SECTION ON FASTING · 17 – THE TIME FOR SUHUR
2346 – Samura ibn Jundub said in a sermon: The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Let not Bilal’s call to prayer nor the vertical whiteness on the horizon, until it spreads, prevent you from your pre-dawn meal (suhur).” [261]
EXPLANATION
Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) would call the adhan before the appearance of dawn, and after the dawn had appeared, Umm Maktum would call the adhan. It is being stated that Bilal’s adhan and the false dawn do not prevent one from eating the pre-dawn meal (suhur).
2347 – It is narrated from ʿAbdullah ibn Masʿud (may Allah be pleased with him): The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Let not Bilal’s call to prayer prevent any of you from your pre-dawn meal (suhur). Bilal calls the adhan or makes the call at a time so that those among you who are praying the night prayer (tahajjud) may return to rest, and those of you who are sleeping may awaken.” Musaddad said: Yahya joined his two hands and said, “The dawn is not like this,” and then, extending his index fingers, continued, “It is until it appears like this.” [262]
EXPLANATION
Here, the word “yakulu” is used in the sense of “yazhara” (to appear). The appearance of the vertical dawn is not the true dawn. The true dawn is when the whiteness spreads horizontally across the horizon. (Commentary of al-Nasa’i)
2348 – From Qays ibn Talq, who narrated from his father: The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Eat and drink, and let not the ascending, shining (false dawn) prevent you (from your pre-dawn meal); eat and drink until the redness spreads horizontally across the horizon for you.” [263]
2349 – It is narrated from ʿAdiyy ibn Ḥatim (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: “Eat and drink until the white thread becomes distinct to you from the black thread at dawn.” When the verse al-Baqara: 187 was revealed, I took a white thread and a black thread, placed them under my pillow, and looked at them but could not distinguish one from the other. I mentioned this to the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him), and he laughed and said, “Indeed, your pillow is very wide and long. Rather, what is meant in the verse by the black and white thread is the night and the day.” In the narration of ʿUthman ibn Abu Shaybah, it is: “Rather, it is the darkness of the night and the whiteness of the day.” [264]