable to act upon the opinion of the majority because it is
safer. In any case, you should make up for the day in which you broke
your fast during your journey.
Allaah Knows best.