When should one stop eating and drinking? And what is the ruling on one who has the vessel in his hand when hearing the adhaan?

Praise be to Allah.

With regard to fasting, it is obligatory to refrain from things

that break the fast from the onset of the true dawn, until the

sun sets. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“So now have sexual relations with them and seek that

which Allah has ordained for you (offspring), and eat and

drink until the white thread (light) of dawn appears to you

distinct from the black thread (darkness of night), then

complete your Sawm (fast) till the nightfall”

[Al-Baqarah 2:187].

Al-Bukhaari (1919) narrated from ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be

pleased with her) that Bilaal used to give the adhaan at

night. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah

be upon him) said: “Eat and drink until Ibn Umm Maktoom

gives the call to prayer, because he does not give the call to

prayer until dawn breaks.”

Based on that, if a person knows that the true dawn has

broken, either by seeing it himself or because someone else

has told him, then he must stop eating and drinking. If he

hears the call to prayer, he must stop eating and drinking as

soon as he hears it, if the muezzin give the call on time and

not ahead of time.

Some scholars made an exception if a person has the cup in

his hand when he hears the adhaan, and said that he may

drink what he needs from it, because of the report narrated

by Abu Dawood (2350) from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be

pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings

and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “When one if you

hears the call and the vessel is in his hand, let him not put it

down until he has fulfilled his need of it.” Al-Albaani said in

Saheeh Abi Dawood: Its isnaad is hasan saheeh. It was also

classed as saheeh by al-Haakim, al-Dhahabi and ‘Abd al-
Haqq al-Ishbeeli, and Ibn Hazm quoted it as evidence. End

quote.

The majority of scholars interpreted it as meaning that the

muezzin used to give the call to prayer ahead of time. For a

detailed discussion on that, please see the answer to

question number 66202.

Most of the muezzins nowadays rely on clocks and

timetables, not on actual sighting of the dawn, but this

cannot be regarded as certainty that dawn has broken, so if a

person is still eating at this time, his fast is valid because he

was not certain that dawn had broken. But it is better and

more on the safe side to refrain from things that break the

fast when one hears the adhaan.

Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on

him) was asked: What is the shar’i ruling on the fast of one

who hears the adhaan of Fajr and continues eating and

drinking?

He replied: What the believer must do is refrain from eating

and drinking and other things that break the fast as soon as

it becomes clear to him that dawn has broken, if the fast is

an obligatory fast such as Ramadan or fasting in fulfilment

of a vow or as expiation, because Allah says (interpretation

of the meaning):

“and eat and drink until the white thread (light) of dawn

appears to you distinct from the black thread (darkness of

night), then complete your Sawm (fast) till the nightfall”

[al-Baqarah 2:187].

So if he hears the adhaan and knows that the call is being

given at the time of dawn, then he must stop eating and

drinking. But if the muezzin gives the adhaan before dawn

breaks, he does not have to stop eating and drinking and it

is permissible for him to carry on eating and drinking until

he sees the dawn.

If he does not know whether the muezzin gives the call to

prayer before or after dawn, then it is better and more on the

safe side to stop eating and drinking when he hears the call

to prayer, but it does not matter if he ate or drank something

at the time of the adhaan, because he did not know whether

dawn had broken.

It is well known that people living in cities in which there

are streetlights cannot see the break of dawn for themselves

at the time of dawn. But they should be on the safe side by

using the adhaan and timetables which give the time of

dawn to the hour and minute, following the words of the

Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): “Leave

that which makes you doubt for that which does not make

you doubt” and “Whoever avoids dubious matters will have

kept his religious commitment and honour safe.” And Allah

is the source of strength. End quote from Fataawa Ramadan,

compiled by Ashraf ‘Abd al-Maqsood, p. 201.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him)

was asked: When should a person stop eating? Is it as they

say: when the muezzin says Laa ilaaha ill-Allah? What is the

ruling if he drinks deliberately after the adhaan? Is he like

the one who drinks after ‘Asr or can he still fast? Some

people say that Fajr is not like a lamp which shines instantly

and the matter is broad in scope. What is the ruling?

He replied: If the muezzin gives the call to prayer when the

dawn has come, then the Prophet (blessings and peace of

Allah be upon him) said: “Eat and drink until Ibn Umm

Maktoom gives the call to prayer, because he does not give

the call to prayer until dawn breaks.” So if the muezzin says:

I have seen the dawn and I do not give the call to prayer

until I see the dawn, then it is obligatory for one to stop

eating and drinking from the moment he hears the adhaan,

except in the case in which a concession is allowed, which is

if the vessel is in his hand, in which case he may drink what

he needs of it. But if the adhaan is given according to a

timetable, then the timetable in fact is not connected to the

actual times, rather it is based on calculations -- the

timetables that we have now for Umm al-Qura [Makkah] or

other cities are based on calculations, because they do not

look at the dawn or the sun or the meridian or the time

when ‘Asr begins or the setting of the sun. End quote. Al-
Liqa’ al-Shahri, 1/214

To sum up: one should stop eating and drinking etc as soon

as he hears the adhaan, if he knows that the muezzin gives

the call on time. But if he is not sure about that, then he

should limit it to drinking what is in his hand, because it

cannot be said that he may continue eating and drinking

until he is certain that dawn has broken. In fact, he has no

means of ascertaining whether dawn has come because of

lights and electricity, and many people are unable to

distinguish between the true dawn and the false dawn.

And Allah knows best.

Quelle: http://islamqa.info