Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

As Salamu alaikum wa RAHMATULLAHI wa Barakatuhu. brother, our family takes a lot of iftaar. it delays the maghrib prayer. wat shud we do? take the iftar at first(completely) or break the fast by taking few foods and then offer maghrib prayer and then take the rest of food? complete iftar>> maghrib prayer? OR little iftar>>maghrib prayer>> rest of the iftaar? 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Break fast and pray magrib early

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Sahl ibn Sad reported that the Prophet (saws) said: "The people will always be with the good as long as they hasten in breaking the fast."

Related by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 2346 Narrated by Abu Hurayrah

The Prophet (saws) said: ‘Religion will continue to prevail as long as people hasten to break the fast, because the Jews and the Christians delay doing so.’

Said Sahl ibn Sa'd narrated that the Prophet (saws) said: "All the Prophets of Allah have been ordered to hasten the breaking of the fast and to delay the ‘suhoor’ (pre-fast dawn) meal.’

Related by al-Bukhari, Ahmad and Malik.

Anas reported: "The Messenger of Allah (saws) would break his fast with ripe dates before he would pray (Magrib prayers). If those were not available, he would eat dried dates. If those were not available, he would drink some water."

Related by Abu Dawud, al-Hakim, and by at-Tirmidhi.

It is an absolutely preferred Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws) to hasten to break one’s fast as soon as the sun has completely set, and then offer the obligatory Magrib prayers.

If one wishes to simply break one’s fast with a few dates or take a few morsels of food and drink, then offer the ‘Magrib’ prayer, and then eat their full meal, that is fine; and if one wishes to eat a full meal and then offer the ‘Magrib’ prayer, that too is fine and acceptable; but what should never happen is that one delays the offering of one’s ‘magrib’ prayer beyond its prescribed time; for intentionally delaying the offering of an obligatory prayer is not even given as an option in Islam!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verse 103:

Indeed the Salaat is a prescribed duty that should be performed by the believers at (their) appointed times.

Jarir ibn Abdullah narrated that the Angel Jibrael (a.s.) came to the Messenger of Allah (saws) and said to him, "Stand and pray," and they prayed the noon (dhuhr) prayer when the sun had just passed its meridian. He then came to him (saws) for the afternoon (asr) prayer and said, "Stand and pray," and they prayed the afternoon (asr) prayer while the length of a shadow of something was similar to the length of the object. Then he came at sunset and said, "Stand and pray," and they prayed the sunset (magrib) prayer when the sun had just disappeared. Then he came at night and said, "Stand and pray" and they prayed the night (isha) prayer when the twilight had disappeared. He came again when dawn broke (and they prayed the morning (fajr) prayer). Then Jibrael (a.s.) came on the next day at noon and said (to the Messenger of Allah (saws)), "Stand and pray," and they prayed the noon (dhuhr) prayer when the length of the shadow of something was close to the length of the object. Then he came for the afternoon prayer and said, "Stand and pray," and they prayed the afternoon (asr) prayer when the shadow of something was twice as long as the length of the object. Then he came at the same time (as the previous day) for the sunset (magrib) prayer, without any change. Then he came for the night (isha) prayer after half (or a third) of the night had passed. Then he came when the sky was very yellow and said, "Stand and pray," and they prayed the morning (fajr) prayer. Then Jibrael (a.s.) said, "Between these times are the times for the prayers.

Related by Bukhari, Ahmad, an-Nasa'i and at-Tirmidhi.

In light of the above guidance, if one prays the prescribed prayer between the two specified periods, their prayer will be considered on-time; and it was the preferred Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws) to offer the prescribed obligatory prayers at its earliest times.

Al-Muwatta Hadith 1.9

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yazid ibn Ziyad that Abdullah ibn Rafi, the mawla of Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet (saws) asked Abu Hurayra about the time of the prayer. Abu Hurayra said, "Let me tell you. Pray ‘dhuhr’ when the length of your shadow matches your height, ‘asr’ when your shadow is twice your height, ‘maghrib’ when the sun has set, ‘isha’ in the first third of the night, and ‘fajr’ in the very first light of dawn," i.e. when the dawn has definitely come.

Thus in light of the above quoted guidance the valid prayer ‘time-bands’ are as follows:

Fajr: Starts at the very first break of dawn, and ends when the sun starts rising from the horizon.

Dhuhr: Starts when the sun moves a little west from its absolute zenith, and ends when the shadow of an object is equal to the height of the object.

Asr: Starts when the shadow of an object is exceeds the height of the object and ends when the sun starts to set on the western horizon.

Magrib: Starts when the sun has completely set until the twilight disappears.

Isha: Starts when the twilight completely disappears and is dark, and ends when half the night has passed.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan