SUHUR [THE PRE-DAWN MEAL] => Unit 3 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 tradition agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim, from the statement of Ibn Umar, that the Prophet (peace be upon him), said: Let not the call of Bilal deceive you because he gives it 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 Maktun gives his call. Ibn Umm Maktun, whose name was Amr, was a blind man, and he was the one about whom the saying of Allah (the Exalted and Most High) came down: He frowned and turned away, that a blind man had come to him ... So he used to give the second call, the call which means that eating becomes prohibited and that it is now time for the fajr prayer. How did he used to give the call to prayer when he was blind? This is a question, which naturally occurs to some people. He 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 call. So you will notice here that the call to prayer of Amr 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 call. So therefore there is latitude in the affair, since the one who calls to prayer would be delayed in giving the call until he heard the people telling him, It is morning, it is morning. And then Allahs Messenger (peace be upon him), said: 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. Allah (the Mighty and Majestic), spoke truly when He said at the end of those verses related to fasting: Allah desires ease 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 Allah by mentioning takbir for His having guided you, and that you should be thankful. Therefore from the fiqh that is to be criticised, and which runs contrary to this sunnah, is that a person says, If someone hears the call to prayer and has some food in his mouth, then he must spit it out. So this is over strictness, and exceeding the limits in the religion (ghulu), and the Lord of all of the creation admonished us, and reminded us in His Book and in the Sunnah of His Prophet (peace be upon him), that we should not exceed the due limits in our religion. So He said, in the Noble Quran: O People of the Book! Do not exceed the limits in your religion, and do not say anything about Allah except the truth. And our Messenger said to us: Beware of exceeding the limits in the religion because those who came before you were destroyed by their exceeding the limits in their religion. So Allahs Messenger (peace be upon him), has made it clear to us that there is latitude and a margin of ease in the matter of a persons taking suhur, to the extent that he said: 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. Allah knows best.
Posted on: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 03:34:46 +0000
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