Why We Rush to Break Our Fast
The Sunnah of Hastening to Break the Fast: Etiquette and Practices
Summary
This lecture covers the etiquette and preferred practices of fasting during Ramadan, specifically focusing on the sunnah of hastening to break the fast. The speaker explains that breaking the fast immediately after sunset is not only a sunnah of Prophet Muhammad but also a distinguishing practice that differentiates Muslims from other faiths. He emphasizes the importance of scholarly tradition in preserving Islamic teachings, contrasting how other religions have strayed from their original teachings through innovation and personal interpretation. The lecture includes specific guidance on breaking the fast with dates (preferably fresh dates, then dried dates, or water) and the authentic dua to recite upon breaking the fast.
Note: This transcript was generated using YouTube's automatic captioning, with AI-assisted cleanup for readability. It may contain inaccuracies due to background noise, audio quality, or limitations of the transcription software — particularly during Arabic recitation. Listener discretion is advised; please refer to the original video for precise wording.
Alhamdulillah.
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Continuing In the book of fasting of we are in the chapters regarding what is preferred and you know must for someone to do when they are fasting.
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One of the things that is a very important sunnah and is actually something that is not only the sunnah of our prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam. But specifically differentiates us from other nations and their fasting is that we hasten to break our fast. Hasten to break our fast. Meaning we break our fast as soon as it is permissible. the closest we can to when the sun sets.
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Abu is he says on the authority of that the messenger of Allah said people will always be in a state of good standing as long as they are hastening the breaking of their fast. What does this mean? People will always be in good standing. Meaning that people will be upon the way of the prophet Muhammad sallall.aii wasallam. They will not have strayed so far in fasting from the sunnah of their messenger. See if you imagine with me how many billions of Muslims have come between us and the prophet sallall.aii wasallam. If you imagine all of these billions of people are, if we break them down, they are individuals and human beings naturally have a creative bent to them. And so if each person wanted to create, wanted to add something to Islam from himself, wanted to take away something from Islam from himself to, you know, I think this is good. I should do this. I'd to do this. I this. This feels right. This feels good. Now, if everyone were to exercise that and we didn't have scholars to put us right back on the path and show the path and constantly illuminate and point out where the path is with respect to where we are, if we were to imagine each person was able to add or subtract from this religion as he desired, just one thing, one word, one letter. Islam would never have reached us by now. It would have been so absolutely distorted and changed and rearranged that it would be unrecognizable. And so this process of innovation is what occurred with the previous nations. If we were to take modern day modern day Christian and compare him to and and have him meet the ancient Christian that was one generation after Isaam and have them sit down and have a conversation about their beliefs. How incredibly radically different would not only their their beliefs but their core beliefs be meaning with respect to the nature of IsaB with respect to the worship of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala the names and attributes of Allah how radically different would they be and the reason for this is well there are a couple of reasons, but one of the main reasons is the scholarship. Scholarship of previous nations is not the scholarship of our nation. And the prophet sallall.aii wasallam is telling us here that people will be in good standing. Meaning with respect to their proximity from the path that they are upon that sunnah of the prophet sallall.aii wasam as long as they are hastening to break their fast. The Jews even in the time of the companions would only break their fast when the they would see the stars in the sky clearly and uninterrupted across the sky and across the horizons. This is when they would break their fast. That would be way late, closer to than it is to right. And also they would start their fast much earlier. the Muslim. We start our fast as close to as possible and we break our fast as immediately after as possible. And a person breaking his fast and hastening the breaking of his fast does not necessitate that a person would hence delay making on account of breaking his fast.
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He said, "And the correct way with respect to breaking one's fast and eating a full meal after breaking your fast is that a person would break his fast as immediately as possible at the heels of sunset. And upon doing so person would break his fast with one of the things that are mentioned in the sunnah which we will get to in the next point and then make salah and then a person goes and eats at his leisure right basically what we do what we do here at the masid what most people do al Another sunnah, another etiquette of fasting.
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Narrates that the messenger of Allaham would most usually break his fast on fresh dates, fresh dates, dates that have not been dried. And if fresh dates were unavailable, then on dried dates, dried dates, what comes to your mind when I say dates? Those are dried dates. Fresh dates are well, we know what fresh dates look right? They're they're they're soft and they're.
[Arabic recitation]
Huh?
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Bella. Yeah, we call them Bella. We call them bell. So it's, you know what I'm talking about. And so those fresh dates. And if not, then dried dates. And if there are no dried dates available, then he would drink a few gulps of water. Sai wasallam. And you know this is his sunnah. you know when a person has been fasting all day and they become really hungry usually that hunger what is driving it mostly is the need for sugar right that's why you want to break your fast and have yourself a big Snickers bar or have yourself a the reason for that is body's running low on that and so dates are very prime for that. However, those are real good sugars. They're not you know, the kind of processed things that we get or water to prepare the stomach, prepare the body for you know to get the digestive system up and running and ready to go. person makes and then they're able to eat and enjoy their dinner.
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Inshallah He said another etiquette of fasting is that a person upon breaking his fast is to say the dua the prophet sallall.aii wasallam used to say when he would break his fast. Omar narrates and the narration is in that the messenger of Allah. Wasam upon breaking his fast would say, meaning the thirst has been quenched and the veins have been quenched inshallah and the reward has been affirmed and written inshallah. There are other ini and elsewhere in the books of hadith, books of sunnah with respect to other dua that a person would make upon breaking his fast. All of them are weak narrations or very weak narrations. The only narration that has an authentic chain of narration free of any imperfections or weaknesses is this chain of narration. Inshallah. This is what the prophetam was known to most prominently make dua upon breaking his fast. tomorrow inshallah we will discuss what is permissible what is mub for a person to do when he is fasting. things showering rinsing out one's mouth etc. And then we will discuss and the etiquets of inshallah you know to get ready for so.
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Alhamdulillah. for.