When to say supplication of breaking the fasting
3-1-2018 | IslamWeb
Question:
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuhu, Shaykhs. Is the supplication for breaking the fast to be said before or after eating? May Allah reward you, Shaykhs.
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
It is an act of the Sunnah to recite the reported supplication at the time of breaking the fast; some scholars held that it should be recited after breaking the fast, as underlined in the Hanbali book Mataalib Uli An-Nuha fi Sharh Ghaayat Al-Muntaha. It reads:
"The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, upon breaking his fast, used to say, 'Allahumma laka sumna wa ʻala rizqika aftarna fataqabbal minna, innaka anta As-Sameeʻu Al-ʻAleem.' (O Allah, for You we have fasted, and with Your provision we have broken our fast. So accept it from us. You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.) Moreover, Ibn ʻUmar 
narrated that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, when he broke his fast, said, 'The thirst has gone, the arteries are moist, and the reward is sure, if Allah wills.' [Ad-Daaraqutni] This entails reciting the supplication after breaking the fast, and not before it."
This statement indicates that the reported supplication should be recited after breaking the fast. However, some scholars said that it is possibly prescribed to recite the supplication before breaking the fast as well. Mataalib Uli An-Nuha reads, "The author said, 'Upon breaking his fast,' which indicates that both are possible (before or after it)." The Hanbali book Haashiyat Al-Labadi reads, "It is possible that this supplication is to be recited before breaking the fast, and it is also possible that it is to be recited after it."
Allah knows best.