What Do Watan Al-Asli, Watan Al-Iqamah, And Watan Al-Sukna Mean?

What do watan al-asli, watan al-iqamah, and watan al-sukna mean?

Islam introduces some special rulings about travelers’ worships such as prayer and fasting. Accordingly, those who are deemed traveler (safari or musafir) in religious terms establish four-rakat fardh prayers as two rakats, and postpone Ramadan fasting to observe them later. These are among such kind of facilitating rulings.

There are two criteria to be deemed a traveler in religious terms. One of these is place and the other is distance.

Regarding the subject of travel, the place where a person is located can be either “ watan al-asli”, “ watan al-iqamat”, or “ watan al-sukna.”

Watan al-asli: It means the permanent residence of a person. It is the place where a person is born and lives or comes and resides to make his livelihood and settles with his family by buying a house.

Watan al-iqamah: It is the place at least 90 kilometers away from a person’s watan al-asli, where he is present to stay more than fifteen days without the intention to settle there.

Watan al-sukna: It is the place where a person intends to stay less than fifteen days and at least 90 kilometers away from his watan al-asli or watan al-iqamah (Haddad, al-Jawhara, I, 104).

These judgments are applicable in the Hanafi school. According to the Shafi’i school, a person should set off to go to a place that is 90 km away and stay there less than four days except the arriving and leaving days, in order to be deemed a traveler. In the event that one intends to stay four days or more, the condition of being a traveler ends (Ramli, Nihayat al-muhtaj, II, 257).

Source: Presidency Of Religious Affairs The Turkey, High Board of Religious Affairs FATWA