regarding the ayah 2:187

[Ummu Sufyaan]

:sl:
i know that none of us here are mufassireen (intereperters of the Quran), but i do know that some people here are quite well versed in arabic. so i was wondering if anyone here would help me to understand the following ayah from a linguistc point of veiw.
it is regarding the zaman (time) of the day of fasting.

وكلوا واثربوا حتى يتبين لكم الخيط الابيض من الخيط الاسود من الفجر ثم اتموا الصيام الى الليل
"and eat and drink until the white thread (light) of dawn appears to You distinct from the black thread (darkness of night), Then complete Your Saum (fast) till the nightfall." 2: 187

lingistically, what does the word الليل mean. since it has the defintinte article 'al' in front of it is must mean something specific. to me, i have always understood the term to mean night. but what time does this enter and what time does this exist.

jazakallahu khair

[Woodrow]

:sl:
i know that none of us here are mufassireen (intereperters of the Quran), but i do know that some people here are quite well versed in arabic. so i was wondering if anyone here would help me to understand the following ayah from a linguistc point of veiw.
it is regarding the zaman (time) of the day of fasting.

وكلوا واثربوا حتى يتبين لكم الخيط الابيض من الخيط الاسود من الفجر ثم اتموا الصيام الى الليل
"and eat and drink until the white thread (light) of dawn appears to You distinct from the black thread (darkness of night), Then complete Your Saum (fast) till the nightfall." 2: 187

lingistically, what does the word الليل mean. since it has the defintinte article 'al' in front of it is must mean something specific. to me, i have always understood the term to mean night. but what time does this enter and what time does this exist.

jazakallahu khair

When I lived in Morocco I was told some concepts about the Arab thoughts of time. I do not believe this is Islamic however what I learned from my Moroccan Arab friends is that there was considered to be just one night and that night is eternal. Days are like scattered specks upon the eternal night so night is called THE night and not simply night. I can not say that is the truth or simply a Moroccan concept, however it would explain the use of the definite article "al".

['Abd al-Baari]

:sl:

Yeh i think it means 'the night' too because in Surah Lail the first part is وَاللَّيْلِ which translates to 'by the night'..and the wa in arabic means by so the Al-Laili menas 'the night'

Hope you understand what i mean and hope it helps Inshallah

[Ummu Sufyaan]

:sl:
jazakallahu khair for your replies. i do understand that الليلmeans the night. I guess what the question was meant to be was when does this al-lail (The night) begin and end. i mean does it begin at sunset, or when the stars come out, etc, because as i said, i have understood 'the lail' to be night. as in the later night, like around ishaa time and beyond, not at the entry of sunset. so if the time of enry of al lail is sunset, then what time of the day is the مساء
:sl:

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['Abd al-Baari]

:sl:

I found this on IslamQA
Hope it helps Inshallah

The meaning of the aayah “then complete your Sawm (fast) till the nightfall”

Question:
I was wondering when I read in the quran in sura albaqara in verse 187 that allah say " and continue your fasting until the night " and most of us break our fast and the mughrib time . could u explian this situation forme please.

Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.

There is no contradiction between this aayah and the fact that the fast is broken after the sun sets, because night begins when the sun sets. The beginning of the night is sunset, and the end of the night is when dawn comes. Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When night comes, and day ends, and the sun has set, then let the fasting person break his fast.” What the hadeeth means is that when the sun has set, night has begun and day has ended, and at that time it becomes permissible for the fasting person to break his fast. See Sharh Muslim by al-Nawawi (7/209).

And Allaah knows best. May Allaah bless our Prophet Muhammad.

Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid