THE Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “My Ummah will continue to be upon good for as long as they hasten to break the fast and delay the pre-dawn meal.” (Bukhari and Muslim) Two things are mentioned here: Hastening to break the fast. Delaying the pre-dawn meal (Suhoor). 1. Hastening Iftar The Prophet (peace be upon him) also said, “My Ummah will continue to be upon good for as long as they hasten to pray the Maghrib Prayer.” (Abu Dawood and Ibn Majah - classed as Saheeh by Al-Albani) So here we have two commands: Hasten Iftar and the Maghrib prayer. The Neglect: Except for a few people who are eager to pray the Maghrib prayer in the mosque, the majority sit down to eat after Adhan as if they are having dinner and not just breaking their fast. The Sunnah: The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to break his fast with three dates, then he would pray the Maghrib prayer. He would then eat the evening meal, if needed, after the prayers. Iftar should be done with some dates, as occurs in the Sunnah, and if dates are not available, then with some gulps of water. Then the Maghrib prayer should be prayed with congregation in the mosque. People can eat their meal after the prayers. 2. Delaying Suhoor Eating becomes forbidden when the time of Fajr prayer starts. When true dawn appears, the prayer becomes due and food becomes forbidden for the fasting person. There is no separation between these two at all. The Prophet (peace be upon him), “If one of you hears the call to prayer (Adhan) and the vessel is in the hand of one of you, then let him not put it down until he fulfils his need from it.” (Abu Dawood) The vessel containing food, whether it be milk, drink, water or anything a person may take for Suhoor. When one hears the Adhan, the person who has had enough, it is not allowed for him to have any more. As for the one who hears the Adhan and he has not yet taken what he needs from the food and the drink, then the Messenger (peace be upon him) made that lawful for him. The Neglect: What happens today is totally contrary to this. Many people eat their Suhoor an hour before Fajr or withhold from food and drink 15 minutes or so before dawn. This is not befitting. This is contrary to the Sunnah – the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his practice. The Sunnah: The companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to eat the Suhoor so late that one of them would almost hear the Adhan and he would still be eating because he had delayed the Suhoor. The Fiqh that one must spit out the food in his mouth if he heard the Adhan is over strictness and (Ghuluww) exceeding the limits in the religion. Allah said: “O people of the Scripture! Do not exceed the limits in your religion, nor say of Allâh aught but the truth...” (Qur'an, 4:171) And our Messenger (peace be upon him) said to us, or he (peace be upon him) said, “Beware of (Ghuluww) exceeding the limits in the religion. Because those who came before you were destroyed by their exceeding the limits in their religion.” (Musnad Ahmad and Ibn Majah - Saheeh) Muslims should not practice false piety and refrain from obeying the Prophet (peace be upon him) in what he encouraged us upon and clarified to us. The author (d. 1420H) was a Muhaddith (scholar of Hadith), a Faqeeh (scholar of Fiqh), a proficient writer and an expert scholar. – Adapted from AbdurRahman.org __
