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:salamext:
But today we fall into two offences:
(i) Firstly we delay the Adhaan from its legislated time. Then after this delay comes another delay, which is that we sit down for a meal - except for a few people who are eager and pray the Maghrib Prayer in the mosque. But the majority of the people wait until they hear the
Adhaan, and then they sit down to eat as if they are having a dinner, or their evening meal, and not just breaking their fast.
So the
Adhaan these days - in most of the lands of Islaam, is, unfortunately, I have to say, and not just in Jordan, and I have known this from investigation, in most of the lands of Islaam - the
Adhaan for Maghrib is given after the time it becomes due. And the reason for this is that we have abandoned adhering to and applying the Islamic rulings, and instead we have come to depend upon astronomical calculations. We depend upon the timetable.
But these time-tables are based upon astronomical calculations which count the land as being a single flat plane. So they give a time for this flat plane, whereas the reality is that the land, particularly in this land of ours varies, varying between the depression of valleys and the elevation of mountains. So it is not correct that a single time be given which covers the shore, the planes and the mountains. No, each part of the land has its own time. So therefore whoever is able in his place of residence, in his city or his village, to see the sun set with his own eye, then whatever time it sets at, that is the hastening that we have been commanded with in his (saws) saying, which we just mentioned:
'My Ummah will continue to be upon good as long as they hasten to break the fast.'
So the Prophet (saws) was careful to implement this Sunnah by teaching it, and by putting it into practice.
As for his teaching, then he (saws) said, in the hadeeth reported by al-Bukharee in his Saheeh (no. 1954),
"If the night appears from this side,"
and he pointed towards the east,
"and the day has departed from here,"
and he pointed towards the west,
"and the sun has set, then the fasting person's fast is broken"
What does
'the fasting person's fast is broken' mean?
It means he has entered under the ruling that he should break his fast. So then comes the previous ruling where the Messenger (saws) encouraged hastening to break the Fast, and the Messenger (saws) used to implement this, even when he was riding on a journey.
So it is reported in the Saheeh of al-Bukharee (no.1955) that the Prophet (saws) ordered one of his Companions to prepare the Iftaar for him. So he replied, 'O Messenger of Allaah it is still daytime before us.' Meaning: the light of the sun, so even though it had set, yet its light was still clear in the west. So the Messenger (saws) did not respond to what he had said, rather he re-emphasized the command to him to prepare the Iftaar. So the narrator of the hadeeth who said, We could see daylight in front of us,¹ meaning: the light of day, the light of the sun, When we broke our fast,¹ said, "If one of us had climbed onto his camel he would have seen the sun." The sun had set from here, and the Messenger (saws) ordered one of the Companions to prepare the Iftaar - Why? To hasten upon good
"My Ummah will continue upon good for as long as they hasten to break the Fast."
So what is important is that we notice that the Iftaar, which is legislated to be hastened must be done with a few dates. Then we must hasten to perform the Prayer. Then after this the people can sit and eat as they need.
This is the first matter, which I wanted to remind you of, and it is how to reconcile the two things that the Prophet (saws) commanded we should hasten to perform. The first being the command to hasten the breaking of the Fast, and the second being the command to hasten the Maghrib Prayer. So the Iftaar 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 Prayer should be prayed in congregation in the mosque.
The other matter which I want to remind you of is what occurs in the previous hadeeth,
"And they delay the pre-dawn meal" meaning: what is required here is the opposite to the case of the Iftaar. So he (saws) commanded us to hasten to perform the Iftaar. But as for the Suhoor, then it should be delayed. But what happens today is totally contrary to this, since many people eat their Suhoor before the appearance of Fajr by perhaps an hour. This is not befitting. This is contrary to the Sunnah shown by the saying of the Prophet (saws) and by his practice. So the Companions of the Prophet (saws) used to leave the Suhoor so late, that one of them would almost hear the Adhaan and he would still be eating because he had delayed the Suhoor.
Indeed there is an authentic hadeeth reported from the Prophet (saws) which shows the ease afforded by Islaam, to be counted as one of the principles of Islaam, which the Muslims are proud of, especially with regard to the matter of Fasting, since Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, concluded the aayahs concerning Fasting with His Saying:
'Allaah desires ease for you, and He does not desire to make things difficult for you.
So from this ease is his (saws) saying,
"If one of you hears the call to Prayer 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."
" If one of you hears the call to Prayer and the vessel"
the vessel containing food, whether it be milk, some drink, water, anything which a person may take as Suhoor, and he hears the
Adhaan, then he should not say, Now the food is forbidden due to the
Adhaan being heard. The person who has had enough, it is not allowed for him to then have any more, whether it be a drink, or some fruit, when he has had his fill of whatever he was eating.
But as for the one who hears the
Adhaan and he has not yet taken what he needs from the food and the drink, then the Messenger (saws) made that lawful for him. So he clearly said, in the clear and eloquent Arabic language,
"If one of you hears the call to Prayer, and the vessel is in his hand, then let him not put it down until he fulfils his need from it."
And what is meant here by the call is the second call, the second
Adhaan. It is not the first Adhaan, which they wrongly call the
Adhaan of
Imsaak (i.e. withholding). We must know that there is no basis for calling the first
Adhaan the
Adhaan for withholding (
imsaak).
