Question:
What is the correct time to break the fast according to the Hadith?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
Answer:
❀ Allah Almighty says:
Arabic:
ثُمَّ أَتِمُّوا الصِّيَامَ إِلَى اللَّيْلِ
📖 (Al-Baqarah: 187)
Translation:
“Then complete the fast until the night.”
There is consensus among the entire Ummah that this verse means: as soon as the sun sets, the fast should be broken.
Sayyidunā ʿUmar رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
Arabic:
إذا أقبل الليل من ها هنا، وأدبر النهار من ها هنا، وغربت الشمس فقد أفطر الصائم
Translation:
“When the night appears from this side, and the day departs from that side, and the sun sets, then the fasting person has broken his fast.”
📚 (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1954; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1100)
Sayyidunā Sahl bin Saʿd رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
Arabic:
لا يزال الناس بخير ما عجلوا الفطر
Translation:
“People will continue to remain upon goodness as long as they hasten to break their fast.”
📚 (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1957; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1098)
❀ Imām Ibn Daqīq al-ʿĪd رحمه الله said:
“It is unanimously recommended (mustahabb) to break the fast immediately after being certain that the sun has set.”
📚 (Iḥkām al-Aḥkām Sharḥ ʿUmdah al-Aḥkām: 2/26)
