Ibn Mas‘ood, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet, , said, “The Athaan (call for prayer) of Bilaal should not stop any of you from having his Suhoor (pre-dawn meal), for he only performs the Athaan [that early] in order that whoever among you is offering the [voluntary] night prayer may return [for Suhoor]; and, [so that] whoever among you is sleeping, may get up, for it is not yet dawn.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
In a Hadeeth on the authority of ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, it is reported that the Prophet, , said, “Bilaal recites the Athaan (call for prayer) in [the early hours of] the night, so keep on eating and drinking [i.e., having Suhoor (pre-dawn meal)] until Ibn Umm Maktoom gives the Athaan."The latter was described by the sub-narrator, Saalim when he added, "He was a blind man who would not proclaim the Athaan, unless he was told that the day had [nearly] dawned.”[Al-Bukhari]
According to Muslim’s narration of this Hadeeth: “The Messenger of Allah had two callers to prayer - Bilaal and Ibn Umm Maktoom, the blind. He would say,‘Bilaal announces Athaan [for Fajr] at night, so eat and drink until Ibn Umm Maktoom recites it.’” The narrator of this incident further said, “[The time] in between [their Athaans] was not more than this: that one descended [from the minaret] and the other ascended [it].”
Samurah ibn Jundub, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet, , said, “Neither should the Athaan of Bilaal give you the wrong impression with regard to your Suhoor, nor the vertical [streaks] of whiteness in the horizon [for they are inaccurate indicators of dawn]. You should not stop eating until it [i.e., the radiance of morning] spreads like that.”As the sub-narrator Hammaad narrated this, he gestured with his hands in a horizontal fashion, demonstrating the diffusion of the rays of sunlight.[Muslim]
According to the narration of An-Nasaa’i the Prophet, , said, “The Athaan of Bilaal should not mislead you nor such brightness [stop you from having Suhoor] until the first light spreads like that [i.e., horizontally].” The sub-narrator, Abu Daawood At-Tayaalisi said that he, , then extended his hands and motioned toward the left and right.
Sahl ibn Sa‘d, may Allah be pleased with him, relates, “I used to have the Suhoor meal with my family and hasten, so as to catch Fajr (morning prayer)” – and in another narration, “Sujood (prostration)” [Al-Bukhari] – “with the Messenger of Allah .”
Zirr ibn Hubaysh recounts, “I ate Suhoor with Huthayfah [may Allah be pleased with him] and then we went out to prayer. When we reached the Masjid (mosque), we performed two Rak‘ahs (units of prayer) and the Iqaamah (immediate call to prayer) was made after a few seconds.”[An-Nasaa’i]
A few comments stand to be made on the aforementioned Hadeeth. As for the part that says, “…in order that whoever among you is offering the [voluntary] night prayer may return [for Suhoor]...”, it refers to Bilaal, may Allah be pleased with him, making the Athaan before dawn would break, to inform people of its imminence. Consequently, those performing the night prayer could sleep for a while to get some rest and wake up active, perform the Witr prayer if they had not offered it yet, prepare themselves for Fajr if they needed purification or deal with anything else that would result from knowing the time of prayer to be so close.
As for his, , saying: “…and whoever among you is sleeping, may get up…”, it refers to such a person then preparing himself for Fajr, by preceding it with some voluntary night prayer or Witr; he may have Suhoor if he wants to fast or perform Ghusl (bath for purification), ablution or any similar act that needs to be done before Fajr.
Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet, , said, “If one of you hears the call [to prayer] while the vessel is still in his hand, let him not put it down until he has taken his need of it.”[Abu Daawood, Al-Haakim, Saheeh] The following was added by the narrator, in the version recorded by Imaam Ahmad “The Mu’aththin (caller to prayer) [at the time], used to proclaim the Athaan at the crack of dawn.”
Benefits and rulings derived from these narrations:
1. Eating the Suhoor is recommended, as well as prolonging it as much as possible.
2. The Prophet, , and his honorable Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, used to delay having Suhoor till it was as close to dawn as possible, to the extent that it was narrated that they used to eat hastily for fear of missing it. Hence, delaying the Suhoor until it is closest to daybreak is an act of Sunnah.
3. It is permissible to eat quickly when necessary. Al-Bukhari entitles a chapter in his authentic book: “Hastiness in having Suhoor”. Maalik also narrated on the authority of ‘Abdullaah ibn Abi Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, that his father, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “We used to end the night prayer during the month of Ramadan and ask the servants to bring the Suhoor quickly, fearing [the imminence of] the first crack of dawn.”[Maalik and Al-Bayhaqi]
4. Eating, drinking, having sexual intercourse and committing acts that nullify the fast, are all permissible until the break of dawn.
5. The Athaan may be made by a blind person, as long as he is able to know the time [of prayer] or has someone to tell him about it.
6. There can be two Athaans for Fajr, one before dawn and the other at the first light of daybreak.
7. Eating, after having already intended to fast, is allowed and it does not nullify the intention. That is because the Prophet, , permitted eating until the crack of dawn, and it is known that making the intention for fasting thereafter, is invalid. This proves that the intention is made before that time and eating after it does not affect its soundness. Therefore, if, at midnight, a person has it in his mind to fast the following day and then eats toward the end of the night, his intention is still valid.
8. If one doubts whether it is dawn yet or not, the principle is that night time persists, unless explicitly proved otherwise. Allah The Almighty Said (what means): {And eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread [of night].} [Quran 2:187]
Of course, for someone in doubt, the white thread of dawn is not perceptible from the black thread [of night]. Then, as Ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, according to a report with an authentic chain of narrators: "If you have misgivings about whether dawn has arrived or not, it is permissible for you to eat until you are certain [that it has]." [Al-Bayhaqi] An-Nawawi commented on this saying: “If someone doubts whether dawn has arrived or not, it is permissible for him/her to eat, drink and have intercourse with his/her spouse until he/she is certain [that it has].There is no difference in opinion amongst the scholars about this issue.”
However, this applies to a person who personally observes the sky and suspects whether it is daybreak yet. As for one who depends on, the prayers timetable, hearing the Athaan or seeing the clock, there is no room for doubt, because he has the ability to make sure by asking or checking the time.
9. “[The time] in between their Athaans [Bilaal and Umm Maktoom] was not more than this: that one descended [from the Athaan area] and the other climbed [it] up.”An-Nawawi commented on this, saying, “Bilaal, may Allah be pleased with him, used to proclaim the Athaan of Fajr and then wait in place, supplicating, as he watched for daybreak. Then, whenever he saw the first rays of light, he would descend and inform Ibn Umm Maktoom, may Allah be pleased with him, who would prepare himself by performing ablution or so, and then ascend to call the Athaan when the day would be born.”
10. These Hadeeths prove that post dawn is not nighttime, but actually part of the day.
11. We can also deduce that, [as the name Ibn Umm Maktoom, meaning son of Umm (the mother of) Maktoom, suggests], it is permissible to attribute someone to his mother if necessary and if it is his known title.
12. There are three differences between the first [false] dawn and the second [true] dawn:
- The brightness of one dawn extends in the horizon from north to south, while light after the other dawn spreads from east to west.
- There is no night after the second dawn; rather, the light keeps growing until sunrise. On the other hand, the first dawn is followed by darkness.
- There is no obscurity between the light of the second dawn and the horizon, while the gleam of the first dawn is separated at the skyline by darkness.
13. If the Mu’ath-thin proclaims the Athaan while a person [having Suhoor] is holding a container of food or drink, he is allowed to continue drinking or eating, without immediate interruption. Of course, this is a concession bestowed upon us by Allah The Almighty, praise be to Him.