Are people studying abroad permitted to make use of the concession of travel?

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(Part No. 6; Page No. 409) Fatwa no. 17237 All praise be to Allah Alone, and peace and blessings be upon His last Messenger.The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta' has read the letter that was sent to His Eminence the Mufty by His Excellency the Ambassador in Britain of The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. The concerned letter was transferred to the Committee by the secretariat-general of the Council of Senior Scholars under the number 2280 and dated 04/06/1415 A. H. The question read as follows:I would like to inform Your Eminence that hundreds of Sa`udis live temporarily in Britain for academic reasons such as students or for political reasons such as diplomats etc. Such people live in Britain for different periods mostly between one and five years. The point is that many inquiries have been raised as to whether rulings of travel i.e. combining and shortening Salah (Prayer), and breaking the Sawm (Fast) in Ramadan apply to the people concerned. People here disagree on this issue. Could you please clarify the Shar`y (Islamic legal) ruling on this matter? May Allah grant you success and help you to support truth and its people.

After the Committee had studied the question, it answered as follows: Officers and students who are sent outside their countries to accomplish certain goals and they intend (Part No. 6; Page No. 410) to stay for the period which is mentioned in the question or for any other period that is more than four days, they are not entitled to follow any of the Rukhsahs (concessions) of travel i.e. shortening or combining the Salah (Prayer) or breaking the Sawm. Rather, it is Wajib (obligatory) on them to perform the complete Salah on time with the congregation and without combining two Salahs (Prayers) together. Similarly, they have to observe Sawm in its due time with other Muslims as they are regarded as being resident in Britain.May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.