The second
Adhaan is when we are to withhold, and this is clearly stated in the Quraan, since Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, says:
'And eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes clear to you from the black thread of the night.'
So eating becomes forbidden at the start of the time of the Fajr Prayer. There is no separation between these two things. There is no withholding from food and drink for a quarter of an hour, or less than that, or more than that, before the start of the time for the Fajr Prayer. Not at all.
Because the Prayer becomes due when the true dawn appears, and food becomes forbidden for the fasting person when the true dawn appears. So there is no separation between these two matters at all.
So therefore there occurs in the hadeeth agreed upon by al-Bukharee and Muslim, from the hadeeth of ¹Abdullaah Ibn ¹Umar Ibn al-Khattaab (raa), that the Prophet (saws) said,
"Let not the Adhaan of Bilaal deceive you..." meaning, the first
Adhaan,
"...because he gives the Adhaan in order to awaken the person who is sleeping, and so that the person who wishes to eat the pre-dawn meal can do so. So eat and drink until Ibn Umm Maktoon gives the Adhaan."
Ibn Umm Maktoon, whose name was 'Amr, was a blind man, and he was the one about whom the Saying of Allaah, the Exalted and Most High, came down:
'He frowned and turned away, that a blind man had come to him' to the end of the Ayaat.
So he used to give the second
Adhaan, the
Adhaan which means that eating becomes prohibited and that it is now time for the Fajr Prayer.
How did he used to give the
Adhaan when he was blind? This is a question, which naturally occurs to some people. 'Amr Ibn Umm Maktoom used to climb on the roof of the mosque, but he could not see the dawn, so he would wait until someone passing by saw the dawn. So when someone saw that the dawn had appeared and spread across the horizon, they would say to him,
It is morning. It is morning. Then he would give the
Adhaan.
So you will notice here that the
Adhaan of 'Amr ibn Umm Maktoom was after the Fajr had appeared, and had been seen by the people whilst they were walking in the streets. So when it was said to him,
"It is morning. It is morning," he would give the
Adhaan.
So therefore there is latitude in the affair, since the
muadhdhin would be delayed in giving the Adhaan until he heard the people telling him, "It is morning, it is morning." And then Allaah¹s Messenger (saws) said:
"If one of you hears the call to Prayer and the vessel is in his hand, then let him not put it down until he has fulfilled his need from it."
So Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, spoke truly when He said at the end of those Aayahs related to Fasting:
'Allaah desires to make things easy for you, and He does not desire to make things difficult for you.'
and
'...that you should complete the number of days, and that you should glorify Allaah by mentioning takbeer for His having guided you, and that you should be thankful. '
So therefore from the Fiqh that is to be criticized, and which runs contrary to this Sunnah, is that a person says, "If someone hears the
Adhaan and has some food in his mouth, then he must spit it out." So this is over strictness, and (
ghuluww) exceeding the limits in the Religion, and the Lord of all of the creation admonished us, and reminded us, in His Book and in the Sunnah of His Prophet (saws) that we should not exceed the due limits in our Religion. So He said, in the Noble Quraan:
'O People of the Book! Do not exceed the limits in your religion, and do not say anything about Allaah except the truth.'
And our Messenger (saws) said to us, or he (saws) 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."
So Allaah¹s Messenger (saws) has made it clear to us that there is latitude and a margin of ease in the matter of a person's taking suhoor, to the extent that he said:
"If one of you hears the call to Prayer whilst the vessel is in his hand, then let him not put it down until he has completed his need from it."
So it is opposition to Allaah and to the Messenger that a person says that one who hears the
Adhaan whilst he has food in his mouth must spit it out onto the ground. This is not from the Sunnah. Rather this is contrary to the Sunnah, and is contrary to the clear command of the Messenger (saws).
And I have been asked many times, so I will not leave open the need for such a question, but rather I will precede you in (answering) it, by stating that this hadeeth is to be found in some of the most famous books of the Sunnah. From them being the Sunan of Aboo Daawood, and it is the third book from the well-known six books. The first of which is Saheehul-Bukhaaree, the second being Saheeh Muslim, and the third being the Sunan of Aboo Daawood.
This hadeeth is to be found in it, and it is likewise reported by Aboo 'Abdillaah al-Haakim in his Mustadrak, and it is likewise reported by the Imaam of the Sunnah, Imaam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal,
rahimahullaah, in his tremendous book known as the Musnad of Imaam Ahmad.
So the hadeth is not a strange hadeeth, rather it is a well-known hadeeth, and was reported by the Imaams of the Sunnah in the early times, and with an authentic chain of narration.
So here I say, to conclude this talk, since perhaps some of you have questions, which we will answer if Allaah wills, so I will conclude it with his (saws) saying
"Allaah loves that His allowances be acted upon just as He loves that His prescribed duties be carried out," and in one narration,
"Just as He hates that disobedience to Him be committed."
So there are two narrations,
"Allaah loves that His allowances be acted upon just as He loves that His prescribed duties be carried out", and the second narration is,
" as He hates that disobedience to Him be committed."
So therefore the Muslim should not practice false piety, and (as a result) refrain from obeying the Prophet (saws) in that which he encouraged us upon and clarified to us.
And what has been said is sufficient, and all praise is for Allaah, the Lord of all of the creation."
Source.
:wasalamex