Hadith 1150

This hadith is listed as number 2702 in Maktaba Shamila

حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ ، وَعَمْرٌو النَّاقِدُ ، وَزُهَيْرُ بْنُ حَرْبٍ ، قَالُوا : حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ بْنُ عُيَيْنَةَ ، عَنْ أَبِي الزِّنَادِ ، عَنِ الْأَعْرَجِ ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ ، قَالَ : يَبْلُغُ بِهِ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ، وقَالَ زُهَيْرٌ : عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ، قَالَ : " إِذَا دُعِيَ أَحَدُكُمْ إِلَى طَعَامٍ وَهُوَ صَائِمٌ ، فَلْيَقُلْ إِنِّي صَائِمٌ " .
Abu Hurairah (RA) reported Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) as saying: If any one of you is invited to a meal when he is fasting, he should say: "I am fasting."
Hadith Reference صحيح مسلم / كتاب الصيام / 1150
Hadith Grading محدثین: أحاديث صحيح مسلم كلها صحيحة
Hadith Takhrij «أحاديث صحيح مسلم كلها صحيحة»
Explanation & Benefits
Shaykh Maulana Abdul Aziz Alvi
Hadith Commentary:
Benefits and Issues:
➊ Although concealing voluntary good deeds is better, it is permissible to disclose them when necessary.
➋ Likewise, it is not necessary to break the fast (sawm) for an invitation; one may attend and offer supplications for goodness and blessings.
➌ If the host insists and it is necessary to consider his feelings, then the fast may also be broken.
Source: Tuhfat al-Muslim: Commentary on Sahih Muslim, Page: 2702
Shaykh Dr. Abdur Rahman Freywai
1:
The instruction to say "I am fasting" is as an excuse for not accepting the invitation.
Although it is better to conceal voluntary (nafl) acts,
here the command to disclose it is so that the host does not harbor any misunderstanding or resentment in his heart against the invited person.
Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhi – Majlis ‘Ilmi Dar al-Da‘wah, New Delhi Edition, Page: 781
Shaykh Umar Farooq Saeedi
Benefits and Issues:
Participating in a food invitation is superior.
However, if one excuses himself and informs that he is fasting, that is also permissible.
Or, it also means that if one informs the people present in the gathering about his fast, there is no fault in that.
Source: Sunan Abu Dawood – Commentary by Shaykh Umar Farooq Saeedi, Page: 2461
Maulana Ataullah Sajid
Benefits and Issues:
➊ When a fasting person is invited to a meal, it is permissible for him to break his fast and accept the invitation, joining in the meal. It is also permissible for him to excuse himself from eating.

➋ Informing the host that one is fasting does not fall under ostentation (riya), because the purpose is not to announce one’s piety, but rather to express one’s excuse.

➌ This ruling applies to voluntary (nafl) fasts; it is not permissible to break an obligatory (fard) fast except in the case where there is a valid excuse such as travel or illness, due to which breaking the fast becomes permissible according to the Shari‘ah.
Source: Commentary on Sunan Ibn Mājah by Mawlānā ‘Atā’ullāh Sājid, Page: 1750